Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

[spockrates]

Or does it show no God was involved in the writing of the Bible's books at all?"

This is exactly what it shows, and only a brainwashed person, desperate for meaning, love and an afterlife, could read the entire book, do the tiniest bit of research and still think that this book was written by an omnipotent god.

Ever notice how every god known to mankind has NEVER physically revealed himself to the entire planet?? Ever notice how every god known to mankind has personality traits exactly like humans?? Ever notice that nearly every god known to mankind is ready and willing to kill you and others based on the nationality you were born into?? Most importantly, have you ever noticed that every god that has ever given the human race a message has only ever done so in an old book???

There's many many more, but why do you think these things are?? There's always the fucktard answer: My god (who just happens to be the one true god) requires faith and will reveal himself to those who are "worthy." But isn't it far more likely that they're all a concoction that was produced out of ancient man's need to explain the unexplainable and gain some kind of control over the horrible natural events and accidents that plague mankind's daily lives?

In the bronze age, if your son dies of an infection or an earthquake wipes out your homeland, or the rain refuses to fall on your crops - fear takes over. When most any person (let alone a bronze age simpleton) finds that they have no control over what's happening to them, they look to create ANYTHING that will offer them peace and explain away their woes. The reason why everyone on earth has an old book or an ancient manuscript or tablet is because we're all the same.

The thousands of gods that have been invented over the span of the human race are no more real than the monster that lives under your bed. Both are an interpretation of the stimuli that happen around us. What makes the Bible special? You do. Your acceptance and interpretation of it is all that makes it any different from any other ancient scribblings. Ask any Muslim; they'll tell you that it is a fact that the Quran was written by Allah himself. Well, why aren't we all reading it then? Because the majority of the world already has their own "special book" that their parents told them was the absolute truth. You want to believe your special book is the inspired word of your god? Go ahead ... you're a brainwashed relic of the bronze age.

Hey, Cinjin, thanks for the reply. Are these rhetorical questions, or are you asking for my opinion?

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Are there old copies of the OT in Hebrew ? (I don't mean "versions that were copied from Hebrew sources" or any such cop-out)
I assumed there must be since Undecieved talked about "going back to the Hebrew" to alter the meaning of a passage.

The oldest sizable extant copy of the Hebrew OT is dated to 2nd century BC, a complete copy 1000 AD. There are two 7th century BC silver scrolls of the Torah. Translations are made from any of these, as they all match. Since some meaning is lost in any translation, it makes sense to examine the original in cases of importance.

Interesting response, Undeceived. Are you saying that the Matthew 27:5 is a mistranslation? The explanation I've heard it that Matthew's account that Judas hanged himself was accurate, and Luke explains what happened to Judas' decaying corpse after he hung himself--it decayed to the point where it fell from the rope and burst when it hit the ground.

Thanks for pointing that out. Your explanation may be more likely. And I made a typo. The verses on Judas were originally written in Greek. The possibility remains, since “hang” and “impale” were just as synonymous in Greek as in any other ancient language. Hangings were not common in the ancient world unless they were part of another form of execution—in which they were the display after the killing. One example of such ambiguous language is in Esther 5:14- http://www.ligonier.org/blog/was-haman-h...r-impaled/ . To “hang” could mean to hang on anything—a post, a spike, a cross. But the rise of the Roman Empire put an end to old methods. The 1st century is a dividing line between ancient civilization and the modern world, so one cannot be sure which execution a suicide would have chosen. The translation remains "hang" because we do not have enough evidence to change it. In cases of doubt, the closest translation is kept.

Sounds reasonable to me.

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Are there old copies of the OT in Hebrew ? (I don't mean "versions that were copied from Hebrew sources" or any such cop-out)
I assumed there must be since Undecieved talked about "going back to the Hebrew" to alter the meaning of a passage.

The oldest sizable extant copy of the Hebrew OT is dated to 2nd century BC, a complete copy 1000 AD. There are two 7th century BC silver scrolls of the Torah. Translations are made from any of these, as they all match. Since some meaning is lost in any translation, it makes sense to examine the original in cases of importance.

Interesting response, Undeceived. Are you saying that the Matthew 27:5 is a mistranslation? The explanation I've heard it that Matthew's account that Judas hanged himself was accurate, and Luke explains what happened to Judas' decaying corpse after he hung himself--it decayed to the point where it fell from the rope and burst when it hit the ground.

Thanks for pointing that out. Your explanation may be more likely. And I made a typo. The verses on Judas were originally written in Greek. The possibility remains, since “hang” and “impale” were just as synonymous in Greek as in any other ancient language. Hangings were not common in the ancient world unless they were part of another form of execution—in which they were the display after the killing. One example of such ambiguous language is in Esther 5:14- http://www.ligonier.org/blog/was-haman-h...r-impaled/ . To “hang” could mean to hang on anything—a post, a spike, a cross. But the rise of the Roman Empire put an end to old methods. The 1st century is a dividing line between ancient civilization and the modern world, so one cannot be sure which execution a suicide would have chosen. The translation remains "hang" because we do not have enough evidence to change it. In cases of doubt, the closest translation is kept.

Sounds reasonable to me.

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The web developer really ought to add a script to prevent double posting when the reply button is tapped twice. It's annoying!