A simple look at a Bible contradiction

Budoka, is that your question: "Why would God allow the Bible to be so imperfect?" If so, to whom is it addressed?

Thanks for your response to me; "I can accept the odd date being out by a year or two, or disagreements about names of minor players, but when the Bible gives two contradictory commandments it brings the validity of the whole into question, yes."

Now if by validity you're talking about the Bible being God's Perfect Word, I agree. It's not. I believe much of it was inspired, although some of the stories are simply horrible, such as Lot offering his daughters to the mob (a story repeated later); or the general who had to sacrifice his daughter because of a promise to God. But if you're talking about a spiritual guide I believe it works very well, and when you throw Jesus' teachings into the mix, there is none better. Jesus is all about the spiritual life, and I see you as a spiritual person; I would think you'd see that.

As I've said many times, the lessons matter, not the perfection.

P.S. I like your quote from Ueshiba.

SS: "Budoka, is that your question: "Why would God allow the Bible to be so imperfect?" If so, to whom is it addressed?"
It's my question to those who believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God which has never been mistranslated and which contains no contradictions.

"Jesus is all about the spiritual life, and I see you as a spiritual person; I would think you'd see that."
You are obviously a very spiritual person too, SS; unlike many Christians you can accept the fact that the Bible is not perfect.

To them I say: There are lots of good, useful things in the world that are flawed. The Bible might be one of them. GET OVER IT!

 

Zak

Originally posted by LightBearer
JESUS opened his Sermon on the Mount with a series of nine statements that describe persons who are truly happy. In the first of these “happinesses,” Jesus said: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.”—Matt. 5:3, NW; An American Translation.

“Those conscious of their spiritual need” are, according to the literal Greek of Matthew, persons “poor [as] to the spirit.” Luke’s parallel account reports Jesus as saying: “Happy are you poor, because yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20) Jesus pointed out that an important reason for his coming as Messiah was “to declare good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18) This does not indicate any special merit in being poor or that the poor automatically have God’s favor. But, primarily, those who followed Jesus and had been given the hope of sharing in the blessings of God’s kingdom were drawn from among the poor or common people. (1 Cor. 1:26-29; Jas. 2:5) Those downtrodden ones knew themselves to be poor “as to spirit” (spiritually) too. Rather than succumbing to bitterness due to external circumstances, they became “conscious of their spiritual need,” more fully aware of their dependence on God.
In contrast, Jesus declared: “But woe to you rich persons, because you are having your consolation in full.” (Luke 6:24) Material wealth often dulls consciousness of spiritual need. An example can be seen in Jesus’ words of rebuke to certain Christians at Laodicea, Asia Minor: “You say: ‘I am rich and have acquired riches and do not need anything at all,’ but you do not know [that is, are not conscious that spiritually] you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked.”—Rev. 3:17.

The reason for happiness on the part of those conscious of their spiritual need is that “the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.” They accepted Jesus as Messiah, and this opened up opportunities for them to rule with him in God’s heavenly kingdom by Christ. (Luke 22:30; John 14:1-4) How it must have warmed the hearts of humble “commoners” to learn that they could be in line for the kingdom of God, whereas rich and highly educated persons who trusted in their wealth and viewed the common people as “accursed” were not! (John 7:49) Of course, wealthy persons could manifest the same spirit of humility and a spiritual appreciation that would gain happiness for them as well.—1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 1:9, 10.

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I agree with what you say apart from the linking of Matthew's version with Luke's version. These are two different statements with different meaning. Lukes version should be looked at in the context of poverty since its opposite is  "woe to you that rich".  The contradiction is that in the old testament the righteous were rewarded with material wealth which is an impediment to spirituality in the new testament. Whats the use of making one rich so that he can become blind?

Assume that Matthew did not write beatitudes, how you would you have understood Luke's version?

You may want to go Theology section under "is lack of finance = lack of faith" topic where we are dicussing this topic 

This one is simply two separate incidents involving to separate individuals versed in the Law.

he setting, recorded at Luke 10:25-29, shows that the illustration was given in reply to the question, “Who really is my neighbor?” and takes place months before the account in Matthew which happened 3 days before Jesus death while teaching in the temple.

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I don't think so. The chronology of events in the Gospels are not similar.