JCM: Brainwash: A Glimpse On Bible Verses’ Alleged Contradictions (Part I)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Brainwash: A Glimpse On Bible Verses’ Alleged Contradictions (Part I)

It's has been a stereo-type issue since my childhood and up to this time that the atheists and religious skeptics untiringly bombard Catholicism for the alleged "jam-packed contradictions" that could be found in the Bible. What is sad about it is, they would conclude in irritation when they are caught on the dead-end by saying like, “The Bible is neither the word of God nor God does exist,” or the least that they could say is, “You’re just making an excuse/scapegoat to justify inconsistencies,” or in some occasion others would say, “The Bible is nothing but merely a pack of lies!” It's frustrating that while others, a combination of atheists and religious leader like Ulf Ekman (who is the founder of Word of Life, a megachurch Born Again in Uppsala, Sweden), Malaysian Prince convert Tengku Amir Shah (from Muslim to Catholicism), Jennifer Fulwiler, Ian McCormack and many more who turned already to Christianity, still another generation follows, so this is something that has no end, and this teaching is something that has to be shouted constantly.

Don’t make any hypothesis if your heart is concentrated on biased “thoughts alone” or what you feel within your limits, than education of heart, mind and conscience.

I’m not as well-versed and as intelligent as the Bible scholars and the Theologians but I had to research on this to somehow shed light to the shadowy minds and hearts of our brethren. I was inspired to do this because of a comment on FB with regards to this when he said (pls. be noted that the name is concealed as respect of privacy while picture is displayed since he's merely using an abatar):

Detailed below are some point of clarifications which are provided to aid prevention of misrepresentation of the Scripture.

RESOLVING SCRIPTURAL CLAUSE DISAGREEMENT

1).

Jesus' lineage was traced through David's son Solomon. Matthew 1:6
Jesus' lineage was traced through David's son Nathan. Luke 3:31

Based on the concept of the Levirate marriage as cited in Deuteronomy 25, the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother. In the case of Jesus' lienage, one is traced through Heli (Luke 3:23),one through Jacob, one Joseph's biological father, one his legal father. Others have also disputed that one is a genealogy of the Blessed Virgin.

2).

The announcement of the special birth occurred prior to conception (Luke 1:26-31)
The announcement of the special birth took place following conception (Matthew 1:18-21).

The revelation in Luke was made to Mary preceding the conception while in Matthew was revealed to St. Joseph following the conception, which are separate announcements. Mary was told earlier, Joseph after which.

3).

Jesus' parents were notified of their son's future greatness (Matthew 1:18-21; Luke 1:28-35).
Jesus' parents were zero knowledge of their son's potential (Luke 2:48.50).

The first two (2) verses point out that His parents discern that Jesus would be the Savior while the other is from the incident of the finding in the Temple where they do not figure out that He calls God His Father and departs them for three days. To know that their Son is the Savior is not tantamount as to know that He would depart and go to the Temple for three days.

The following account, Joseph and Mary are puzzled by Jesus' action, but there is no sign that the fact that their Son was gone astray for three days without their knowledge means they "knew nothing of their son's potential."

4).

The angel told Joseph (Matthew 1:20).
The angel told Mary (Luke 1:28).

Mary was told prior to the conception then Joseph after the other (Refer to number 2).

5).

There were 28 generations from David to Jesus (Matthew 1:17).
There were 43 generations from David to Jesus (Luke 3:23-31).

These are two different lineages so it can’t be anticipated to be constant. Please be noted that the genealogy of Matthew excludes every single ancestor and brings up only particular important heads of families. In connection with Patriarchs of Genesis 11, an analogous dispute has also been made.

6).

Jacob was Joseph's father (Matthew 1:16).
Heli was Joseph's father (Luke 3:23).

Jacob and Heli were biological brothers, which is a Jewish levirate marraige as exemplified previously.

7).

He was to be called Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23).
He was called Jesus (Matthew 1:25).

Emmanuel should not be taken as a proper name. It is a prophetic title which comes from the prophet Isaiah which connotes the Messiah as a revelation of God's presence among His people.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt while Herod slaughters all males under 2 years old (Matthew 2:13-16). (Note: Jesus' cousin, John, was also under 2 and subsisted without fleeing.)

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not take flight to Egypt, but remained for temple rituals. No slaughter of infants is pointed out! (Luke 2:21-39)

Herod did not charge the carnage of "all males under 2 years old", but of all males in Bethlehem under two. John the Baptist was not from Bethlehem. The Temple ritual pointed out happened on the eighth day after Christ's birth. The flight to Egypt came about after this which is probably sometime after, considering that Herod ordered the killing of the children under two. Had these events all happened instantaneously, Herod would not have had to slaughter children under two. He assigned the two-year latitude because such duration of time had elapsed since the birth.

8).

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt while Herod slaughters all males under 2 years old (Matthew 2:13-16). (Note: Jesus' cousin, John, was also under 2 and subsisted without fleeing.)
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not take flight to Egypt, but remained for temple rituals. No slaughter of infants is pointed out! (Luke 2:21-39)

9).

Jesus was tempted during the 40 days in the wilderness (Mark 1:13).
Jesus was tempted after the 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2-3).

Matthew cited that Jesus was tempted at the end of the 40 day duration; Mark was not precise as to when the temptation occurred. It only verbalizes that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and that He was coaxed. Matthew is simply more specific than Mark in exclaiming that this cropped up at the end of the 40 day period. It's like saying, “My friend and I have bumped into President Bush.” On the other hand, my friend says, “My friend and I have bumped into President Bush while stepping out of the mall.” Both are accurate, but one is more specific. Both are truthful but the latter is more specific than the former.

10).

The devil first took Jesus to the summit, then to the mountain top (Matthew 4:5-8).
The devil first took Jesus to the mountain top, then to the summit (Luke 4:5-9).

Both pronouncements do not imply chronology. The Gospel writers themselves were simply articulating the occurrence of this episode without mentioning on their sequence.

11).

Satan tempted Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-10; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:1-2)
Satan had no interest in Jesus (John 14:30).

In this case, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness is contrasted with Jesus' statement in "the prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me." Please be noted that this has not to be understood the way we grasp it literally but the way how the people of that generation actually mean by that clause. Remember that there’s a continuing changes in the manner of communication. For example, in the Philippines, during the old years when we speak of “Panis” (spoiled) we’re talking about a spoiled food. In this generation, we can speak of two things which can either be understood as spoiled food or an expression of derision of a weak performance/action depending on the context. The traditional understanding and interpretation of the second clause is that "He has no power over me," as is translated in the Vulgate. Aquinas recorded that the devil only has power over those who commit sin, and as Christ is sinless, the devil, on a strict sense of the word, had no power over Christ: "But he has no power over me, for he has no power over us except because of sin: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Now in Christ there was no sin: not in his soul, "He committed no sin"(1 Peter 2:22), nor in His flesh, because He was conceived of the Virgin without original sin through the Holy Spirit" (Commentary of John, 1975). Satan desired to entice and overpower Jesus, as we see in the Gospels, which never emerged because Jesus was untainted.

12).

The baptism of Jesus was with the "Holy Spirit"(Mark 1:8; John 1:33).
Fire was also added to the baptism (Matthew 3:11).

The baptism with fire is the baptism with the Holy Spirit, as fire is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit. See Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 696.

13).

John knew of Jesus before he baptized Him (Matthew 3:11-13 ; John 1:28-29).
John knew nothing of Jesus at all (Matthew 11:1-3).

Matthew 11 does not imply that John knew "nothing of Jesus at all", only that he was unsure what the advent of the Messiah was supposed to look like. Undoubtedly, John had a revelation from God of Messianic Christ, but he was not certain what the coming of the Messiah would look like, and in his incarceration may have probed Jesus' timing in instating the kingdom. This is why Jesus ascertains Him in Matthew 11 by revealing all the messianic signs He is accomplishing. John does not ask Jesus who He is, as if He never knew Him, but rather asks, what is taking so long in establishing the kingdom.

14).

Jesus begins his ministry after John's arrest (Mark 1:13-14).
Jesus begins his ministry before John's arrest (John 3:22-24).

Jesus started His ministry in Judea before John's arrest (John 3:22-24) but did not set up in Galilee until after (Mark 1:13-14). It should be noted that Judea and Galilee are two different regions.

15).

It is recorded that Jesus saw the spirit descending (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10).
It is recorded that John saw the spirit descending (John 1:32).

This denotes that they both saw the Spirit descended.

16).

The heavenly voice addressed the gathering (Matthew 3:17).
The heavenly voice addressed Jesus (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).

Neither Jesus nor the crowds were mentioned as to whom the voice was addressed to.

17).

Immediately after the baptism, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:12-13).
Three days after the baptism, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1).

Jesus was in Cana three days after the Baptism as per the Gospel of John, but we have no exact idea of how soon He went into the desert - how soon is "immediately" or "straightaway", as Mark verbalizes. The Greek word, eutheos, simply means "forthwith" or "soon thereafter", which is vague in Greek and even in English. For example, I’ll say, "Immediately after college he was employed." At the same time saying, "Immediately after his college graduation he went out to dine at KFC." Both statements can be factual, and immediately is suitable in both cases but can mean opposing intervals based on its context. In the Gospel, it may denote that three days after the Baptism Jesus was in Cana and shortly thereafter was the temptation in the wilderness.