Issue #189-Commentary, Letters

Biblical Errancy Issue #189-Commentary, Letters

Nov 10, '08 3:39 PM
by Loren for everyone





Issue #189 September 1998, Editor: Dennis McKinsey



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A national periodical focusing on Biblical errors, contradictions, and fallacies, while providing a hearing for apologists



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




COMMENTARY

This month's issue will be devoted entirely to correspondence from our readers and begin with another poignant letter from JB, who gained some valuable information and thoughtful insights as a result of teaching Sunday School in a fundamentalist setting for more than 23 years.




LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter #788 from JB Via E-mail (Part a)



TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Through years of participation in the life and culture of evangelical Christianity, a number of "difficult to understand" issues came to my attention. The approach to these problems endorsed by evangelical Christian leaders is for thoughtful Christians to accept the "difficulties" as inscrutable but nevertheless true, and to endeavor to strengthen one's faith in other areas where "difficulties" are not a hindrance. I acquiesced to this approach while I lived my busy life, until such time as I should be able to search out the solid answers that evangelical theologians had undoubtedly derived from their more thorough and sophisticated study of scripture. After years of studying the Bible as an individual and in groups, listening to sermons, attending Christian conferences, leading a small group Bible study, reading evangelicalism's best apologists, and even preaching from the pulpit once, I was dismayed to discover that the church cannot answer the tough questions about Christianity. I was heartbroken when I finally recognized, quite contrary to my own wish, that the cumulative force of the so-called "difficulties" thoroughly and unquestionably discredits Christianity. Anticipating that many Christians will not accept my conclusion, and that they will urge me to come back to church and continue "searching, because of Jesus's promise that those who search will find, I have listed some questions the church must answer if it hopes to regain my attention. The questions that follow have been organized loosely into categories to aid in referencing them and many could legitimately be placed in other categories. Their current placement reflects my own judgment of where the weight of the questions carries the most force. The list is not exhaustive and is a sampling from a variety of sources. There are innumerable serious issues with Christianity already laid out in the existing body of skeptical literature. Several were independently discovered by myself before I learned of the existence of serious skeptical literature, a few are original with myself, and a few actually come from Christian sources. Some biblical references are given, but not all. I am assuming that any Christian knowledgeable enough to address these questions intelligently will not have trouble finding the relevant biblical passages. In addition, some questions assume a general familiarity with certain biblical and extra-biblical subjects which are not practical to reference because the relevant knowledge is widely dispersed through a large body of literature. For unreferenced items, a Christian who does not understand the issue probably is not well-read enough to attempt an answer.

Biblical Inconsistencies

1. Why does the evangelical church say there are no contradictions in the Bible when they are plainly there for anyone to see? (They are too numerous even to list a representative sample here. There are many books and monographs on this topic in the skeptical literature.1)

2. Why does the Old Testament teach that there is no hell, while the New Testament teaches that there is? The idea of "progressive Revelation" does not explain the conflicts in the biblical texts.

3. Why does most of the Old Testament teach that there is no afterlife (see Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, for example), while later Old Testament writings and the New Testament do?

4. Why does the church say that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), when many biblical passages flatly contradict this?2

5. Was God known by the name Yahweh prior to Moses (Exodus 6:3), or was he not (Genesis 4:26, 5:29, 9:24, 22:14, 27:20, 27:27, 28:20-21)?

6. Which "Ten Commandments" are *the* Ten Commandments - the ones listed at Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, or the ones listed at Exodus 34? Only the list at Exodus 34 is explicitly called the "Ten Commandments" in the biblical text.

7. Was the Law given by Yahweh perfect (Psalm 19:7), or wasn't it (Hebrews 8:6-8)?

8. Why can't the six accounts of the resurrection be reconciled?3 Paul says that without the resurrection, the Christian faith is in vain (1 Cor 15:14). How could the biblical accounts possibly disagree on such an important narrative?

9. Why were the disciples surprised by Jesus's resurrection after Jesus had told them repeatedly to expect it?4 An angel even reminded the women that Jesus had told them of his impending resurrection (Luke 24:6-7). How is it that the women remembered his words (Luke 24:8), but the disciples didn't (John 20:9, Luke 24:12)? Even Jesus's enemies remembered that he had foretold that he would rise again (Matthew 27:63).

Biblical Ambiguities and Omissions

1. Why is the Bible unclear about how to be saved? Is there anything more important that the Bible could communicate? Why is it ambiguous and contradictory on this subject?

2. Why does Jesus teach salvation by works in the synoptic gospels, but John portrays him teaching salvation by faith?

3. Why does John not teach in his gospel that it is necessary to repent of our sins, since he states that his gospel was written specifically for the purpose of showing people how to be saved (John 20:31)?

4. Why is the nature and practice of the two sacraments - baptism and the Lord's Supper - left ambigu ous in the Bible and a cause of discord among churches?

5. Why is the book of Revelation incomprehensible if it is really "not sealed" (Rev 22:10)? Why are the prophecies in the book of Daniel actually easier to understand, if they *are* sealed (Daniel 12:9)?

6. Why doesn't the Bible provide unambiguous answers for major divisive doctrines like efficacy of baptism, paedobaptism, mode of adult baptism, soteriology, Christology, trinitarianism, satanology, angelology, nature of the afterlife, eschatology, fundamentals of the faith, the standing of Jewish believers in relation to the Law, the standing of Gentile believers in relation to the Law?

Misinterpretation of Scripture by New Testament Figures

1. Why did the writers of the New Testament feel free to misquote and misinterpret the Old Testament and conflate verses?5

2. Why did the gospel writers use the Septuagint, an inferior translation of the Old Testament?6 Did the Holy Spirit fail to inspire them with the more accurate Hebrew text, the one accepted today?

3. Why did Matthew and Peter take Old Testament passages out of context to make them into prophecies, when they were never indicated to be prophetic by the Old Testament author (Acts 1:20 versus Psalm 69:25, for example)?

4. Why did Mark misreference an Old Testament prophet (Mark 1:2)?7 How can we rely on Mark to explain Old Testament prophecies to us if he is even mistaken about the source?

5. Why does Jude quote the non-canonical Book of Enoch as prophecy (Jude 14-15)? Did the Holy Spirit fail to inspire Jude with the fact that the Book of Enoch would not be accepted into the canon?

6. Why does Matthew quote a non-existent Old Testament prophecy (Matthew 2:23)? Was he using noncanonical writings, too?

7. Why does Matthew attribute a quote about the potter's field to Jeremiah, when Jeremiah has no such pas-

sage, and the closest one in the Old Testament is Zechariah (Matt 27:9-10; Zechariah 11:12)?

8. Why doesn't Paul ever quote Jesus from the gospel accounts, or show that he knew anything about Jesus's teachings and life as portrayed in the gospels?

9. Why is no single hermeneutic adequate for interpretation of scripture" Why were the New Testament authors so free and loose in their hermeneutics (the science of interpretation; esp., the study of the principles of biblical exegesis)? How could the meanings of some words and phrases have been lost? How could some cultural references have been lost? How can many books and passages admit of multiple interpretations. Doesn't God want us to understand his Word enough to protect the knowledge of its referents and use unambiguous diction and phraseology

Failed Biblical Promises

1. Why doesn't prayer work, when the Bible promises that it will (John 14:14, for example)?

2 Why aren't Christians doing greater works than Jesus did, since he himself said they would (John 14:12)? The context is clearly referring to miracles.

Failed Prophecies

1. Why have no prophecies been demonstrated to have been fulfilled? Why are many Old Testament prophecies too vague to be tested? Why are many Old Testament prophecies "yet to be" fulfilled? Why has it been impossible to demonstrate that the Old Testament prophecies were written prior to the events forecasted?

2. Why wasn't Tyre destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar as prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 26)? When it was destroyed by Alexander the Great, why didn't it remain desolate as prophesied by Ezekiel?8

3. How can it be that Isaiah prophesied a temporary destruction of Tyre, while Ezekiel prophesied a permanent destruction (Ezekiel 26:14,21; 27:36; 28:19 versus Isaiah 23:13-18)?

4. Why wasn't there a 40-year period in Egypt's history when the whole land was devoid of people and animals, as prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29:11-12)?

5. Why is so much of New Testament prophecy incomprehensible? Why produce a prophecy at all, if it cannot be understood?

Problems with Miracles

1. Why haven't any of the miracles recorded in the Bible been independently confirmed?

2. Why don't verifiable miracles happen today? What better way is there to convince people of the Christian message, and isn't that the commission given to the church by Jesus?

3. Why don't evangelical Christians accept miracle stories recorded in ancient non-biblical works? Isn't it the case that evangelical Christians have decided a priori to accept biblical miracles and reject all others? Aren't the apologists' "objective standards" for accepting or rejecting extra-biblical miracles post hoc?

Origin and Transmission of the Scriptures

1. Why is the authorship of most books of the Bible disputed? Why do many books of the Bible have no statement of authorship? Why are some books in the canon pseudepigraphical (lie about authorship)?

2. Why did the early church not revere the scriptures as Christians do today, so that they added interpolations and made emendations?

3. Why hasn't the Bible been transmitted to us in perfect condition if it is so important and if God had his supernatural hand in it? Why did both Israel and the church add interpolations, emend, and conflate the texts?

The Canon

1. Why is the Mosaic injunction against false prophets ignored in the canon? Deuteronomy 18:20-22 should disqualify Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah, Jesus, and Paul.

2. Why is the canon disputed by the church? Is God content to let uninspired writings falsely be proclaimed as his Word? Furthermore, how do we know the canon is complete?

3. Why has no one been able to describe a consistent objective basis for establishing the canon? Why was the canon established by vote instead of on objective principles? Why was the canon not directly revealed by God?

4. Why is so much of New Testament doctrine revealed through the use of occasional letters instead of in systematic books written, authorized, and canonized specifically to define Christian doctrine? Why didn't God deliver these himself, as he did the Law to Moses? Maybe this explains why the Old Testament Law has more clarity than the New Testament doctrines. Why did God leave the writing of systematic theologies to modern, uninspired writers, who cannot agree with one another?

Biblical Values

1. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, why did God lie about what the outcome would be (Genesis 2:17),9 while the serpent told the truth (Genesis 3:5, 22)?

2. Why are women treated as chattel and inferior to men throughout the Bible?10

3. Why is the Old Testament and most of the New Testament addressed only to free men, and not to women or slaves? Does God deal only with free males?11

4. Why does the Bible condone slavery?12

5. Why does Yahweh command genocide,13 including the killing of infants? Why does he command that all women who have "known a man" be slaughtered, but the soldiers are to keep the young virgins for their own use (Numbers 31:14-18)? Why does the Bible portray Yahweh as worse than Hitler (Deuteronomy 20:16-17)? Isn't it blasphemous to call the Bible "God's Word," when it libels him so?

6. Why doesn't the Bible condemn polygamy? Is it not really a sin? In fact, the Bible seems to condone polygamy through examples of God blessing polygamists and by its explicit statements regarding David.

7. Why wasn't Lot condemned for giving his daughters to be abused by the men of Sodom (Genesis 19:8)?

The Bible actually calls him righteous (2 Peter 2:7)!

8. How can Christians say that the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion is based on Judeo-Christian ethics when Deuteronomy 13:6-10 and 17:2-7 flatly contradict this?

9. How can being mauled by a bear possibly be a just punishment for name-calling (2 Kings 2:23-24)? Doesn't this contradict God's own edict of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth?"

10. Why is faith - believing something for which there is no evidence - a virtue?

11. Why is rational skepticism a vice? If Christianity is true, won't the truth hold up under scrutiny? Shouldn't the church welcome and promote rational skepticism as a way of confirming and spreading the faith when people see that it fails to undermine Christianity? Why isn't skeptical literature studied and refuted in Sunday School classes?

Biblical Guidance

1. Why do Moses, Ezra, Jesus, and Paul all disagree on marriage and divorce? Moses allowed divorce, Jesus disallowed it and also allowed it, Paul allowed it, and Ezra actually commanded it to appease God (Ezra 10). How is an honest Christian supposed to know what to do in this area?

2. Why does the New Testament teach by example that major decisions should be decided by lot (in Acts chapter 1 when Matthias is chosen, for example)?

3. Why doesn't the Bible provide unambiguous guidance for major divisive issues like abortion, divorce, war, church discipline, lending and borrowing money, etc.? Doesn't God want the church to be uni-ted? Doesn't God want individual Christians to know how they should live?

Conflicts with Science

1. Why does the Bible teach that the sky is a solid dome of transparent material with water above it?14 (The water poured through the "windows of heaven" to cause Noah's flood, and then presumably poured off the edge of the disk-shaped earth into the abyss.)

2. Why does the Bible teach that goats will have striped offspring if they see stripes when they drink at the watering trough, when this has been discredited by modern genetics?

3. Why does the Bible record scientifically impossible events as factual? For example, the creation narrative, Noah's deluge, a solid dome over the sky, Earth supported by a foundation. Why has the evangelical church produced "Creation Science" explanations that are complete nonsense? Why is it that none of the more rational reconciliations of science and the Bible survives scrutiny?

4. How can it be that Psalm 16 and Romans 1 teach that the creation is a reliable means of knowing God ("natural theology"), but the scientific study of biological and geological origins contradicts the creation narrative in Genesis? Why does "natural theology" contradict "revealed theology" (the Bible)? Is the creation bearing false witness? Is the Bible bearing false witness?

Absurd Doctrines

1. Where is the justice in punishing us for Adam's sin? The Bible itself says that children will not be punished for the parents' sins (Deuteronomy 24:16). Furthermore, if God really created Adam not knowing either good or evil (Genesis 3:22), how could such a harsh and enduring punishment as death for Adam and all his descendants possibly be just? Our secular courts are more just than God when they show mercy on people who cannot distinguish between right and wrong, such as children and the mentally handicapped. And why isn't this doctrine of original sin found anywhere in the Bible except in Paul's writings?

2. Where is the justice in punishing Jesus for our sins? If our courts of law were to accept the punishment of someone else in the place of the criminal, we would not say that justice has been done, but that injustice has been added to injustice. Would the church have me believe that two wrongs make a right?

3. How can sacrificing Jesus on behalf of the sinner atone for another's sin? This would be like killing my child to reconcile for the misbehavior of my neighbor's child. I have the capacity simply to forgive and forget without demanding compensation for small offenses. Why can't God do this? Does he simply want blood?

4. Why pray? If it changes God's mind then he is not sovereign. If it does not change God's mind then it is superfluous.

5. How can the doctrine of the Trinity possibly be true? Any attempt to make sense of it leads to contradictions. If it is so important, why isn't it clearly taught in the Bible? Why shouldn't an objective stu-dent of the doctrine conclude that it was created by the church to hide behind a shroud of mystery biblical inconsistencies about the nature of Christ?

6. Why is God concerned about humans at all? We are less than a speck in the universe. Christianity has the hallmarks of being a religion made by humans for humans.

7. Why have all the rational arguments for the existence of God been successfully refuted? If God exists, is it unreasonable to suppose that there would be at least one irrefutable proof of his existence?

8. Why haven't the existing proofs of God's non-existence been refuted? Surely believers, who have the advantage of an indwelling Holy Spirit with an "infinite mind," cannot be stumped by "finite minds" of unbelievers working within the confining limitations of reason, can they?

9. Why is it that some teachings are conveniently tautological (i.e., circular)? For example, you must pray the will of God in order for prayer to be answered; you must believe the Bible in order to understand the Bible; and the Bible is the Word of God, therefore it is true.

10. How exactly does "loving God and enjoying him forever" give meaning to life? Any satisfying secular activity can give meaning to life. Why does the Christian assume that a metaphysical meaning for life is necessary? Isn't it the Christian who imposes meaninglessness on this present life, declaring that meaning depends for its existence on the life to come? And if Christians did not believe they will live forever, would they continue to love and serve God? Isn't it really eternal life that the Christian loves, and not God?

11. Where is objective, verifiable evidence that a soul or spirit exists and survives the body after death? Why does the Old Testament deny such an idea until the later writings, which show the influence of Greek ideas? The idea of "progressive Revelation" does not explain this.

End Notes

1 See, for example, the works of Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, Joseph Wheless, Dennis McKinsey, Farrell Till, and others. Many of these writings can be found on the Secular Web at www.infidels.org.

2 Genesis 11:9; Exodus 14:24 and 23:27; Deuteronomy 7:23 and 28:20,28; Joshua 10:10.

3 Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21, Acts 1:3-12, and I Corinthians 15:3-8.

4 Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, Mark 9:31, 10:34, and Luke 9:22, 18:33.

5 Matthew 3:3 versus Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 12:17-21 versus Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 13:35 versus Psalm 78:1-3; Acts 2:16-21 versus Joel 2:28-32; Acts 7:43 versus Amos 5:25-27; Romans 3:4 versus Psalm 51:4; Romans 9:33 versus Isaiah 28:16 and 8:14; Romans 10:6-8 versus Deuteronomy 30:12-14; Romans 11:9-10 versus Psalm 69:22-23; Romans 11:26-27 versus Isaiah 59:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:9 versus Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 3:20 versus Psalm 94:11; 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 versus Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.

6 Matthew 3:3; Luke 4:17-21; Acts 7:43; Acts 15:17; Romans 10:11.

7 This misreference is found in the critical text, but not in the Textus Receptus, illustrating that the early church was willing to emend the holy scriptures to remove difficulties.

8 Ezekiel 26:14, 27:36, 28:19; Wallace B. Fleming, The History of Tyre, Columbia University Press, 1915, p. 64.

9 Some modern translations soften Yahweh's statement that Adam would die "in that day," and so disguise the problem.

10 The evidence is too overwhelming to cite even a representative portion of the relevant scriptures, but a few of the more explicit examples are Deuteronomy 21:10-14, 24:1-4; Leviticus 12:2,5; 1 Corinthians 11:3,9; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Timothy 2:12-14. A good source of additional information on this topic is the Freedom From Religion Foundation, PO Box 750, Madison, Wisconsin 53701.

11 The fact that God dealt with Israel during their slavery does not weaken the force of this question. Israel's slavery was a temporary condition designed to underline Israel's dependence on Yahweh. Yahweh began to deal with Israel when he was a free man.

12 See, for example, Exodus 21:20-21, Deuteronomy 15:17, Leviticus 25:44-46, Ephesians 6:5-7, 1 Timothy 6:1, Colossians 3:22, Titus 2:9, and I Peter 2:18,21.

13 Number 21:34-35, Joshua 10:40, 1 Samuel 15:3,18, and Jeremiah 50:21, for example.

14 Paul H. Seely, The Firmament and the Water Above: Part 1: "The Meaning of raqiaa in Gen 1:6-8," Westminster Theological Journal 53:241-261 (Fall 1991), and ... Part II: "The Meaning of the water above the Firmament" in Gen. 1:6-8, 94:47-63 (1992).

(TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT MONTH)



Letter #789 from TO of Joliet, Illinois

... (After an extended paragraph denouncing biblicists for failing to acknowledge the Bible's inadequacies TO says--Ed.),

You quoted John 7:8-10 RSV as a contradiction in a sample issue you sent me awhile back. Yes, the RSV does say "...not going..." but the NIV says "...not yet going to this feast..." The NIV seems to have fixed the contradiction. I'm sure that you don't have space to quote every bible version and explain their choice of text and translation in all of your arguments. But how would you have us deal with this situation? In my studies into textual criticism and biblical languages I became aware of certain dishonest and deceptive uses of certain texts and translations by the people putting out these translations. I tend to believe that they are aware that they are "not" putting these bibles together using unbiased critical scholarship. These scholars are not beyond using late texts and questionable translations to throw the light off of biblical errors. My question is how do we deal with this problem when debating Christians? Your insight on this subject is much needed.

Editor's Response to Letter #789

Dear TO. The alteration of John 7:8-10 by some translators is one of the classic cases of apologetic expediency in action. The problem is quite simple. Jesus said he was not going to a feast but he later went secretly. In other words, he lied. In order to elude this dilemma many apologists have concluded that the most viable approach is to rewrite the script. When Jesus says in verse 8, "Go to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast" some have chosen to insert the word "yet" into the text. It would then say, "I am not going up yet to this feast" which clearly implies he would be going later and, in fact, that's what happened.

How do you deal with a problem of this nature? Well, first you make sure everyone is aware of the textual conflicts between the various versions on the market. Versions such as the RSV, the JB, the ASV, the NEB, the NAB, the TEV, and the NASB are candid enough to admit the word "yet" has no business in the script; they don't have it. While those who created the the KJ, the ML, the NIV, the NWT and the LV opted for expediency.

And second, you require those who feel the word "yet" has been properly inserted to prove their arguments while disproving biblicists who disagree. It is their problem; so ask them to reconcile the conflict. The burden of proof is on their shoulders. I would recommend that you obtain issues 66 through 70 which cover issues like this in general and this problem in particular under the heading VERSIONS DIFFER.

Letter #790 from AG of Bradenton, Florida

Dear Dennis. I am new to reading Biblical Errancy but it couldn't have come at a better time. I work for a devout born-again Christian, and am surrounded by the same kind of people as well as a few Mennonites and an Episcopalian, and I am constantly under attack for my beliefs. I am by origin catholic but also went through the born-again stage with the Assembly of God for 2 years. Since then I am back to being a catholic but with many different beliefs. Anyway I have spent many hours reading back issues of Biblical Errancy and none of the hours have been wasted. I am grateful for people like you who shorten our study time by showing fallacies only much research could uncover. I am one of the few believers in God who has read the bible from beginning to end, but I was totally amazed at how many errors I easily overlooked. I appreciate the ammunition you have given me, and the last few days at work I have shut-up the hypocrites. I was able to show them that their inspired scriptures are full of bla-tant errors to which none could give any answer except "I don't know" & "you tell me." Isn't it funny that the one who brings up the question can be discounted, since he doesn't have the answer. Anyway I got the ole "you just haven't felt the power and glory of Jesus" at the end of our discussion, which is the Christian's last desperate attempt to validate his false teachings. We usually have moral discussions but the last few days have been a burning of believers. It's amazing how brainwashed good people can get and then totally deny the obvious for fear of the unknown. Anyway I am sending my annual subscription this week and hope to get a few back issues as well. It will make good bathroom reading material in our office and hopefully open a few minds. Keep up the good work. Maybe you're our savior from the evil of stupidity and closed- mindedness.

Editor's Response to Letter #790

Dear AG. I am glad to see you are slowly but surely making it up and out of the quagmire and using BE in the manner intended. Just send me your address and I will send you a free list of all the materials we have available.

Letter #791 from JDG of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Keep up the good work! Your point-of-view is very clear and stimulating. The chapter entitled "The Philosophy of Biblical Errancy" in your book is a must. I agree with you that "As long as people believe the Bible is God's word, conflicts will continue unabated.

Letter #792 from SS of Angels Camp, CaIifornia

My regrets that the paper issue of BE is drawing to a close. You are to be commended for doing a fine job and bringing enlightenment to many more than you know.... I do not know when my subscription expires but, as you say, keep the change. If not, let me know and I will stay till the very end and then pick you up via the internet. Thanks again for a job well done.