Fatal, there a few things wrong with your so-called contradictions: the bible promises punishment for MEN who kill, God metes out punishment as he sees fit, by either killing them himself, or ordering his people to do it. That is for GOD to decide and carry out. Not once is there a killing sanctioned by God carried out without his direct order in the Bible.
In the cases of stealing, the entire text of Exodus 3:22 is ignored completely. God orders his children to ASK every Egyptian to make reperations for slavery they were told they would be free from by the Pharoh of Joseph\'s time. THAT was how they were to plunder Egypt. This quote takes THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE ENTIRE VERSE and treats it as the whole one!! Also, Jesus himself tells the desciples exactly why they should take the colt, the Lord hath need of him. It was, according to the Bible, to fulfill prophesy.
There are so many things you can take out of context, and print on a website.
Shall we make graven images?
Exodus 20:4 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven . . . earth . . . water."
Leviticus 26:1 "Ye shall make ye no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone."
Deuteronomy 27:15 "Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image."
vs.
Exodus 25:18 "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them."
I Kings 7:15,16,23,25 "For he [Solomon] cast two pillars of brass . . . and two chapiters of molten brass . . . And he made a molten sea . . . it stood upon twelve oxen . . . [and so on]"
First of all, do these people [people who made the website] even know what the cherubims were to be used for? Not for worshipping as a god, but to crown the the ark of the covenant. Sure, when you take it out of context in that case, sure looks suspicious, don\'t it? Also, Solomon constructed his holy temple as a dedication to the Lord, not as an object to worship.
Are we saved through works?
Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works."
Romans 3:20,28 "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."
Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ."
vs.
James 2:24 "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."
Matthew 19:16-21 "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he [Jesus] said unto him . . . keep the commandments. . . . The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven."
Are these people serious? The text in James 2:24 was dealing with what James had said earlier in verse 14 when he said, "What use is it, my bretheren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" This is not saying that we are saved by works, but a faith devoid of good works is a dead faith. Both Paul and James define faith as a living productive trust in Christ. Genuine faith cannot be "dead" to morality or barren to works. Meaning, if you are genuine in your faith, you will be doing the works automatically. He was writing this letter as an illustration of how you will know you are genuine in your faith.
The text in Matthew was Jesus exposing the young man\'s false faith. The young man wanted to stay rich without giving money to the poor or make a strong contribution to those that could have needed the money. It wasn\'t Jesus telling him the only way to get into heaven was to give up his money, he was testing his faith by asking him to help others around him. If you had read further you would read how the young man walks away dejected, because his greed won over true faith.
Every time you read stuff like the stuff that is on that particular website, it is easy to be swayed without further reading and education on what the Bible actually says. Every single instance on that page can be countered and explained simply by reading further, or reading the text prior to it.
And some of those assertions are just flat out wrong, like the one about how old Ahaziah was when he reigned, both verses in my Bible state that he was 22.
Don\'t just read stuff on the internet and take its word for it.
Maybe you should go back and read your Bible some more and try to actually understand what it says in there. Don\'t just read it so you can sound smart in an argument.
Again, I\'m not a preacher, or an overly religious guy. I just can\'t stand it when people think they know the truth about something they know nothing about.
Not saying that you are uneducated Fatal, just too damn cynical to read the Bible for what it is: a tool to teach the faithful how to deal with every single problem their lives may encounter.
It goes without saying that the unfaithful will rebuke and rebuff the word of the Bible. Like it or lump it, the Bible is free of contradictions, you just have to look at the whole picture, and how many of us are in the mood to be preached at?
Note: I\'m not saying you have to believe the Bible, or that me believing in it is any more correct than what you believe in, I\'m just trying to dispel some myths concerning the "Good Book".