Squaring circles: direct biblical contradictions

My biggest issues as far as Biblical contradictions have to do with moral contradictions/inconsistencies with the nature of God i.e. how can the good, loving God of the NT advocate slavery, buchering innocent children etc in the OT. That would be worth discussing as well.I look to the Bible much as Thomas Jefferson did. That is as a human-created religious book of antichoty which does have some (though not all) rather good moral advice to follow (i.e. Proverbs is one of my favorite books as well as many of Jesus sayings in the Gospel). Even though I disagree with using it as a religious primer I think that like any other book, we can take the good out and leave the bad. I know this is blasphamy to religious believers but realize that I am not a religious person.However, I do agree that many of the nitpicking little contradictions that have been given previously are to me not really contradictions but inherent to all literature especially books of antichoty and as GM pointed out must be viewed in the light of the worldview of that day and age. This of course does not make the attrocities in the Bible (especially the OT) any better than those conducted by any other civilization of that day and age.

---

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

If you are advocating the Bible as a historical account of the origin of the Israelite people than I have no beef with this and therefore no beef with your interpretation of the Bible.However this is not the perspective many fundamentalist Christians have. How do I know? I used to be one. Ok, I have no beef with this religious belief either. I am just curious how does this jive with verses such as:I Samuel 15:29 "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."And not only does the Bible say God never changes, it also says his word never changes:Psalms 119:89 "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."Psalms 119:144 "Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live."Psalms 111:7-8 "The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness"Matthew 5:18 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."I Peter 1:25-25 "For, 'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.' And this is the word that was preached to you"Of course this is all accepting what these people are saying is true of there interpretation of the character of God.In addition, every type of Christian church I have been to (Independent Baptist, Southern Baptist, Independent Christian Church, Church of Christ, Methodist, etc) has stated that the character nature of God does not change and his word does not change. No this is not the entirety of Christiandom but it is a large segment of it.To me, I just think you have a less literal interpretation of the Bible than many other Christians do. Frankly, I don't care, since I think it is all human derived anyways but I am just curious how you rationalize this.

I have even a less dogmatic view and that is that the Bible is a 100% human contrived work. Of course this is my belief, but it is a belief based on my life experience and the collection of historical and scientific evidence to date.Whether a supernatural deity called God exists or not, I feel, will never be answered 100% by science or any other human endeavor if he is truly outside the realm of our natural world. However, we can look at history so far and see a strong case that whatever people have called evidence for God, really is a sham, whether they realize it or not.Christians tend to rationalize any type of contradictions and inaccuracies in the Bible in order to keep their worldview. Nothing wrong with this except that some Christians, like some other religious believers, overstep their bounderies and try to impose their worldview and moral authority onto other unwilling people. I say each to his/her own as long as you are not interfering with the freedoms and rights of other individuals.The only reason I challenge Christians on this board is because they voluntarily come onto this board wanting to debate/discuss religious and scientific issues. If they don't like that, they don't have to be here. No one is forcing them to be on this board.Just my thoughts, from an atheist/agnostic/deist (I am not sure so I guess really the middle one applies the most).Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

---

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

PurpleDawn,It seems we don't have much to disagree on. Are you sure you are not a deist? Your views are not much different than mine and I float somewhere between being a deist and an agnostic atheist.I also agree with your interpretation of the Jewish religion. My brother-in-law is Jewish and I have been to synogogue once and have read a lot of Jewish literature. Jews, even some of the more orthodox ones are a lot more liberal in there thinking and interpretation of the Bible than the hard core fundamentalist Christians.Anywho,Take care as well.

---

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World