Sometimes there are numerical and mathematical discrepancies between bible translations. Example: in 2 Sam 15:7 Absalom worked on his coup of David’s kingdom for 40 years in some translations, but four years in other translations. What do we do about those?
Continue readingCategory Archives: Textual Criticism
Answering criticism of the biblical text by skeptics.
The Christmas Story
The pop-culture version of the Christmas story is that Jesus was born one night under a star and three wise men (the Magi) showed up and gave him a bunch of gifts. Then immediately that same night they fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s infanticide. This is an over-simplification that is filled with contradictions.
Continue readingContradiction: Jesus Anointed at Bethany
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell the story of Jesus being anointed by a woman with oil (named Mary Magdelene in some accounts), and she is scolded for it (by Judas in John’s account), but some details don’t seem to harmonize across all four Gospel accounts. It seems that they are different events but with similar actions, or in the same event with conflicting details.
Continue readingContradiction: Paul Conversion Testimony
Let’s take a look at one of those “contradiction” controversies. In the book of Acts, Luke records Paul’s testimony about his conversion to following Jesus three different times. The first time is the event itself, and the second and third are retellings by Paul before the authorities. There seems to be a discrepancy between them.
Continue readingDid God Rape Mary?
A bible skeptic once made the argument that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was raped by God because she didn’t give consent for Jesus’ birth. Is this true? Is there any evidence to the contrary?
Continue readingExodus 4:24-26 The Deadly Circumcision
Exodus 4:24-26 involves a circumcision that happened under pressure from the threat of God’s judgment. It seems God was willing to kill Moses right after calling him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Why would he do that, even after he told Moses that it has to be him when Moses asked him to send someone else? This incident seems to imply there was a failure to properly circumcision in Moses’s family. Since circumcision was a part of the requirements for the Abrahamic covenant and Moses was leading the Israelites, it was important that he at least kept that rule.
Continue readingExodus vs Numbers: Firstborn Male Redemption
Some people view Numbers 3:39-50 as a contradiction of Exodus 13:1-16 and Exodus 34:19-20, on the topic of firstborn male sacrifice and substitution. However, there is a simple explanation for why the rules have changed.
Continue readingCommand: You Shall Not Lie
Is lying a sin? Yes, but oftentimes some people point out biblical characters “lying” and not getting punished for it. Or use it to personally attack people for saying something untrue without examining their motives. Some have claimed that it was lying when King Solomon threatened to cut a child in half to reveal who the real mother was. Or that God lied when he told Abraham he wanted Isaac to be sacrificed. God also threatened to kill the Israelites and start over with Moses but didn’t follow through with it, did he lie? The real questions are, what is a lie, and why is it a sin?
Continue readingGospel Contradictions: Blind Men and Demons
There are four gospels and they are all slightly different because they were written by different people who either witnessed or talk to witnesses of the same events. Some variation is natural so it should be expected, however, the bible is still spiritually inspired so minor variations are not contradictions and yet some bible skeptics will make a big deal out of them. The story of Jesus exorcising the legion of demons is one of the more famous stories of Jesus. There are two men possessed by a legion of demons in Matthew 8:28-34, but only one demon-possessed man is mentioned in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39. Also, there are two blind men in Matthew 20:29-34 but only one blind people mentioned in Luke 18:35-43, and he is named (Bartimaeus ) in Mark 10:46-52. Is this a contradiction?
Continue readingEsau’s Wives
How many wives did Esau have? He first had 2 Hittite wives, Basemath daughter of Elon, and Judith daughter of Beeri in Gen 26:34–35. Then the sister of Nebaioth, Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath (Gen 28:8-9). But then later it says in Gen 36:2-3 that his wives are Adah the daughter of Elon, Bashemath the daughter of Ishmael, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite. Esau’s children were Eliphaz (from Adah), Reuel (from Bashemath), and Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah (all 3 from Aholibamah).
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