Two articles appear below:

1   Biblical Doubletalk
2   Biblical Clarity

Biblical Doubletalk

(Investigator 135, 2010 November)


JC's sermon on the mount? Where did he do it?

Matthew chapter 6 …he went up into a mountain.  OR
Luke 6:17 ...and he came down with them and stood in the plain... OR
Neither Mark nor John mention any such sermon.

Conclusion: It never happened; just another myth.

Be wise or a fool?

Proverbs 3 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom... OR
Corinthians 1 I will destroy the wisdom of the wise...

Conclusion: A contradiction?

God loves you? Hates you?

John 4 God is love.  OR
Psalms 7 God is angry with the wicked every day...

Conclusion: A contradiction?

See God and die? or be o.k.?

Exodus 33 See God and die. OR
Genesis 32 "I [Jacob] have seen God face to face and am alive...
Also Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abraham, and 70 elders of Israel saw God and were o.k.

Conclusion: What a bunch of conmen, how can you see something that does not exist.

God knows everything or nothing?

Proverbs 15. God sees and knows everything.  OR
Exodus 12 ...and when I see the blood I will pass over you...

Conclusion: If God knows everything, why did he require the Israelites to mark their houses with blood so that he could "pass over" them? This imaginary God sees and knows nothing.

JC's ascension — taken up into heaven

Matthew 16 At a dinner in Jerusalem OR
Acts l Near Mount Olivet OR
Luke 24 Outdoors near Bethany OR
Matthew 28 Near a mountain in Galilee.

Conclusion: Just another fairy tale.

Was JC the seed of David via Joseph or the son of God?


Romans l JC our Lord was made of the seed of David according to the flesh...  OR
Matthew l Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the holy ghost… (dirty devil)

Conclusion: Who is your daddy?

Thou shalt not kill — except on God's orders

Exodus 20 Thou shalt not kill. OR
Deuteronomy 20 ...But thou shalt utterly destroy them, the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites.
Judges 14 ...and the spirit of the lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 men of them...
Ezekiel 9 "and the lord said unto them, defile the house, fill the courts with the slain, go ye forth," and they went forth and slew the city...

Conclusion: A killer god.

Thou shalt love thy enemies or curse, hate and slay them?

Matthew 5 ..."whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also..." OR
Luke 11 "he that is not with me, is against me and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth..."
Deuteronomy 6 "...lest the anger of the lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth...
Deuteronomy 29 ...and the lord will not spare him but then the anger of the lord and his jealousy shall smote against that man…
Luke 19 "but those mine (JC's) enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay before me..."

Conclusion: Our mythical god does prefer killing.

Honour thy father and mother, but it's not JC's way.

Exodus 20 Honour thy father and mother...
Luke 18 Honour thy father and mother...
Matthew 15 ...for God commanded saying-honour thy father and mother... OR
Matthew l0 ...for I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother...
Luke 12 ...the father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father...
Luke 14 ...if any man comes to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple...

Conclusion: Double talk.

JC commands his disciples to preach only to Jews? or to all nations?

Matthew l0 JC sent forth and commanded them saying, go not unto the way of the Gentiles, and unto any city of the Samaritans enter ye not...but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… OR
Matthew 28 ...go ye therefore and teach all nations

Conclusions: He cannot make up his mind?

JC and God are the same? or God is greater than JC? or JC was just an ordinary man?

John l0 "I and my father are one." OR
John 14 "I go unto the father for my father is greater than I" OR
Acts 2 JC of Nazareth (Nazareth did not exist at that time) a man approved of God among you.

Conclusion: Double talk.

It would take a book larger than The Bible to record all the double talk and contradictions contained in the world's greatest fairy story book, The Bible.

Brian de Kretser
Institute for Research into Religions Darwin, N.T. Australia.

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BIBLICAL CLARITY

Anonymous

(Investigator 136, 2011 January)


Mr De Kretser's examples of "Biblical Doubletalk" (#135) are easily answered.

1. Was the Sermon on the Mount on a mount or on a plain?

Probably both. The sermon "on the Mount" was on the mount, and a similar sermon was on the plain. Politicians, evangelists and others who speak publicly may repeat their message at different venues and so did Jesus.

An alternative explanation is that "plain" can be translated "level place" (Luke 6:17 NRSV) so that Jesus descended from the mountain-peak to a level place on the mountain.


2. The book of Proverbs teaches wisdom but 1 Corinthians 1 says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise"?


The "wisdom" in Proverbs consists of rules and attitudes that promote health, long life, prosperity, good relationships, fine reputations, and peace.  "Wisdom" in Corinthians Chapter 1, however, refers to Greek philosophy and rhetoric.

An interesting study would be to investigate whether 1st century Greek "wisdom" has survived scientific scrutiny and is relevant today. Has it done as well as the Bible or is much of it "destroyed"? Proverbs is still relevant in the 21st century and gives scientifically validated counsel in numerous areas including child rearing (#131) and sexual morality (#48).



3. "God is love" yet is "angry with the wicked".

This is not a contradiction. We've all known parents who loved their children but, on occasion, were angry with them. Love and anger are compatible emotions which can exist concurrently in the same person.


4. No one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20); yet 70 elders of Israel saw God (Exodus 24:9-11).

In Exodus 24:10 where the elders "saw God" the Hebrew "raah" corresponds to the English "see" and like the English can refer to either literal sight or to mental sight i.e. comprehension. In 24:11 the Bible clarifies which is meant by switching to the Hebrew "hazah" which refers to seeing figuratively i.e. an event in the mind. The Companion Bible (which is the King James with explanatory notes) explains:
"Heb. Hazah, to see with the mental eye, or in vision (Isa. 1:1; 2:1; 13:1. Ezek. 13:7. Amos 1:1. Mic. 1:1. Hab. 1:1. Num. 24:4, 16) Hence to discern, observe, contemplate, understand."
Humans cannot see God literally but can experience Him.


5. Were the biblical writers "conmen", as De K accuses, since God does not exist?

If God doesn't exist, then let De K demonstrate that a Universe based on scientific "constants" compatible with intelligence and life able to understand the Universe, can originate from non-intelligence and non-life and without planning.



6. God is all-seeing and all-knowing yet the Israelites had to mark their houses prior to the Tenth Plague on Egypt so the "Angel" would "pass over".

When the Israelites marked their doors with blood, it was not only to identify themselves as Israelites but to demonstrate faith and acceptance of God's judgment.


7. From where did Jesus ascend to heaven: At a dinner? A mountain in Galilee? Near Bethany"? Mount Olivet?


The dinner (John 20:19-23) and the mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20) have no mention of Christ's ascension.
Bethany near where Jesus ascended (Luke 24:50-53) is not the Bethany across the Jordan River (John 1:28) but a village: "on the farther side of the Mount of Olives on the Road to Jericho." (New Bible Dictionary, 1982, p. 132) Acts chapter 1 likewise locates Christ's ascension on the Mount of Olives.



8. Was Jesus the "seed of David" through Joseph, or was Jesus God's son?


Both. Jesus, according to the Bible, was King David's heir by human descent through Mary and by adoption through Joseph, but also God's "son" by supernatural pregnancy.

Today, non-sexual pregnancy including virgin pregnancies can be achieved by "in vitro fertilization". Such pregnancies, however, do not prove that doctors are, in De K's words, "dirty devils". Any doctor so-labeled could sue for slander. Similarly Mary's supernatural pregnancy from "the holy spirit" was not anything "dirty".

We can believe Jesus' birth happened as the Bible teaches because:
a.    There is sound evidence for God's existence;
b.    The Old Testament foretold a "messiah" of virgin birth whose teachings would change the entire world;
c.    We have evidence for the supernatural based on other dimensions and gravity (#126) i.e. from physics and mathematics;
d.    Science has already proved hundreds of other biblical claims correct.

9. "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13) versus killing of the Canaanites.

British troops killed Japanese in World War II but this does not make Britain's government a "killer government" or murderers. School children are able to distinguish killing in warfare from murdering one's neighbor — but De K apparently lacks this school-child ability. The killing of Canaanites occurred in warfare whereas "Thou shalt not kill" refers to interaction between neighbors.


10. "Love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 6:44) versus slay them (Luke 19).

"Turn the other cheek" is the proper Christian response to insults. Luke 19:27, however, refers to the return of Christ when human rebellion has finished its course and evildoers who have not repented must face judgment.
 


11. "Honor father and mother" (Exodus 20:12) versus "I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers…" (Matthew 10:34-36)

Intra-family conflict can occur when some family members follow Jesus but other family members oppose their faith. The instruction to honor one's parents is quite consistent with the prediction that some family members will oppose Christianity.  


12. Don't preach to Gentiles (Matthew 10:5-6) versus "teach all nations". (Matthew 28:19)

A ministry limited to Israel came first followed by the command to "teach all nations". Each one of us does many things every day and every year and not just one thing. This is not, as De K suggests, because we "cannot make up our mind" but because the fourth dimension is time and we exist in it and do different things as time passes. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) We should note that "teach all nations" was an incredible prediction impossible to fulfill, yet it progressively happened! Evidence for the Bible is powerful, unlike De K's points!

13. "I and my father are one" (John 10:30).

This refers to being in agreement — Jesus in prayer said: "that they [the disciples] may be one just as you and I are one." (John 17:11)


14. "Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts 2:22). De K claims Nazareth did not exist in the 1st century.

This common claim of atheists was decisively refuted in 2009 when archaeologists excavated a first-century Nazareth house. (#131, p. 27)


Conclusion

Biblical clarity together with science refutes atheism.


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