There is no such thing as The Bible

Very good of you to point all of this out to people. Although I know it wasn't intentional, what you stated actually portrays a much more harmonious picture than actually exists. The worst contradictions are the inter-text contridictions, such as Ezra and Nehmiah, which contain page after page of differing numbers on the return from Babylon and the reconstruction of the temple (which NIV, as always, smooths over without telling the readers). I personally like the NIV because it points out when there are inter-text contradictions, and - when there are multiple manuscripts for a given part of the bible - inter-manuscript contradictions.Also good of you to point out was the Isaiah prophecy. The prophecy in Isaiah refers to almah, which means "young woman" or "maiden". While almah can mean virgin, something so specific as *virgin birth* would almost definitely use the more technical term, bethusaleh. In English, you wouldn't say, "A young woman shall conceive and give birth to a son" when you meant to talk about something as dramatic as parthenogenesis. And it is worth adding that the Israelites were not at all hesitant about using the term bethusaleh (it's not taboo) - it is used all over the bible.------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."

There's a thousand responses I could post to this, but I don't want diverging tangents. So, let's just pick one:Hey Joralex, which is true: Ezra or Nehemiah?(P.S. - you still never responded to my linguistic and interperative criticism in the homosexuality thread ).------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."