bible contradiction

[seal!]

why is it that, the whole christian religion is based around a book that is full of contradictions? if sombody is going to live their life according to such a thing then surley it shouldnt contradict itself.

[Ember]

Example please.

[andy hughes]

I think Christianity is based on faith, rather than on the bible - I see no contradiction in that.

[headlesspets]

isn't it meant to reflect the complexities of being human?

[woofgang]

In fact, the creed, which is what christianity is based on, doesn't mention belief in the bible or its contents as a prerequisite of declared christianity!!

[darth vader]

Christianity is the belief in Christ the Lord (which is where the name Christian comes from, you see!) and not belief in the bible. The bible, whilst serving (for those that believe in its contents) as a useful glimpse of the past, cannot be taken literally word for word because there are ambiguities (contradictions? as P. greenwood requests can we have some examples? - i would say that ambiguities is a more accurate word perhaps?) brought about for many reasons 1) there were no computers/cameras/recording devices to accurately record what went on in the time of the bible 2) a great deal of it was by word of mouth 3) it was written in ancient hebrew which means that 4) it has been translated many times (and doctored a bit in parts to suit particular faiths eg. Catholicism follows a bible which describes the holy trinity - you won't find this in a Jehovahs Witness bible)

[seal!]

if you want some examples then here you are : "the seven days of creation" story, it states that animals were created before humans, but in the "Adam and Eve" creation story Adam csmes first, then the animals and then Eve.

[seal!]

near the beging of Genisis, it tells us not to eat meat, but then later on in Genisis is says that we can eat meat.

[seal!]

we are told throughout the bible that divorce is wrong, but then it states that divorce is only exeptable if the other partner has comitted adultery.

[darth vader]

good examples. the whole "earth created in 7 days" theory is fraught with ambiguity and contradiction. Remember like i said no one was around to witness the creation of earth (in a "right it down and take a picture of it" sense) so how do we know what happened precisely?
re: the eating of meat thing in Genesis: not sure but i do know that prior to the floods of noah we (humans) were told not to eat meat but then after the floods had washed the vegetation away we were told by god that we could eat meat.
re divorce: the bible spans a period of many thousands of years (3500?) not just the era of Christ, and laws were made, then changed, to suit that era of man. Originally we lived by mosaic law (an eye for an eye etc - there are many sites on the internet explaining mosaic law, google "mosaic law") where the killing of man was sanctioned in certain cases, whereas the ten commandments written much later, said "thou shall not kill"

[darth vader]

i think i'm wrong with the 3500 years thing - this was when the first book was written (3500BC) so the bible spans more than this figure as it covers after the birth and death of Christ. In fact Revelation is a prediction of things yet to come (some would have you believe....)

[sarah123]

Also, the Bible was written by PEOPLE, and people are sometimes wrong or disagree with eachother. The books of the Bible were written at different times, and then put together by someone. It's not like there was some massive book they kept writing in and they just didn't bother checking the first few pages to make sure it didn't contradict. Judaism is based round the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament so it's not just Christians who follow the Bible.

[tracymort]

i've always wondered about a similar thing. As if it would be like people reading The Sun or Heat mag in a few thousand years and believing every word!

[seal!]

sarah, if your saying that its, PEOPLEs fault for the mistakes in the bible then, how do you know that the whole thing is a mistake, how can you tell if any of it is true?

[seal!]

i mean "isn't" a mistake, as aposed to "is"

[JohnPPotts]

As a Christian myself, I would agree with Rabbi Julia Nurberger (admittedly not a Christian!) in saying that the Bible is "divinely inspired, but written by mortals" and so is not, in itself, perfect and is subject to interpretation. In any case, I disagree that the prohibition on eating meat is an example of a contradiction as different laws apply to different times - after all, English law has changed between 1800 and 2000 and the Bible covers several millennia!

[poadster]

What does it matter? If you believe it, you believe it. If you don't you don't, and hpoefully you don't believe in fairies or other such nonesense instead. The contradictions that matter are less those written in the book(s), which are translations, and translated by people with an agenda, but those contradictions applied after the event by self-seeking power junkies and warmongers.

[Ethreal]

I think the idea behind the Bible is not so much a set of rules for you to live your life, but instead an attempt to show you the contradiction that exists in life. It is true the Bible is confusing, but after all...it was written by MEN, not by God himself...

[fingerpie]

Well said that man Seal! - you sweet little cheery chap! I hope you like the kippers, you rascal!

[SoloBoshek]

Is the meat thing, and the Creation the best "contradictions" you guys can come up with!? Come on people! Try in Acts 9:1-7 where the men with paul heard a voice but saw no man... yet in Acts 22:9, Paul states that they indeed saw the light, but heard no voice... Wow... how about in the 4 gospels with Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and in John 20:12 They state there were 2 angels there... but in Matthew 28:1-6 it makes reference to but 1 angel?... What the... You can't mistake numbers... so something is up here... And all I got to say is that the bible DOES contradict itself. They are man made errors. And God knows which of these statements is right. And well, it is not purtenent to our salvation, so who cares! Its not like when we die and are judged that Christ will ask us... How many angels were at the tomb during my resurrections? He won't ask that! So don't worry about it... Niether will you have to state the Creation in the correct order.