Qualifiers: 1) Sorry to come in 90 pages late. I am new here. 2) If the comments below have been made, apologies. I can't go through it all. 3) I can show you how with more careful reading, letting the Bible interpret itself, and often collaborating with outside sources (such as secular scholars/historians) can prove MANY things that you didn't think possible to prove.
Quote (addone @ Feb 24 2023 05:35pm)
Contradictions
The Bible is an unreliable authority because it contains numerous contradictions. Logically, if two statements are contradictory, at least one of them is false. The biblical contradictions therefore prove that the book has many false statements and is not infallible.
Examples of Old Testament Contradictions
The contradictions start in the opening chapters of the Bible, where inconsistent creation stories are told. Genesis chapter 1 says the first man and woman were made at the same time, and after the animals. But Genesis chapter 2 gives a different order of creation: man, then the animals, and then woman.
With more careful reading, you can discern two things: The fish and fowls were created the fifth day. The humans and land creatures on the sixth. So, no, it does not say they were (all) created at the same time. Also, the things listed in chapter 2 are simply that—a list. Not a sequence. The word "then" is nowhere to be found. It does say "And" at the start of the verses, but that word is not there in the Hebrew. It simply says "Lord God created" this or that...They are statements. A change of scenery has started in chapter 2. When the books were written, there were no such thing as chapter breaks. This often confuses people being split like they are now. Genesis 1 should have gone to Genesis 2:3, then pivoted. Moses is beginning a story about the garden and basing the start on certain facts.Quote
Genesis chapter 1 lists six days of creation, whereas chapter 2 refers to the “day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 1:2-3 claims that God created light and divided it from darkness on the first day; but Genesis 1:14-19 tells us the sun, moon, and stars weren’t made until the fourth day.
First, you are mixing two different light creations. In chapter 1, he made light. Literally—the concept of light. It didn't exist. (Apparently, we won't need it in the spirit world, so it's easy to assume God never had it before His plan began). We know this because when God comes here with what He calls "New Jerusalem", He says it will not need light (Revelation 21:23). You can separate the other creation in chapter two, partly because He says He made "lightS"—plural—but also they were made IN the "firmament"—which it goes on to describe as "heaven". (We might call it "the heavens".)
Second, it does NOT say that He created light AND divided it on the first day. He created the concept sometime before us, then later (on the 4th day) used the concept to create the things that bring us lights. Re-read it with that understanding.
Third, the word "divided" should be translated something more like "distinguished". It comes from two Hebrew words that mean "make a distinction". In other words, it's saying He planned to have a 12/12 hour day when it was time.Quote
Chapter 1 reports that the fruit trees were created before the man, while chapter 2 indicates they were made after him. Genesis 1:20 says the fowl were created out of the waters; Genesis 2:19 alleges they were formed from the ground.
Except—that's not what it says. Genesis chapter 2:5, God says that "every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew". In other words, the earth was seeded and ready, but had not yet grown anything. Then he sent rain when it was time...(vs 6). Chapter 1, vs 1-2 describe the Earth before mankind. What our scientists tell us was around 14 billion years ago. 3-4 describe the concept of light creation. Verse 5 is when the story starts of when God RENEWED the Earth, (Psalm 104:30).Quote
Contradictions are also seen in the biblical story of a worldwide flood. According to Genesis 6:19-22, God ordered Noah to bring “of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort . . . into the ark.” Nevertheless, Genesis 7:2-3 relates that the Lord ordered Noah to take into the ark the clean beasts and the birds by sevens, and only the unclean beasts by twos.
One is talking about procreation ("male and female")—the other about numbers so that there was food. (Which is yet another proof we shouldn't be eating swine, squirrels, etc.)Quote
Genesis 8:4 reports that, as the waters of the flood receded, Noah’s ark rested on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month. The very next verse, however, says the mountaintops could not be seen until the tenth month.
If you were on the tallest peak of a mountain range, and all you could see was water around you until one day the OTHER mountain tops below started revealing themselves—is it not possible you would have worded it this way?Quote
Genesis 8:13 describes the earth as being dry on the first day of the first month. But Genesis 8:14 informs us the earth was not dry until the twenty-seventh day of the second month.
Mistranslation. In verse 14, "dried" should be translated "withered". In other words, it turns out you can't eat of perishable trees and plants that have been underwater for extended periods. Hmmf. Quote
The Old Testament contains an interesting contradiction in the story of the census taken by King David and the resulting punishment of the Israelites. God was so angered by the census that he sent a plague that killed 70,000 men. According to II Samuel 24:1, the Lord had caused David to take the census – which makes the punishment appear even more nonsensical. But an attempt was later made, at I Chronicles 21:1, to improve God’s image by claiming that Satan incited the census.
This one is too much for explanation without the understanding of synergizing principles. Just know that God sends trials on us—not because He wants to watch us squeal—He wants us to come out the other side of the trial stronger and more like Him. We are in this world to build character, to learn to not hurt each other (and why)—in short, He wants to cultivate us into someone who does the right thing even when no one is looking. He made us with an opportunity to grow, just like sending us to the gym. You can't pump your spiritual muscles without resistance. Just like pumping iron. The reward for pushing harder? Incredible when you understand it.Quote
Further, the Old Testament is contradictory as to whether the Lord commanded the Israelites to sacrifice animals to him. At Jeremiah 7:22, God denies he ever gave the Israelites commandments about animal sacrifices. In contrast, Exodus 29:38-42 and many other verses depict God as requiring the Israelites to offer animal sacrifices.
Re-read Jeremiah. It says "in the day" that I brought them out of Egypt. Clearly He is referring to a single 24 hour period in this instance. Imagine Him saying, "Okay...I am the God you forgot. Gather all your stuff and be ready—oh, wait. Build an altar real quick, and"...No, He didn't give them the sacrifice commands THAT DAY. The statement is true. Once they were established and had made camp near Sinai, they were given two sets of laws. The law of Moses (sacrifices, washings, etc, done away with the New Covenant), and the Law of God (the 10+ commandments, NOT done away.)Not trying to pick on the OP, but almost everyone comes into the Bible with preconceived notions about what it is SUPPOSED to say—or with their own understanding. Come with true objectivity and reason (Isaiah 1:18)—not looking for failure but open minded. Science lovers claim to be the most open minded. The lack of it on this subject is laughably hypocritical. The word "science" originally just meant knowledge. If you don't have enough knowledge—science—about something, you will have wrong understanding. So it is with the Bible. God is not a monster. He is GREATLY misunderstood. If you were a being whom God calls "the god of this world"(2 Corinthians 4:4), and you wanted to destroy what God is doing—would you have it any other way? There is a powerful being who has influenced ALL of us into terrible understanding and confusion. He is very real. And not what you think.
Rev 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world"... Question: Do you think that means everyone
but you? Come to grips with it. It sucks but it's true. Even
most "Christian" churches are a lie.