Category Archives: Contradictions

Is only God immortal?

Contradictions

Yes.

The Bible says God alone is immortal. Humans can’t live forever, because they didn’t eat from the tree of life, because God didn’t want them to. He made us mortal, limiting our lifespans, because he didn’t want to have to deal with us forever. And since God never changes his mind and nothing he does can ever be changed, we will definitely always be mortal.

Everyone sins, so everyone has to die. No one can redeem anyone’s life and convince God to let them live forever. No one can even choose the time of their own death. Death happens to everyone on earth, no matter how wealthy or wise they are. Death is the destiny of everyone. All people return to dust, like withering grass.

One day God will wipe out all mankind from the earth. Then after God creates a new and better world, where people live longer, even then people will still die. And people who have died never come back to life, either. Dead people stay dead forever.

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Who was Achan’s father?

Contradictions

After the Israelites destroyed Jericho, killed almost everyone living there, and stole all their valuables, God got angry and decided to abandon his people and stop protecting them. Not because he didn’t approve of the massacre or anything, but just because one guy, Achan, had stolen some of the stolen goods, which God had intended to keep for himself for some reason. Shortly after that, God decided he didn’t mind his people keeping the plunder for themselves after all. But not before having Achan and his innocent children stoned and burned.

So that’s who Achan is, but who’s his father?

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Should people always trust?

Contradictions

Yes.

The Bible says if you don’t have love, you’re nothing, and it says one of the characteristics of love is to always trust. It says when you pray, you should trust absolutely that God will give you what you ask for. Otherwise, you’re an uncertain, unreliable person, and your prayer won’t do you any good. Jesus thought his disciples were foolish for not fully trusting everything the prophets said.

This all goes along with the principle of faith, since one aspect of faith is complete trust. And the Bible generally presents faith as a good thing. Yet there are also quite a few passages that say it’s not always good to trust…

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Will the heavens and earth last forever?

Contradictions, ,

Yes.

The Bible states that God has established the earth and the heavens forever. The earth’s foundations are everlasting, and it will remain forever. The Bible equates “forever” with “as long as the heavens endure“.

People who die can expect to stay trapped beneath the earth forever, which is only possible if the earth exists forever. Also, Christians who die can expect to go to live in an eternal house in heaven, where they will enjoy the everlasting inheritance that’s being kept for them there.

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Should people offer God things they got for free?

Contradictions,

One time, when David was trying to get God to stop killing thousands of innocent people to punish David for obeying God, David decided he had to make God a sacrifice. When someone offered to give David some free oxen to sacrifice, David said that wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t be right to offer God something that cost him nothing. That wouldn’t be a real sacrifice at all! So he paid for the oxen and then sacrificed them, and God accepted his offering and stopped killing innocent people.

But what about that other time, when Abraham had just passed God’s test by showing how easily he could be convinced to murder his own children? In that story, God provided Abraham with a free ram, just so he could offer it right back to God. Here God certainly doesn’t seem to have a problem with people giving him things that cost them nothing. Instead, he’s actively encouraging it.

And when Joshua had the Israelites destroy the city of Jericho, he said God wanted them to plunder all its people’s valuables and put them in God’s treasury. The Israelites certainly didn’t pay for those stolen goods, but apparently God wanted to have them anyway. As long as you’re giving him valuable stuff, God doesn’t seem to care how you got it.

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Did Paul think he should get a reward for his work?

Contradictions, , ,

In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that he expects to be rewarded for his work. And not just by God after he dies. He thinks his followers owe him a material reward for his spiritual work, just like any other worker would get. And he says that isn’t just his opinion. God’s law (at least the way Paul interprets it) commands that people pay others for their work, including preachers.

But then he claims that he’s not preaching for profit, that there’s nothing wrong with not paying a preacher, and that he’s not trying to convince anyone to give him anything. So why was he just telling people they owed him, then? Even though he thinks he has a right to be supported by his followers, he now says he would rather die than use that right, because he’s proud not to be a burden to the people he’s preaching to.2

Then he says he doesn’t even deserve a reward, because he can’t help preaching. So why was he just saying he did deserve it? For Paul, preaching the gospel for free is its own reward, and other than that, he doesn’t want any reward.

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