help. Locked in spiritual battle...

[RMDY]

I'm locked in a spiritual battle with this guy with many people watching on the sidelines and some people supporting him, and he dropped this bomb on me, which if I can't defend against, would silence me and discredit Christ amongst many many people. So please, I ask for your prayers and for helping in dealing with this...


This is what he said to me:

"Btw, this is what you listen to. Contradictions of the bible

Who incited David to count the fighting men of Israel?

(a) God did (2 Samuel 24: 1)

(b) Satan did (I Chronicles 2 1:1 )

==================

In that count how many fighting men were found in Israel?

(a) Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9 )

(b) One million, one hundred thousand (IChronicles 21:5)

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How many fighting men were found in Judah?

(a) Five hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9 )

(b) Four hundred and seventy thousand (I Chronicles 21:5 )


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God sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine?

(a) Seven (2 Samuel 24:13 )

(b) Three (I Chronicles 21:12 )

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How old was Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem?

(a) Twenty-two (2 Kings 8:26)

(b) Forty-two (2 Chronicles 22:2 )

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How old was Jehoiachin when he became king of Jerusalem?

(a) Eighteen (2 Kings 24:8 )

(b) Eight (2 Chronicles 36:9 )

====================

How long did he rule over Jerusalem?

(a) Three months (2 Kings 24:8 )

(b) Three months and ten days (2 Chronicles 36:9 )

====================

The chief of the mighty men of David lifted up his spear and killed how many men at one time?

(a) Eight hundred (2 Samuel 23:8 )

(b) Three hundred (I Chronicles 11: 11)


====================

When did David bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem? Before defeating the Philistines or after?

(a) After (2 Samuel 5 and 6)

(b) Before (I Chronicles 13 and 14)

======================

How many pairs of clean animals did God tell Noah to take into the Ark?

(a) Two (Genesis 6:19, 20)

(b) Seven (Genesis 7:2). But despite this last instruction only two pairs went into the ark (Genesis 7:8-9)


=====================

When David defeated the King of Zobah, how many horsemen did he capture?

(a) One thousand and seven hundred (2 Samuel 8:4)

(b) Seven thousand (I Chronicles 18:4)

===================

How many stalls for horses did Solomon have?

(a) Forty thousand (I Kings 4:26)

(b) Four thousand (2 chronicles 9:25)

====================

In what year of King Asa's reign did Baasha, King of Israel die?

(a) Twenty-sixth year (I Kings 15:33 - 16:8)

(b) Still alive in the thirty-sixth year (2 Chronicles 16:1)

====================

How many overseers did Solomon appoint for the work of building the temple?

(a) Three thousand six hundred (2 Chronicles 2:2)

(b) Three thousand three hundred (I Kings 5:16)

=====================

Solomon built a facility containing how many baths?

(a) Two thousand (1 Kings 7:26)

(b) Over three thousand (2 Chronicles 4:5)

====================

Of the Israelites who were freed from the Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab?

(a) Two thousand eight hundred and twelve (Ezra 2:6)

(b) Two thousand eight hundred and eighteen (Nehemiah 7:11)


====================

How many were the children of Zattu?

(a) Nine hundred and forty-five (Ezra 2:8)

(b) Eight hundred and forty-five (Nehemiah 7:13)


====================

Did Joshua and the Israelites capture Jerusalem?

(a) Yes (Joshua 10:23, 40)

(b) No (Joshua 15:63)

====================

Jesus descended from which son of David?

(a) Solomon (Matthew 1:6)

(b) Nathan(Luke3:31)

====================

How did Simon Peter find out that Jesus was the Christ?

(a) By a revelation from heaven (Matthew 16:17)

(b) His brother Andrew told him (John 1:41)

=====================

When Jesus met Jairus was Jairus’ daughter already dead?

(a) Yes. Matthew 9:18 quotes him as saying, “My daughter has just died.”

(b) No. Mark 5:23 quotes him as saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death.”

=====================

Did Herod think that Jesus was John the Baptist?

(a) Yes (Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:16)

(b) No (Luke 9:9)

=====================

According to the Gospel of John, what did Jesus say about bearing his own witness?

(a) “If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true” (John 5:3 1)

(b) “Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true” (John 8:14)

=====================

Did Judas kiss Jesus?

(a) Yes (Matthew 26:48-50)

(b) No. Judas could not get close enough to Jesus to kiss him (John 18:3-12)

=====================

Did Jesus bear his own cross?

(a) Yes (John 19:17)

(b) No (Matthew 27:31-32)

=====================

(a) Yes(Matthew27:50-5 1;MarklS:37-38)

(b) No. After the curtain was torn, then Jesus crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last (Luke 23:45-46)

=====================

Did Jesus say anything secretly?

(a) No. “I have said nothing secretly” (John 18:20)

(b) Yes. “He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything” (Mark 4:34). The disciples asked him “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13: 1 0-11)

=====================

Where was Jesus at the sixth hour on the day of the crucifixion?

(a) On the cross (Mark 15:23)

(b) In Pilate’s court (John 19:14)

====================

What was the exact wording on the cross?

(a) “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37)

(b) “The King of the Jews” (Mark 15:26)

© “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38)

(d) “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19)

====================

Did Herod want to kill John the Baptist?

(a) Yes (Matthew 14:5)

(b) No. It was Herodias, the wife of Herod who wanted to kill him. But Herod knew that he was a righteous man and kept him safe (Mark 6:20)

====================

Who was the tenth disciple of Jesus in the list of twelve?

(a) Thaddaeus (Matthew 10: 1-4; Mark 3:13 -19)

(b) Judas son of James is the corresponding name in Luke’s gospel (Luke 6:12-16)

==================

(a) Adam was told that if and when he eats the forbidden fruit he would die the same day (Genesis 2:17)

(b) Adam ate the fruit and went on to live to a ripe old age of 930 years (Genesis 5:5)

===================

(a) God decided that the life-span of humans will be limited to 120 years (Genesis 6:3)

(b) Many people born after that lived longer than 120. Arpachshad lived 438 years. His son Shelah lived 433 years. His son Eber lived 464 years, etc. (Genesis 11:12-16)

===================

Would you like me to keep going? I have plenty more where that came from."

 

[Protoevangel]

If you fancy yourself an apologist, there are rather easy "issues" to deal with.

If you are unable to answer this critic, it would probably be more beneficial for your own soul to learn humility through this encounter.



But let us look at the first one... The answer is: God works by means.

Let me illustrate.

If I say that the wind is blowing, and moving the windmill to be productive, I am correct.
If you say that God is moving the windmill, you are correct.

To a person who is stuck in the mindset of your atheist friend, there is a clear contradiction to be had here, yet neither statement is wrong. If someone has an agenda to find contradictions, they will be able to find them in the silliest places.

Whether God uses Satan, an Angel, an ass, another person, or the wind... God uses means.


As for the rest... Perhaps someone will walk you through an explanation of them... But do be careful, and remember the words of our Lord:

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."
- Matthew 7:6
​

And let me ask you this: If you can't find an explanation for one of these alleged contradictions... What will that mean to your faith?

 

[buzuxi02]

You shouldnt try to debate this aspect with a person who overanalyzes small trivial matters. This person will always try to find something to justify his reasoning. Also theres no outlet to discus the interpretations and common sense understanding of some of these passages.

For instance the title "King of the Jews" over the cross. What is the contradiction? We know this title does not originate from christian usage, It has never been used by christians or the early church but is a unique insight into a historical event. Christians have always refered to Jesus as Son of God, Christ, Prince of Peace, high priest etc. When refering to Christ as king, it is king over all, both jew and greek, slave and free, man and woman, not only to the jews. The gospels relate a historical event orchestrated by the roman soldiers to show what accusation he was convicted of and to tick off the jews at the same time. Who cares what the exact wording is? This is why we have 4 gospels! To relate 4 points of view. If it was neccesary for everything to be identical then one gospel would have sufficed, or the early church would have created a single composite gospel.

In the case of John the Baptist, its pretty self explanatory as to what Herod thought, both before and after the beheading. So why is this individual scrutinizing every literary device trying to uncover things that are not there? Herod beheaded Christ reluctantly after he gave an oath to Herodias daughter. We also know that many saw Jesus as the return of Elijah or John the Baptist or possible the coming of the prophet who is like Moses which God promised. Likewise many saw John the Baptist as the return of Elijah. This did not escape the attention of Herod who was a believer of his jewish traditions, lore and customs. These jewish traditions expected the return of Elijah, the revealing of a prophet such as John the Baptist to be Elijah temporarily in disguise, the coming of a messiah and the prophet spoken to Moses in Deut 18.18 as being distinct from the messiah.

We know the synoptics place the events leading up to the ressurection as paralleling the passover, the last supper being a sedarb etc, where John's gospel uses a more historic approach in its timeline. Theres reasons for this that no one in history has found troubling, does he think hes the first to uncover this? In Judaism these inconsistencies found in the OT has a branch of study all on its own, its called the Midrash.

Now let me give you an example to understand why such argumentation is fruitless. The individual believes that at the moment of eating the fruit Adam should have physically died, and perhaps justified if he stopped reading at that point and not a few paragraphs more. This story has been read innumerable times down through the centuries, from theologians, academics, skeptics, rabbis, atheists, common believers, yet none have ever seen the contradiction this person claims. Adam and Eve died a spiritual death, they no longer were innocent as babes but would have to battle their carnal passions and inflictions, hence they immediately realized they were naked, they developed an awareness of good and bad etc.

To take it a step further lets bring the element of interpretation into this, at how the Church Fathers have interpreted this from the very beginnings of Christianity. After Adam and Eve's transgression, they were ushered out of Eden in order they not eat of the tree of life and live forever. The tree of life was part two of the devils plan for enslaving mankind, man's new inclination toward sin would have lead him to eat of the tree of life and be immortal in corruption. God instead has given us the tree of life, The cross of Christ through which we become incorrupt

This punishment of returning to dust was out of mercy. The Fathers explained that the loving God not wanting his highest creation to live in sin eternally took them away from the tree of life which had become another temptation, for the serpent implanted in their mind that they shall not surely die but be like God.

As the Fathers explained, God's mercy allows man to die than be immortal in his sins. It is better to put an end to life than live immortally in a corrupt state which worsens with each passing year with ailments and afflictions. Thus Adam would return to dust.
And because physical Death is the vehicle which puts an end to sin, God capped life to 120 seeing the INCREASING wickedness of man and at that point the life span of man began to steadily decline. Yes many lived to be hudreds of years old such as the descendants of righteous Noah who alone survived the flood, but the life span continued to decline in proportion to the increase of sin amongst man.

This steady decline started long before God made it public, as Adam lived 930 years but after the flood the life span was cut in half. By the time King David lived, he lamented in the psalm, "what is a man's life but seventy to eighty years".

Thus the christian teaching of death thru ancestral sin and life span is lost on this fellow, who instead concentrates on the letter of the law than the spirit of the law.

 

[laconicstudent]

I'd like to point out that the Bible isn't always concerned with precise historicity. Like the contradiction of how many fighting men were found in Judah, who the 10th Disciple was, the age of Ahaziah when he assumed the throne etc. etc. because these things are trivial compared to the overall message...

 

[TravisD]

I am one of those Christians who believe there are absolutely no contradictions in the bible. I believe this because I've been unsuccessful in finding any. I looked through the first 5 supposed contradictions this guy gave you. Here are 5 explanations as to why and how they are not contradictions...

*****I had to remove the links because my post count is less than 50. I will send them to you in a message if it allows me.*****

I can help you find explanations for the rest of the supposed contradictions if you need it. It may take time but let me know.

It's a shame because no matter how many of these contradictions you crush, he can find more to throw at you. For every supposed contradiction, there IS an explanation to refute it. A good way to find an answer is by searching Google for the two verses in question (ex. 2 Samuel 24: 1 1 Chronicles 2 1:1) It might be a waste of time to go through every single one with this guy. Did he even read the scriptures that he claims is a contradiction? Maybe he just found a website and did the ol' copy and paste

You can test him out by explaining the first "contradiction" and leaving it open for a response. See if he changes the subject or inquires about the rest. Whatever the case, Protoevangel pointed out a good verse about casting your pearls before swine. We still have to consider all the other folks involved in the debate also. I hope this helps. God bless and keep praying for his Guidance!

--------------------
Walk with Jesus!

 

[Blackknight]

This is the same old list of contradictions that people always copy and paste. If you seek contradictions, you will find them. If you look at scripture with an open mind and have the Holy Spirit as a guide you will come to understand the true message.

 

[Joshua G.]

these things used to make me very nervous. then I let go of Sola Scriptura and the Bible as inspired by God takes on a whole new context within the guiding arms of the Church.

So, when I look at the contradictions, I can see that some of those are bogus and based off of a poor underrstanding of Christianity. Others, i don't really have an answer for nor do I really seek one. maybe the person just got the numbers wrong? Or perhaps the numbers in that case are to represent a greater truth? I don't know. All I know is that if I want a history lesson, I go to archeology and ancient censuses if they exist. If I want to learn how and why God loves me and how Jesus offers me salvation, I go to the Scriptures.

Joshua