About This List

This list was compiled by Danny Adams <[email protected]>.

He writes:

As these topics are addressed the resolutions will be posted.


GENESIS AND CREATION

Genesis 1:20-22 and 26-27: "And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth...And God said, let us (Trinity reference?--me) make man in our own image...in the image of God he created them; male and female created he them."

Notice here that man and woman are created at the same time. Now in the next passages, still in Genesis, the fowl-man order is reversed. In 2:7 He creates man first, and then creates the fowl in 2:19 afterwards.

The Solution Uncovered

Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 actually tell of one creation. The trip up: a Hebrew literary device.

THE LIMITED OMNISCIENT GOD

Genesis 1:31--And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Apparently He didn't know how his own creation would turn out, because later He changes his mind:

WHERE GOD LIVES

I Kings 8:12--Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

I Timothy 6:16--Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto...

Of course there are a lot of discrepancies between the OT and the NT. The thick darkness obviously refers to Sheol, the original Jewish belief, whereas the unapproachable light is more Christian belief-oriented. At least that's my guess; anyone else is welcome to throw in another idea.

THE FATE OF THE EARTH (another OT-NT contradiction)

Psalm 78:69--And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.

II Peter 3:10--...The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

JESUS' LINEAGE

Matthew 1:6-7--Jesus is descended from David's son Solomon.

Luke 3:31--Jesus is a descendant of David's son Nathan.

ANGER AND SIN

Matthew 5:22--But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry at his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgement...

Ephesians 4:26--Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Maybe I'm interpreting this wrong, but is anger in itself considered a sin or not?

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND

Matthew 7:7-8--Seek and ye shall find...for everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth...

Luke 13:24-25--...For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able...

In the KJV this seems to refer to salvation vs. the gates of Heaven.

FAITH FOR SALVATION VS. WORKS

Romans 3:23-24 and Ephesians 2:8 both say that by faith and God's grace alone are we saved: "...and that not of yourselves," adds Ephesians, "it is the gift of God."

However, and this is the quote I've been looking for so long now, James 2:24 states...and sorry for the caps, but this has bugged me for a long, long time: "YE SEE HOW THAT BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, AND NOT BY FAITH ONLY."

How Did Paul Know So Much

I wondered once before how Paul could know so much about Jesus and his teachings when they'd never met, instead Saul of Tarsus being converted to Christianity by his vision on the road to Damascus. I don't doubt the historical authenticity of this; Paul's post-Christian hating zeal for the new faith is evidence of that enough for me. However, the accounts of his vision seem to contain a major discrepency:

In Acts 9:7, we are told in the account of the vision that "And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man." And yet, unless there was a second group of people with him, Paul contradicts this account in the very same book, chapter 22 verse 9, when he tells us: "And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me." As far as I can tell this can't be two separate visions, for Paul says they are both on the road to Damascus, and recounts the same words from the vision in chapter 22 as he does chapter 9.

Discrepencies about the Crucifixtion

I don't have these on the list I found, but I also found discrepencies about the Crucifixtion itself: like the time of the Resurrection and who came to the tomb. I'll post specific verses when I have them.

But Doesn't Leviticus Say...

I don't so much have contradictions wondered about from the book of Leviticus, though I do wonder how much of what it preaches is practiced today. (And if it's outdated, why should it still be placed in the Canon?) For instance, in Leviticus 17, God is instructing Moses the proper way to offer sacrifices of various kinds of livestock. Chapter 18 deals with uncovering nakedness of various family members; I don't have any problems with following these rules. 18:22 outlaws homosexuality; 18:23 outlaws bestiality. Chapter 19 has more on sacrifices (when they are and aren't acceptable). 19:9 adds "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest."

Eye for an eye notwithstanding, 19:18 tell us to bear no grudges and take no revenge.

19:19 forbids the inbreeding of cattle, mixing of seeds in a field, and forbids anyone to make clothing out of a mix of linen and wool.

19:27 forbids certain grooming practices.

20:9 says that anyone cursing his parents will be put to death.

20:10 gives the same punishment for adultery.

The chapter goes on to give capital punishment to anyone sleeping with other various animals, family members, and people of the same sex.

20:18 says a man should be exiled for sleeping with a woman during her period.

20:27 instructs us, despite what God said about not commiting murder, that anyone with "familiar spirits" or wizards should be killed. Elsewhere we're told "suffer not a witch to live," which I suppose makes them the exception to that Commandment.

There are other rules, such as the one forbidding a woman to wear a man's clothing, but I've already listed more than enough. As with many other chapters in the Old Testament, they were written as God's voice (often punctuated with "I am the Lord thy God"), much as Jesus did in the NT. Does this mean God changed His mind about the rules that they spoke metaphorically, or that Jesus spoke metaphorically in the same way as did his Hebrew forebearers? (I know this is probably going to come off as sounding obnoxious, but it really isn't meant to be.) My biggest question is: How can we know for certain one way or the other? It seems to be all a matter of interpretation; taking things in a broader concept, Jesus did tell us in effect that he didn't come to start a new religion, but to give new revelations, so either He is changing those rules, or not denying that they were the word of God/Elohim, or both.

Reincarnation

HEBREWS 9:27-28 This has been used as a passage to refute a belief in reincarnation, reading in the KJV: "And it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgement: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Reading the Revised Standard, it seems that one "the" was added into 9:27 as a mistranslation. The new translations, regarded thus far as the most accurate to date, read "And it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this judgement." Not THE judgement, only judgement, which is what reincarnationists believe happens to you after you die. Then carrying us to 9:28, some scholars and allegorical interpretists argue that the "once offered" doesn't mean numerically, but something that happened in the past and can happen again. Of course this doesn't make a flawless argument for reincarnation, but it seems to take the wind out of the sails of using the verse against it.

SECRET OR EXTENDED TEACHINGS OF JESUS

Several times in the Bible we're told that Jesus had teachings we weren't told about, and that he did many other things of which we aren't told. Combining this with the Kabala and the secret teachings of the Gnostics in the early days (which much later was condemned as heretical), this gave rise to the belief, for which there are arguments for and against, that the upper echelons of Christianity had secret teachings not passed along to the masses, just as Judaism did and does.

Some quotations referring to this:

I guess that last passage talks about early sects of Christianity just as we have many sects today. But the question this raises to me is: if all we need to know is that being saved will bring us salvation, why do these passages indicate that there is so much more we *aren't* being told?

Finally, aside, from the missing years, apparently Jesus did a great deal we don't know about. In John 21:25 we are told: "There were also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them written, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen."

ELIJAH / ELIAS RETURNED

Literalists say that this is a metaphor comparing John and Elias; that John can't die, because he didn't die a physical death, instead being carried away still in the body. John denied that he was Elijah reborn; Jesus said he was. This can be interpreted as a metaphorical statement on Jesus' part. However, in Matthew 11:14 Jesus categorically tells us that "This is Elias, which was for to come." (Other versions quote this as Elijah.) John himself, in John 1:21-23 still insists that he isn't Elijah; he either didn't believe in reincarnation, or, it seems, he didn't take compliments well.

Some argue that Elijah returned, but if we didn't die then he would have to return as a full-grown man, and we are told several times throughout the Gospels (Matthew 11:11 and others) that he was born of woman. In Luke is an account of the prophecy of his birth, with the (metaphorical) overtones to his mother that he would go with the spirit and power of Elijah.

In Matthew 17:10-13 and Mark 9:9-13, we are told, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him...(talks about the beheading)...So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands."

OK--once again we are told that John is Elijah, metaphorically or otherwise. Another question: What does Jesus mean when he says that Elijah/John will "restore all things"? Isn't that in effect what Jesus came to do?

The modern versions of Luke 1:13-17 about John possessing the spirit and power of Elijah, say that he would not be possessed with it, but are translated to read, "possessed BY the spirit and power of Elias (or Elijah)". Is this a metaphor harkening back to John representing Eliah, or to be taken literally that the spirit of Elias went into the body of John?

CREATION

This is a nice simple question about Genesis. If Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, and Seth were the only people God (and then Adam and Eve) created, just who was it that the young boys married? Who in the land of Cain's exile would see the mark upon his forehead given to him by God? Or did God just create other people that we're not told about in Genesis?

Was Reincarnation Part of Christianity

It's been argued here that reincarnation was not a part of early teachings of Christianity, that it wasn't even discussed; my research has turned up otherwise on both counts, so I'll post that information sometime tomorrow night or Tuesday.


(Religion Page) (Believe) (Proof) (KVJ Bible)
Questions Collected by Danny Adams
www.wwco.com This page updated 15-July-96 by Wls