Wikkid's blog: "Religion and Government"

TOP 10 NEW TESTAMENT CONTRADICTIONS

1. What time of day was Jesus crucified?

    * At the third hour:  "And it was the third hour when they crucified him." (Mark 15:25)
    * At least three hours later, because at "about the sixth hour" John says that Jesus was still with Pilate before the Jewish crowd. (John 19:14)  Also, Matthew (27:45) and Luke (23:44) have Jesus already on the cross at the sixth hour, so they, too, contradict John's account.

    Some theologians claim that John is giving the hour in "Roman time," but the Romans reckoned time from sunrise, as did the Jews.  So the "sixth hour" would mean the same for both.  Also, there is no evidence in the gospel of John to support any theory that the author was counting the hours any differently from normal Jewish custom.  The gospel of John was not written in Rome, nor for a Roman audience.  For info on the Roman system of reckoning time, see J. Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome, p.1. Also L. and R. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome.

2. The second coming of Jesus was a failed prediction.

     Jesus predicted that on his return to earth, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven."  (Mark 13:24-27)  He even predicted a deadline for it to happen:  "Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place."  (Mark 13:30)  The generation he was speaking to did pass away, but the sun still shines, the stars still twinkle in the night sky, and there have been no heavenly passengers riding in on the clouds.  Jesus was wrong.

    Mark 13:30 is not the only passage that makes such a prediction.  We see it also in Matthew 24:34, which uses the same language as Mark.  Luke 21:25-27, 32 also has nearly the same wording.
    Also, Matthew 16:28 - "There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
    And in Luke 9:26-27 - "There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
    And Mark 9:1 - "Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

    The Greek word for "generation" means essentially the same as our English word.  According to the New Oxford Annotated Bible (1973 ed., p. 1204, note to Matthew 24:34), "the normal meaning of this generation would be 'men of our time,' and the words would refer to a period of 20-30 years."

    The theologians often appeal to Mark 13:32 to argue that Jesus was not making a specific prediction about when the end would occur.  That passage tells us that Jesus himself does not know exactly when the end will come:  "But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  Here, however, he's just telling us that he doesn't know the exact time when the kingdom of God will arrive.  He is still very clear that it will occur sometime during the lifetime of the generation he's speaking to.

    Another way in which the theologians try to escape from this embarrassment is to claim that the generation referred to in Mark 13:30, Matthew 24:34, etc. is not the generation Jesus was speaking to, but the generation that will be living at the time these amazing events take place.  But this is obviously absurd, because it would mean that Jesus is telling his audience, "Some of the people in the generation that will be alive when these things happen will be alive when these things happen."  A statement like this conveys no meaning at all, and there would be no point in Jesus saying such a thing.

3. The genealogies of Joseph given by Matthew and Luke contradict each other.

    * According to Matthew, Joseph was descended from David's son Solomon through 27 generations (David to Joseph inclusive).  (Matthew 1:1-16)
    * But according to Luke, Joseph was descended from David's son Nathan through 42 generations (David to Joseph, inclusive).  (Luke 3:23-31)

    Most of the names in these two genealogies are different, and they do not even agree on who Joseph's father was.  Matthew tells us that Joseph's father was called Jacob (Matthew 1:16), while Luke tells us that his father was Heli (Luke 3:23).

    There are Christians who claim that Luke's genealogy is that of Mary, and Matthew's is that of Joseph, but there is nothing in Luke that remotely suggests that interpretation, and both Matthew's and Luke's lists specifically mention Joseph as the end point.

4. Did Joseph take his family to Jerusalem after Jesus was born?

    * Yes, Joseph brought them to Jerusalem after Jesus's circumcision and the days of purification prescribed in Leviticus 12:2-8.  "And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord." (Luke 2:22)
    * No, Joseph was afraid to go to Jerusalem because he feared Herod's son Archelaus, who was then ruling in Jerusalem.  "But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.  And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth."  (Matthew 2:22-23)

5. How should we pray?

    * Only pray the Lord's prayer, for God already knows what you need.  (Matthew 6:7-13)
    * Pray for whatever you want: "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."  (John 14:14); "If you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name."  (John 16:23)

    BUT it doesn't matter anyway, because "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) and "We know that God does not listen to sinners." (John 9:31)

6. How are we saved?

    * Salvation is by faith, apart from works. (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16)
    * Salvation is by good works, apart from faith. (James 2:17, 20, 26)
    * Salvation comes from confessing and repenting of one's sins. (1 John 1:9; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19)

7. Can all sins be forgiven?

    * Yes - "Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:43)  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
    * No - "Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:32)  "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." (Mark 3:29)

8. Is Jesus equal to God?

    * Yes - "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)
    * No - "The Father is greater than I." (John 14:28)

9. Where did the disciples first meet the resurrected Jesus?

    * In Matthew, the disciples are reported as meeting Jesus in Galilee, per his previous instructions.  "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted."  (Matthew 28:16-17)
    * In Luke, they remain in Jerusalem to meet him per Jesus's previous instructions. "And they [the two travelers to Emmaus] arose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, 'The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.'  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.  As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them." (Luke 24:33-36)

    The contradiction cannot be avoided by claiming that there were two meetings, one in Galilee and one in Jerusalem.  Luke's account is clearly intended to describe the disciples' first encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and the disciples themselves are "startled and frightened" to see him. (Luke 24:37)  After this meeting, the disciples follow Jesus out to Bethany, where he departed from them and "was carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:52)  So there is no time when a meeting in Galilee can be squeezed into this timeframe.

10. Was Jesus's message only for the Jews, or for everyone?

    * For the Jews only: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  (Matthew 15:24)  Also, Jesus told his disciples, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10:5-6)
    * For everyone: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel.  It is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)  "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him." (Romans 10:12-13)  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)