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            A FEW BIBLICAL CONTRADICTIONS


*********************************************************


     It is a central dogma of all fundamental Christians
that the Bible is without error. They teach this
conclusion by "reasoning" that god cannot be the author
of false meaning and he cannot lie. Is this true? If
written by a perfect being, then it must not contradict
itself, as a collection of books written by different
men at different times over many centuries would be
expected to contradict each other.

     With this in mind, let us have a look at the Bible
on several subjects.


ON THE SABBATH DAY


     "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." -- Exodus 20:8


     "One man esteemeth one day above another: another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind."-- Romans 14:5



ON THE PERMANENCY OF THE EARTH

     ".. . the earth abideth for ever."-- Ecclesiastes 1:4


     ".. . the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up." -- 2 Peter 3:10



ON SEEING GOD

     ". . . I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved." -- Genesis 32:30


     "No man hath seen God at any time. . . ." -- John 1:18


ON HUMAN SACRIFICE


     ". . . Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass
through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane
the name of thy God. . . ." -- Leviticus 18:21


     In Judges, though, the tale of Jephthah, who led the
Israelites against the Ammonites, is told. Being fearful
of defeat, this good religious man sought to guarantee
victory by getting god firmly on his side. So he prayed
to god: ". . . If thou shalt without fail deliver the
children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that
whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet
me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon,
shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for
a burnt offering" (Judges 11:30-31).


     The terms were acceptable to god -- remember, he is
supposed to be omniscient and know the future -- so he
gave victory to Jephthah, and the first "whatsoever" that
greeted him upon his glorious return was his daughter,
as god surely knew would happen, if god is god. True to
his vow, the general made a human sacrifice of his only
child to god! -- Judges 11:29-34



ON THE POWER OF GOD


     ". . . with God all things are possible."-- Matthew 19:26


     ". . . The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out
the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out
the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots
of iron." -- Judges 1:19



ON DEALING WITH PERSONAL INJURY


     ". . . thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning
for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." -- Exodus 21:23-25


     ". . . ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite
thee on they right cheek, turn to him the other also." -- Matthew 5:39



ON CIRCUMCISION


     "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between
me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among
you shall be circumcised." -- Genesis 17:10


     ". . . if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing." -- Galatians 5:2



ON INCEST


     "Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the
daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.
. . ." -- Deuteronomy 27:22


     "And if a man shall take his sister, his father's
daughter, or his mother's daughter . . . it is a wicked
thing. . . ." -- Leviticus 20:17


     But what was god's reaction to Abraham, who married
his sister -- his father's daughter?  See Genesis 20:11-12.


     "And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarah thy wife
. . . I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her.
. . ." -- Genesis 17:15-16



ON TRUSTING GOD


     "A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD. . . ." -- Proverbs 12:2


     Now consider the case of Job. After commissioning
Satan to ruin Job financially and to slaughter his
shepherds and children to win a petty bet with Satan, God
asked Satan: "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that
there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." -- Job 2:3



ON THE HOLY LIFE-STYLE


     "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy
wine with a merry heart. . . ." -- Ecclesiastes 9:7


     ". . . they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced
not. . . ." -- I Corinthians 7:30



ON PUNISHING CRIME


     "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father...."
      -- Ezekiel 18:20


     "I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation. . . ." -- Exodus 20:5



ON TEMPTATION


     "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any man." -- James 1:13


     "And it came to pass after these things, that God
did tempt Abraham. . . ." -- Genesis 22:1



ON FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

     "Honour thy father and thy mother. . . ." -- Exodus 20:12


     "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple." -- Luke 14:26



ON RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD


     ". . . he that goeth down to the grave shall come
up no more." -- Job 7:9


     ". . . the hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come
forth. . . ." -- John 5:28-29



ON THE END OF THE WORLD


     "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here,
which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of
man coming in his kingdom." -- Matthew 16:28


     "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not
pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall
pass away: but my words shall not pass away." -- Luke
21:32-33


     "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation
nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the
day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." --
Romans 13:11-12


     "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh." -- James 5:8


     "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye
have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there
many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last
time." -- I John 2:18


     "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye
therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." -- I Peter 4:7



    These words were written between 1800 and 1900 years
ago and were meant to warn and prepare the first
Christians for the *immediate* end of the world. Some
words are those supposedly straight out of the mouth of
the "Son of God." The world did not end 1800 or 1900
years ago. *All* that generation passed away without any
of the things foretold coming to pass. No amount of
prayer brought it about; nor ever so much patience and
belief and sober living. The world went on, as usual,
indifferent to the spoutings of yet another batch of
doomsday prophets with visions of messiahs dancing in
their deluded brains. The world, by surviving, makes the
above passages contradictions.



CONCLUSION


     What is incredible about the Bible is not its divine
authorship; it's that such a concoction of contradictory
nonsense could be believed by anyone to have been written
by an omniscient god. To do so, one would first have to
not read the book, which is the practice of most
Christians; or, if one does read it, dump in the trash
can one's rational intelligence -- to become a fool for
god, in other words.

     To be an Atheist, one need only be able to laugh
when such obvious nonsense is offered as being
"divine"truth. If you are laughing, then you belong in
the only organization dedicated to determined Atheist
activism -- dedicated to *doing* something about the
intrusion of religion into all areas of our government
and our private lives.

     Join us today, or write for information. We offer
a wide selection of Atheist books for sale, a monthly
newsletter -- and a chance to RESIST RELIGION instead of
watching helplessly as it moves to make America a
theocracy.


     All Bible quotes are from the Authorized King James
Version of the Bible (New York: Abradale Press, 1965).


Copyright American Atheist Press. All rights reserved. Printed
copies of this pamphlet can be obtained from: American Atheist Press
P. O. Box 140195, Austin, Texas 78714-0195. Stock #8205.  Please
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