CFO writes:
Can you name even one factual error?
From
CH101: Inerrancy
quote:
There are several aspects of the Bible that show it is not inerrant. These include factual errors:
* Leviticus 11:6 states that rabbits chew their cud.
* Leviticus 11:20-23 speaks of four-legged insects, including grasshoppers.
* 1 Chronicles 16:30 and Psalm 93:1 state that the earth is immobile; yet it not only revolves and orbits the sun but is also influenced by the gravitational pull of other bodies.
and contradictions:
* In Genesis 1, Adam is created after other animals; In Genesis 2, he appears before animals.
* Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23 differ over Jesus's lineage.
* Mark 14:72 differs from Matthew 26:74-75, Luke 22:60-61, and John 18:27 about how many times the cock crowed.
* 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 differ over who incited David to take a census.
* 1 Samuel 17:23,50 and 2 Samuel 21:19 disagree about who killed Goliath.
* 1 Samuel 31:4-5 and 2 Samuel 1:5-10 differ over Saul's death.
* The four Gospels differ about many details of Christ's death and resurrection (Barker 1990). For example, Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, and John 19:19 have different inscriptions on the cross.
* Matthew 27:5-8 differs with Acts 1:18-19 about Judas's death.
* Genesis 9:3 and Leviticus 11:4 differ about what is proper to eat.
* Romans 3:20-28 and James 2:24 differ over faith versus deeds.
* Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18, and Deuteronomy 5:9 disagree with Ezekiel 18:4,19-20 and John 9:3 about sins being inherited.
Inerrantists are familiar with these and find rationalizations for these and other errors and contradictions, but they are unconvincing. The rationalizations merely make the point that what the Bible seems to say is not what it means, which defeats the whole concept of scriptural inerrancy.
Of course you have this as well:
Introduction to the Bible and Biblical Problems » Internet Infidels
Notice that in any contradiction, at least one statement must be false, otherwise it violates Rob's favorite new statement of philosophy.
I think once one makes excuses for rabbit cud and grasshopper legs, the problem becomes not so much the claim of Biblical inerrancy but rather the claim of personal inerrancy. But if any stricture against bearing false witness can be ignored, I'm sure that any claim to personal omnipotence above and beyond God is not much of a problem either.
Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis Bacon
The more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza
™ Version 4.2