How can the Bible be 100% correct but still have contradictions? It can’t. This means for us to believe in the infallibility of the Bible, we have to seek the interpretations of people who believe in its infallibility and maybe give it some leeway.

There are numerous cases of God saying one thing and doing another. The Old Testament God is very different from the New Testament God who we are assured is eternal and never changing.

 

Sex with your family

It’s a bit disturbing to have incest covered so completely in the Bible. Before God gave his Laws to the Jews, in Leviticus, forbidding same-chromosome relationships, Lot impregnated both his daughters when he was drunk. It’s OK though; they got him drunk. This was the same Lot that God saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as he was the only person who wasn’t sinning. Lot wasn’t the best dad though. When the angels came to warn him to leave and the crowd outside his house wanted to rape the angels, Lot tried to placate the crowd by offering to send his virgin daughters out to be raped instead as a kind of distraction. God or Jesus or God/Jesus (depending which part of the Bible you’re reading) went on to take back the Laws of Leviticus as he said they were man-made. That was after he said they came from him. So maybe it is OK to impregnate your daughter. The Bible wouldn’t lie.

 

Genesis 19:34-36 The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, “I had sex with our father last night. Let’s get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again. As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father.

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Leviticus 18:6 “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord.

Genesis 29:26-28 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. “But wait until the bridal week is over, then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.” So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah (his cousin), Laban gave him Rachel (her sister), too.

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Leviticus 18:18 “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

 

Homosexuality

 

Leviticus 18:22 “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

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2 Samuel 1:26 How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women!

 

God on Prostitutes

You get the feeling that the Bible is against prostitutes but only a little bit. If they are the daughters of priests they should be killed, which is naturally a sensible policy. Otherwise, they are just gently discouraged or trusted with top secret religious information like when Rahab helped the Jews into Jericho. Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute. That story is fictitious – well, it’s not in the Bible.

 

Genesis 38:24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.” “Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.

and

Leviticus 21:9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.

and

Leviticus 19:29 “Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.

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Hosea 1:2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

and

Joshua 6:25 So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.

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Colossians 2:22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.

Consistency

There is a range of consistency issues in the Bible. Many of these stem from the writers’ memories. This means that a speech can be written down roughly the same but not exactly the same in two different places. For some people this is good enough but, for others, one or both of the speeches are by definition incorrect. And incorrect material has no place in an infallible book.

 

1 Samuel 31:4 Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

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2 Samuel 1:10 “So I killed him (Saul),” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”

Genesis 3:22-24 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

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Ezekiel 28:16 Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire.

Hebrews 11:5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.

and

2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

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John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

2 Chronicles 36:23 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are the Lord’s people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!”

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Ezra 1:2-3 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!

 

Breaking Commandments

Moses’ face was glowing when he received the 10 Commandments. This means they must have been sent direct from God. God must have written them so they must be correct and everyone should abide by them. Except God. He encouraged killing and was not above telling lies himself. Jesus broke the 10 Commandments too but he did it because he was nice. The infallible 10 Commandments are therefore open to interpretation and therefore are not literally set in stone. I’m not trying to allude to anything here but serial killers have the same view of laws.

 

Exodus 20:16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

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1 Kings 22:22 “‘How will you do this?’ the Lord asked. And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’ ‘You will succeed,’ said the Lord. ‘Go ahead and do it.’

and

Ezekiel 14:9 “‘And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel.

Exodus 20:13 “You must not murder.

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2 Kings 14:6 When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”

and

Jeremiah 48:10 Cursed are those who refuse to do the Lord’s work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!

Exodus 20:8-11 Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

and

Numbers 15:32-35 One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.”

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Matthew 12:10-13 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!

and

Luke 13:10-13 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

 

Sacrifices

God spent a lot of time telling people exactly how he wanted different animals to be killed for him. Then he said that he didn’t want sacrifices. Jesus said that he replaced these sacrifices but there was a significant time in between where nothing and no one was being sacrificed. A sceptical mind might say that these sacrificial rituals were set up to give priests something to do and some authority, but I’m sure that’s not the case. It was just the unchangeable God changing.

 

Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen.In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

and

Leviticus 1:9 But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

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Psalms 40:6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.

and

Isaiah 1:13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false.I want no more of your pious meetings.

and

Jeremiah 7:22 When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.

 

Free Will

We all have our own free will. The Bible tells us. Once. All the other passages about free will tell us we don’t. Well, that’s a weight of our minds. We are no longer responsible for our actions. The chosen have already been chosen. We’ll just think we made up our minds. Can’t argue with that.

 

Proverbs 16:33 We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.

and

Proverbs 20:24 The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?

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Jeremiah 10:23 I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.

and

Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

and

Romans 11:4 And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”

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Acts 16:30-31 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

 

A Bipolar God

He loves me, he loves me not. God loved his people, the Jews, so much that he led them around the desert for years and killed them all. There’s tough love and then there’s homicidal love. But wait, He sent His son to die for us. That’s nice, but try telling that to all the Jews who died in the desert.

 

Lamentations 3:1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.

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Lamentations 3:22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.

Joel 3:2 I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land.

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John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 10:34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

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Luke 6:35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.

Numbers 16:30-32 But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.” He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.

and

Numbers 16:34-35 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried. Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.

and

Numbers 16:46-48 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the Lord. The Lord’s anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun.” Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.

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1 John 4:8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

and

Deuteronomy 4:31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.

and

Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

John 12:47 I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.

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John 5:22 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge,

John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

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Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a devouring fire.

 

God on Priests

Priests are chosen by God and can do no wrong. Until they do and God says they can do wrong. Surely God wasn’t mistaken about his priests? Maybe the priests were exercising the free will they don’t have.

 

Hebrews 5:4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was.

and

Exodus 19:6 And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”

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Hosea 4:4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.

 

God is Omnipotent

God is infinite and knows everything. Fact. Unless he needs to have people report to him the things he doesn’t know.

 

Hebrews 1:10-12 He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”

Jeremiah 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

and

Jeremiah 23:24 Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.

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Genesis 18:20-21 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”

 

God is Omnipresent

God is always there. He sees everything. Except in some parables when he goes away. Why would Jesus tell parables that have flawed concepts?

This brings in the Sumerian theory of the 10th planet where God actually does go away. But the theory can’t be right as the Bible tells us He is always here with us. Except when his son, or himself, tells us he isn’t. Then he isn’t omnipresent. He is just in one place. No other omnipresent entity can be in just one place. This has to be a miracle.

 

Deuteronomy 31:6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

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Luke 12:37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!

Luke 19:11-13 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver,saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’

and

Luke 20:9 Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years.

 

God and Jesus are the Same?

The term Trinity wasn’t even used until 200 years after Jesus’ crucifixion but there are some passages in the Bible which allude to God and Jesus being the same person. None of these allusions come from Jesus himself who always said that God was His father. The rest of the Bible states that God and Jesus are very different and are sometimes even witnessed together. In a court of law, that makes them two different people.

 

1 Corinthians 11:3 But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

and

2 Corinthians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

and

Ephesians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

and

Hebrews 5:5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.

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Titus 2:13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

and

2 Peter 1:1 This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

 

Don't Obey God's Law

God’s laws were dictated by God to the Jews. Later on, Jesus said that these laws were no longer relevant. If God and Jesus are the same person, then that is a clear case of schizophrenia. People should be wary of schizophrenic Gods and belief systems.

 

Matthew 5:18-19 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Galatians 2:16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

Leviticus 1:1-2 The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present an animal as an offering to the Lord, you may take it from your herd of cattle or your flock of sheep and goats.

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Colossians 2:22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.