Category Archives: Contradictions

Was Paul proud to be weak?

Contradictions

Paul said if he was going to boast (and he did like to boast), then he would boast about his weakness. His weaknesses were the only things about himself that he was willing to boast about. It made him glad to be weaker than his followers.

Paul was delighted to be weak, because boasting about weakness gave him the power of Christ. So being weak actually made him strong. But why would he want that power and strength, if he really liked being weak so much?

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Can anyone predict the future?

Contradictions

No.

Solomon (the wisest man ever, according to the Bible) says no one knows the future, so no one can tell you what’s to come. Because no one knows what’s coming. No one knows when their own death will come. In fact, no one can discover anything about their future, and no one can tell you what’s going to happen in the world after you die, either.

James agrees. He says you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so you shouldn’t act like you even have any idea what you’re going to do tomorrow.

That’s settled, then. No one can predict the future. The Bible says so. Who’s going to disagree with the Bible? Oh right, of course… The Bible is going to disagree with the Bible.

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Was there another prophet like Moses?

Contradictions,

The book of Deuteronomy concludes by stating that since then, there has never been another prophet like Moses—no one who knew God the way Moses did, and could do the miracles Moses did.

But earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses says God is planning to send another prophet like him. Who would that be? The New Testament claims that Moses was talking about Jesus, and Jesus was greater than Moses. If that was really who Moses meant, then I guess that wouldn’t really contradict Deuteronomy saying there hadn’t been another prophet like Moses, since Deuteronomy was definitely written before Jesus.

But is that really what Moses meant when he said there would be another prophet like him? Looking at the context, it seems Moses was talking about a prophet who the Israelites could consult when they moved into the promised land, so they wouldn’t have to resort to other kinds of divination that God didn’t approve of.

Moses was clearly not talking about a prophet who wouldn’t come till hundreds of years after Israel had already disobeyed God in that way so thoroughly that God put an end to their kingdom. More likely, Moses was talking about his immediate successor, Joshua.

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Can the coming of the kingdom of God be observed?

Contradictions,

Jesus once claimed that the coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed. He acted like “the coming of the kingdom” wasn’t what it sounded like at all. Like it was just something that was with you all along. But he also told his disciples they were going to see the coming of Christ along with his kingdom, which is also God’s kingdom.1

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When did the apostles receive the Holy Spirit?

Contradictions, ,

According to the gospel of John, the disciples received the Holy Spirit when Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection.

But according to Acts, it was at least a few days after that. It says on one occasion (which could have been as many as 40 days after the first time he reappeared to them), he told them they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. That was a gift they had not yet received. And Jesus was not present when the tongues of fire later came down on them and filled them with the Holy Spirit.

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Did Jesus say he would rebuild the temple in three days?

Contradictions, , ,

According to Mark, some people testified that Jesus had said he was going to rebuild the temple in three days. Matthew has them saying something similar, though in that version of the story they just accuse Jesus of saying he’s able to do it. The gospels describe these statements as “false testimony” or “false evidence” from “false witnesses”.

But according to John, Jesus did in fact say he would raise the temple again in three days. (Or maybe just that he could do it. Either way, one of those other gospels is wrong about it being false testimony.)

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Is it disgraceful for a man to have long hair?

Contradictions, ,

Paul thinks it’s glorious for a woman to have long hair, but it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair. He thinks this is common sense, and anyone should be able to see this just by considering the basic nature of things. But at least some people in the Old Testament, including God, don’t seem to agree with Paul.

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Do all who draw the sword die by the sword?

Contradictions,

David says wicked people who draw the sword to kill poor innocent people will be killed with their own swords. And Jesus says all who draw the sword will die by the sword. So you don’t even have to be wicked, or kill innocent people, or even kill anyone at all. If you draw the sword, you will be killed with a sword.

Of course, Jesus was wrong, as usual. He was talking to Peter, who had just drawn his sword and injured an innocent person, yet Peter did not die by the sword. Apparently he died by crucifixion. The Bible doesn’t actually say how Peter died, but it does have a few confirmed counterexamples to Jesus’s claim:

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