THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD?

Biblical Errancy Pamphlets

byDennis McKinsey

THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD?

Dear Believer:
I can't accept the Bible as God's Word because it contains hundreds of problems and contradictions that can't be solved, only rationalized. I ask only that you read what follows in line with James' teaching that Christians should be "open to reason" (James 3:17 RSV) and Isaiah's belief that we should "reason together" (Isa. 1:18) to see just a few of the Book's many shortcomings.

1. If you must accept Jesus as your Savior in order to be saved (John
14:6), what about the billions of beings that die as fetuses, infants,
and mentally deficient, etc.? For them to accept Jesus would be
impossible. So they are condemned to hell because of conditions over
which they had no control. Deut. 32:4 says God is just, but where is
the justice?

2. Why are we being punished for Adam's sin? After all, he ate the
forbidden fruit, we didn't. It's his problem, not ours, especially in
light of Deut. 24:16, which says children shall not be punished for the
sins of their fathers.

3. God created Adam, so he must have been perfect. How then, could he
have sinned? Regardless of how much free will he had, if he chose to
sin, he wasn't perfect.

4. How can Num. 23:19, which says God doesn't repent, be reconciled
with Ex. 32:14, which clearly says he does?

5. How can 2 Kings 8:26, which says Ahaziah began to rule at age 22,
be reconciled with 2 Chron. 22:2, which says he was 42?

6. How can Ex. 33:20, which says no man can see God's face and live, be
squared with Gen. 32:30, which says a man saw God's face and his life
was preserved?

7. Rom. 3:23 says "all have sinned." All means all. Yet, Gen. 6:9 says
Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. Job 1:1 & 1 :8 say
Job was perfect. How could these men have been perfect if all have
sinned?

8. How could Moses have written the first five books in the Bible (the
Pentateuch) when his own death and burial are described in Deut. 34:5-6
("So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab ...
and he buried him in a valley. . . .")?

9. Did Solomon have 40,000 stalls for his horses (1 Kings 4:26) or 4,000
(2 Chron. 9:25)? Did Solomon's house contain 2,000 baths (1 Kings 7:26)
or 3,000 (2 Chron. 4:5)?

10. Paul says Christianity lives or dies on the Resurrection (1 Cor.
15:14,17). Yet, why would it be of any consequence since the Widow at
Nain's son, Jairus's daughter, Lazarus, and many others rose before
Jesus? By the time he rose this was a rather common occurrence. I
would think it would have been met by a resounding yawn rather than
surprise followed by: So what else can you do. Adam's act of coming
into the world as a full grown adult is more spectacular.

11. Was Jehoiachin 18 years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem and
did he reign 3 months (2 Kings 24:8), or was he 8 years old and reigned
3 months and 10 days (2 Chron. 36: 9). Did Nebuzaradan come to
Jerusalem on the 7th (2 Kings 25:8) or 10th (Jer. 52:12) day of the 5th
month?

12. How could we follow the 6th Commandment, even if we wanted to, when
the authors of the various versions of the Bible can't agree on whether
the key word is "kill" or “murder”? Surely they recognize the
difference?

13. We are told the Bible has no scientific errors, yet it says the bat is a bird (Lev. 11:13,19), hares chew the cud (Lev. 11:5-6), and some fowl (Lev. 11:20-21) and insects (Lev. 11:22-23) have four legs.

14. Matt. 27:9-10 quotes a prophecy made by Jeremy the prophet. Yet, no
Bible believer has ever been able to show me where it lies in the Book
of Jeremiah.

15. Heaven is supposed to be a perfect place. Yet, it experienced a war
(Rev. 12:7). How can there be a war in a perfect place and if it
happened before why couldn't it happen again? Why would I want to go to
a place in which war can occur? That's exactly what I'm trying to
escape, aren't you?

16. Believers are told in Mark 16:17-18 that they can drink "any deadly
thing" and "it shall not hurt” them. But I don't think you would be
naive enough to drink any arsenic offered. Perhaps I'm wrong and you
would be willing to test the Book's veracity-"lay it on the line" so to
speak?

17. We are told salvation is obtained by faith alone (John 3:18,36) "
yet Jesus told a man to follow the Commandments-Matt. 19:16-18 (saving
by works)-if he wanted eternal life.

18. According to the text there are 29 cities listed in Joshua 15:21-32
(RSV). One need only count them to see that biblical math is not to be
trusted. The total is 36.

19. Surely you don't believe Eccl. 1:9 RSV ("What has been is what will
be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new
under the sun")? How many cities had an atomic bomb dropped on them
prior to 1945, and how many people walked on the moon before 1969?

20. If the Bible is our moral guide, then how can it make pornographic
statements such as: “...they may eat their own dung and drink their own
piss with you" (2 Kings 18:27)? Is that what you want your children
reading on Sunday?

21. If God created everything, (Col. 1:16, Eph. 3:9, Rev. 4:11, John
1:3), then he did create the world's evil (Isa. 45:7, Lam. 3:38). Thus,
he is responsible.

22. In Psalm 139:7-11 we are told God is everywhere. If so, why would
God need to come down to earth to see a city (Gen. 11:5) when he is
already here? And how could Satan leave the presence of the Lord (Job
1: 12, 2:7)?


Job 1:12 (NKJV) "...So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord."


23. For justice to exist, punishment must fit the crime. No matter how
many bad deeds one commits in this world, there is a limit. Yet, hell's
punishment is infinitely greater. It’s eternal.

24. Last, in Acts 20:35 Paul told people “to remember the words of the
Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Since Jesus never made such a biblical statement, isn't Paul guilty of
deception?

These examples expose only a few of the many reasons I can't accept the
Bible as the word of a perfect being. A far greater number can be found
in the monthly publication, BIBLICAL ERRANCY, which is “An international
periodical focusing on biblical errors, contradictions, and fallacies,
while providing a hearing for apologists.”