March 21, 2013

• Does the Bible Contradict Itself? (Part 2)

  As mentioned in our previous post on Biblical contradictions, let’s look at what the Bible has to say about God’s racial laws against the Ammonites and the Moabites:
  

  

  From Deuteronomy  23:
  

  ³ No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.
  

  From Nehemiah 13:
  

  On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, ² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) ³ When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.

  From Ezra 10:
  

  ¹⁴ Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.”  ⁴⁴ All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.

  This pretty well sums up God’s feelings about foreign races involved with his chosen people.  Not only are Ammonites or Moabites barred from admittance into assembly with the Israelis but mixed marriages between the races was also forbidden. Such racist viewpoints against foreigners stand in stark opposition to the story of Ruth, however.  Ruth was a Moabite who married a Jew, Boaz.  And then became the great-grandmother of King David.  Not to bad for a foreign woman whom God excluded by law from Israel and forbade the Jews to marry.
  

  

  From Ruth 1:
  

  ²² So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

  From Ruth 4:
  

  ¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

  ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. ¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
  

  So it would seem that, depending on the prophet he was speaking to, God showed himself to be a proponent of racial hatred or racial harmony.  An obvious contradiction. 
  

  The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes also provide some head scratching texts that can’t be reasonably reconciled either.  Check it out:
  

  

  From Proverbs 10:
  

      A wise son brings joy to his father,
      but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

  It would seem from this verse that being wise rather than foolish was a good thing, no?  Well, have a look at this:
  

  

  From Ecclesiastes 1:
  

  ¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
      the more knowledge, the more grief.

  Also, in Proverbs one is called upon to help the poor:
  

  

  From Proverbs 14:
  

  ³¹ Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
      but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

  Yet in Ecclesiastes we’re told that poverty is a natural state of being:
  

  

  From Ecclesiastes 5:
  

  ⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.

  In general, the glass to the unknown writer of Proverbs is half full.  He sees the sunny side of life and glories in blessings wisdom will bring:
  

  

  From Proverbs 3:
  

  ²¹ My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
      preserve sound judgment and discretion;
  ²² they will be life for you,
      an ornament to grace your neck.
  ²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,
      and your foot will not stumble.
  ²⁴ When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
      when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
  ²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster
      or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
  ²⁶ for the Lord will be at your side
      and will keep your foot from being snared.

  But by the time you get to Ecclesiastes, the glass becomes half empty:
  

  

  From Ecclesiastes 1:

  ² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
      says the Teacher.
  “Utterly meaningless!
      Everything is meaningless.”

  ⁹ What has been will be again,
      what has been done will be done again;
      there is nothing new under the sun.
  ¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
      “Look! This is something new”?
  It was here already, long ago;
      it was here before our time.
  ¹¹ No one remembers the former generations,
      and even those yet to come
  will not be remembered
      by those who follow them.

  The contradictions found in the Bible are known to many and many are the extremes conservatives go to to prove those contradictions meaningless.  When I was a practicing Fundamentalist adult Sunday School teacher, my position was this:  If indeed God wrote the Scriptures using men, it is either all correct or it is all worthless.  Obviously, at that time, I argued for the correctness of Scriptures.  Then I started to study the Bible on a deeper level.  My views now are somewhat different.  I challenge you to do the same.
  

  
  Our next offering:  Contradictions in the New Testament.
  

  -Y
  

   

  • 7:41 am
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