Questions about the resolution of (apparent) contradictions in the Biblical texts.
5
votes
8answers
517 views
What does it mean that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist?
Matthew 11:11 (KJV):
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is ...
8
votes
2answers
149 views
If a “house divided cannot stand” how did non-disciples cast out demons?
Really what I'm getting at is two lines of reasoning I see in gospel accounts that seem to contradict one another.
In particular I'm thinking of the pericope in which Jesus is accused of casting out ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
What is meant by “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire”?
In Revelation 20:14 (ESV) we read:
"Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire."
The concept of "fire" is used multiple times in the New ...
13
votes
4answers
265 views
Why would God disapprove of rituals he ordained?
In Amos 5:21-24 God says:
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not ...
4
votes
3answers
89 views
Why does Luke associate the birth of Christ with the census conducted by Quirinus?
Luke states that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem because of a census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria (2:1-5).
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all ...
3
votes
0answers
23 views
In John 18, who was high priest at the time of Jesus' arrest?
First the text in John 18 (NIV) seems to make clear that Caiaphas was high priest:
18:13 They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that ...
6
votes
3answers
162 views
Is God still at war with Amalek?
After they are defeated by the Israelites at Rephidim, God promises unending judgement on Amalek in Exodus 17:
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in ...
2
votes
4answers
228 views
Who was Moses supposed to say sent him, “Ehieh” or “Yahweh”
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Exodus 4:13-14, Moses is talking to God:
And Moses said to God, "Here I come to the sons of Israel, and I told them, the God of your ...
5
votes
2answers
51 views
Locations of the graves of the Patriarchs
The Book of Acts at 7:16-17 states that Jacob died and was "carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem."
But Genesis ...
3
votes
1answer
50 views
Whose idea was it to send the spies to scout the land of Israel?
In Numbers 13 we are told that God commanded Moshe to sends the twelve spies to scout out the land:
1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
2 'Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of ...
3
votes
1answer
29 views
Did 70 or 75 Hebrews go down to Egypt with Jacob?
Acts 7:14 states that "Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all." This seems to contradict Deut. 10:22, Ex. 1:5; and Gen. 46:27 ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views
What is the “first resurrection”?
Finishing up the year in the Bible, I heard this passage:
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been ...
7
votes
2answers
267 views
Why did God “change His mind” with Balaam?
There are so many interesting questions regarding the account of Balaam in Numbers 22-24. But for now, let me focus on the one that is most puzzling to me: Why did the Lord seem to "waffle" in His ...
-1
votes
2answers
226 views
Why is a singular verb used to describe both Moses and Aaron?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
The following contradiction is invisible in English. It appears in the Hebrew of Exodus 4:29.
וַיֵּלֶךְ מֹשֶׁה, וְאַהֲרֹן; ...
7
votes
2answers
108 views
Did Abraham leave Haran before or after his father died?
Genesis 11:31-12-1 appears to indicate that Abram left Haran after his father Terah had died. (The author of the New Testament book of Acts certainly saw it that way.)
Terah took his son Abram and ...
1
vote
4answers
356 views
Is Jesus equal to or less than the Father [closed]
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again
unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto
the Father: ...
3
votes
2answers
218 views
How are verses indicating that God is a God of war, and others indicating that he is a God of peace reconciled to not be contradictory? [closed]
Sometimes, skeptics note that the Bible makes contradictory statements about God. For instance, is God warlike:
Exodus 15:3—The Lord is a man of war.
Psalm 18:34—He teacheth my ...
5
votes
2answers
258 views
Was John the Baptist confused or mistaken about the nature of Jesus' ministry?
John preached a message of imminent judgment:
Luke 3:7-9
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear ...
7
votes
1answer
105 views
Was Abiathar the son of Ahimelech or was Ahimelech the son of Abiathar?
According to the following three verses, Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech:
1 Samuel 22:20.
1 Samuel 23:6.
1 Samuel 30:7.
But a couple other passages down the road claim that in fact Ahimelech ...
6
votes
1answer
124 views
How did Judas die?
In fact, there are multiple discrepancies between these two verses, what did really happen?
Matthew 27:5-8
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged ...
9
votes
3answers
303 views
How can we understand “fear”?
It seems that (throughout the Bible), we have been told to "not fear" but also to "fear God".
How can we understand this word "fear" in these two contexts? If this word in these two contexts carries ...
-2
votes
1answer
230 views
Was Abimelech a granny chaser?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis Chapter 20 we find the following sister/wife story:
And Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev, and he ...
0
votes
1answer
118 views
Why does Moses grill leavened bread on Yahweh's altar?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Exodus 34:25 we read this injunction:
You will not slaughter the blood of my altar on leavened bread ...
This injunction is ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Why is Joseph taken to prison, and yet still seems to be with Potiphar?
This is a response to the meta call for contradictions.
In Genesis 39, there is a fantastically vivid story of Potiphar's wife seducing Joseph, or rather, attempting to. The result is that Joseph is ...
4
votes
2answers
205 views
Did Noah take two doves, or fourteen?
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis 6:18 we read the following:
And I will make my covenant with you: and those that come on the ark, you and your sons and your ...
2
votes
1answer
37 views
How is Deut. 2:29 reconciled with Num. 20:18-21?
After the Exodus, and prior to the conquest of Sihon and Og, Israel attempted to pass through Edom. (The Edomites were the descendents of Esau.) Numbers 20:18-21 records Edom's response as follows:
...
4
votes
1answer
411 views
Is the punishment for sex during menstrual period banishment or a week's defilement?
There are two passages in Leviticus which discuss the degree of uncleanliness one should associate with sleeping with a woman during her period.
Leviticus 15:19
And a woman who will be ...
4
votes
2answers
502 views
Why is Isaac called Abraham's only son? [duplicate]
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis 22, we find the following passage:
And it was after these events that the God tested Abraham; and said to him "Abraham", who ...
4
votes
1answer
84 views
Would the Pharisees go to Pilate and secure the tomb on the Sabbath?
This is in relation to another post in which the question was asked why the Sabbath was called "the day after the Day of Preparation."
It strikes me odd that Pharisees would be about this sort of ...
12
votes
1answer
108 views
What is the proper translation of Hosea 11:12?
I have been researching Hosea 11:12 and have come to realize that it is translated differently in many differing translations of the Bible. It is sometimes translated that Judah walked (or ruled) with ...
15
votes
5answers
568 views
Are women really saved by childbearing according to 1 Timothy 2:15?
In 1 Timothy, Paul says:
1 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Does the "she" refer to ...
3
votes
2answers
675 views
Does Exodus 22:28 call for child sacrifice?
In Genesis, we see a motif of first-born sons being overly aggressive and ambitious. Kain slays Abel out of a jealous wrath. Firstborn Esau and Jacob have a long-running rivalry that ends with Jacob ...
9
votes
2answers
305 views
Why did Abel keep flocks if man wasn't supposed to eat flesh til after the Flood?
Per Genesis 9:3, man is given the animals as food after the flood. A reasonable implication of that statement is that prior to this, man was supposed to be vegetarian.
That said, Genesis 4:2 clearly ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Comparison of English word “fool” in original Hebrew and Greek
Question is based on this comment on Christiantity SE.
In the OT, the word fool is apparently used to describe atheists:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1 and Psalm ...
4
votes
3answers
118 views
How do we reconcile the morality of Deuteronomy 5:9 with 24:16 regarding punishment of children for their father's crime?
The following two passages from Deuteronomy seem to lend themselves to opposing conclusions about the morality of punishing someone for a crime committed by their father:
8“‘You shall not make for ...
0
votes
0answers
11 views
Was Abiathar the son of Ahimelech or was Ahimelech the son of Abiathar? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Was Abiathar the son of Ahimelech or was Ahimelech the son of Abiathar?
According to the following three verses, Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech:
1 Samuel 22:20.
1 ...
22
votes
5answers
758 views
Does 1st Kings say that pi = 3?
The construction of Solomon's temple includes a piece of furnishing described in 1 Kings 7:23 (ESV):
Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits ...
2
votes
0answers
26 views
Pi in the Bible [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does 1st Kings say that pi = 3?
This is a standard question often asked about the accuracy of the Bible.
And he [Hiram] made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one ...
2
votes
4answers
4k views
Why does God say he only revealed his name, Yahweh, to Moses?
Responding the the meta call for contradiction In Exodus 6:2 we find the following quote:
And God spoke to Moses and said to him
I am Yahweh. And I showed to Abraham, to Isaac, and to ...
8
votes
4answers
879 views
Are good works supposed to be seen or not?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples, saying, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew ...
7
votes
2answers
532 views
Who did Cain marry?
A man marrying his sister is clearly a sin:
If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a ...
5
votes
1answer
76 views
Was Ishmael a teenager or a child when he and Hagar were sent away by Sarah?
When Sarah sent Hagar and Ishmael away in Genesis 21, Ishmael is referred to several times as a child:
15When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16Then she ...
6
votes
2answers
279 views
Who was a greater king: Hezekiah or Josiah?
About Hezekiah, we read in 2 Kings 18:5-6:
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to ...
8
votes
3answers
203 views
Is David the Godfather?
As David neared the end of his life, he calls Solomon to himself and gives him some final instructions recorded in 1 Kings 2:1-10. It starts out how you'd maybe expect, with David admonishing Solomon ...
2
votes
1answer
420 views
Why does Jesus refuse to help the Syrophoenician woman, and then help her?
Jon Ericson has already asked a question about the "odd little story" of Jesus' interaction with the Syrophoenician woman, and more could be asked (e.g., What is the main point of the story in ...
4
votes
4answers
150 views
According to Romans 5, is death caused by individual sin, or Adam's sin?
In Romans 5, Paul says:
Romans 5:12 (ESV)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
...
5
votes
1answer
171 views
Not singing the songs of Zion/Yahweh's song in Psalm 137
The first colophon (or first two colophons, perhaps) of Psalm 137 reads,
1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up ...
2
votes
3answers
103 views
Apparent inconsistencies in the vision of the four chariots
In Zechariah's vision of four chariots in chapter 6 of his book, an angel tells him that the chariots are going to go to the "four winds of heaven," (verse 5)—in every direction. However, in verse 6, ...
1
vote
2answers
108 views
How does the rule of non-contradiction differ between Greek logic and Biblical Hermeneutics?
The rule of non-contradiction is key to Greek logic. The Socratic method often walks through a binary tree of false dilemmas [1] until a conclusion is reached.
In Hermeneutics contradiction seems to ...
3
votes
4answers
169 views
What is the connection between manna and living on the Word of God?
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses gives the theology of manna:
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know ...
