Bible Contradictions: Chapter 23 of the Book

PAUL SAID, “God is not the author of confusion,” (I Corinthians 14:33), yet never has a book produced more confusion than the bible! There are hundreds of denominations and sects, all using the “inspired Scriptures” to prove their conflicting doctrines.

Why do trained theologians differ? Why do educated translators disagree over Greek and Hebrew meanings? Why all the confusion? Shouldn’t a document that was “divinely inspired” by an omniscient and omnipotent deity be as clear as possible?

“If the trumpet give an uncertain sound,” Paul wrote in I Corinthians 14:8, “who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” Exactly! Paul should have practiced what he preached. For almost two millennia, the bible has been producing a most “uncertain sound.”

The problem is not with human limitations, as some claim. The problem is the bible itself. People who are free of theological bias notice that the bible contains hundreds of discrepancies. Should it surprise us when such a literary and moral mish-mash, taken seriously, causes so much discord? Here is a brief sampling of biblical contradictions.

Should we kill?

• Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.”
• Leviticus 24:17 “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.”vs.
• Exodus 32:27 “Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, . . . and slay every man his brother, . . . companion, . . . neighbor.”
• I Samuel 6:19 ” . . . and the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.”
• I Samuel 15:2,3,7,8 “Thus saith the Lord . . . Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. . . . And Saul smote the Amalekites . . . and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.”
• Numbers 15:36 “And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.”
• Hosea 13:16 “they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with children shall be ripped up.”For a discussion of the defense that the Commandments prohibit only murder, see “Murder, He Wrote”, chapter 27 (Losing Faith In Faith: From Preacher To Atheist).

Should we tell lies?

• Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
• Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.”vs.
• I Kings 22:23 “The Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.”
• II Thessalonians 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”Also, compare Joshua 2:4-6 with James 2:25.

Should we steal?

• Exodus 20:15 “Thou shalt not steal.”
• Leviticus 19:13 “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him.”vs.
• Exodus 3:22 “And ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”
• Exodus 12:35-36 “And they spoiled [plundered, NRSV] the Egyptians.”
• Luke 19:29-34 “[Jesus] sent two of his disciples, Saying, Go ye into the village . . . ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. . . . And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, The Lord hath need of him.”I was taught as a child that when you take something without asking for it, that is stealing.

Shall we keep the sabbath?

• Exodus 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.”
• Exodus 31:15 “Whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.”
• Numbers 15:32,36 “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. . . . And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.”vs.
• Isaiah 1:13 “The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity.”
• John 5:16 “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.”
• Colossians 2:16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”

Shall we make graven images?

• Exodus 20:4 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven . . . earth . . . water.”
• Leviticus 26:1 “Ye shall make ye no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone.”
• Deuteronomy 27:15 “Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image.”vs.
• Exodus 25:18 “And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them.”
• I Kings 7:15,16,23,25 “For he [Solomon] cast two pillars of brass . . . and two chapiters of molten brass . . . And he made a molten sea . . . it stood upon twelve oxen . . . [and so on]”

Are we saved through works?

• Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works.”
• Romans 3:20,28 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.”
• Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.”vs.
• James 2:24 “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
• Matthew 19:16-21 “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he [Jesus] said unto him . . . keep the commandments. . . . The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.”The common defense here is that “we are saved by faith and works.” But Paul said “not of works.”

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