The contradictions in the bible, i think, are one of the many reasons why people doubt it. The presence of same stories with different locations like where really was Jesus' first sermon? Plain or Mountain? This is how i see it; the locations or lack/addition of a details not present in all the books shouldn't matter. What i think people should be more concerned with is the message the bible carries. Whether or not Jesus had his first sermon on the plain or mountains shouldn't be as important as what the message was all about.
Then again people will say contradictions occur in the message. God's call to love mother and father (Ex.20:12) and Jesus' hatred for family (Mark3:31-35), God's satisfaction and dissatisfaction with his creation - man (Gen.1:3, 6:5-6). In understanding this differences, we need to realize the different in situations. Jesus' hatred for family was a result of him hating the hierarchical system and God's call for love was a result of respect and God's hatred for his creation was as a result of the evil intent man had in his heart. Just looking at the verses, one might see them as different but reading the verses before and after gives it a new perspective.
Also, in a christian view, i think the contradictions exist in the bible so that we , Christians, can choose using our faith and believe between what is right and wrong and what will be the better choice "Eye for an Eye, tooth for a tooth" or "Forgive and Forget"??
Then again, the question remains "How certain are we about the messages and rules the bible carries"?
The contents of the Bible are certain because they are written by their authors; however, the precise beliefs of Jesus are not because the first gospels were written several generations after his death.
ReplyDeleteBased on what we have talked about as far as how Jesus' ideal world would look like, one's certainty about the messages in the Bible would be more of a personal issue, rather than one for the larger population. Faith is a very personal thing, so whatever message you get from a given text are (in a sense) up to you perception. So your level of certainty would depend on what messages you really take away from the text.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a little too easy -- the text means what each individual prefers it to mean? I'd like to preserve at least a little space for serious, objective inquiry.
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