Category Archives: Contradictions

Will the sun and moon last forever?

Contradictions,

They will last forever.

Solomon equates “forever” with “as long as the sun” continues. So does God, who also says something will be established forever like the moon. The Bible says God established the sun and moon for ever and ever, with a decree that will never pass away.

There’s also a verse in Isaiah that says Jerusalem’s sun will never set again, and its moon will wane no more.

Then they will be destroyed?

The verse just before that in Isaiah, though, makes it sound like it might actually be talking about God, not the actual sun and moon. And in any case, that verse says at that time the sun and moon will no longer shine on Jerusalem.

But won’t they still exist forever, even if Jerusalem is cut off from them somehow? No, Joel says by the time the day of the Lord arrives, the sun and moon will be darkened. The sun will turn to darkness and the moon will turn to blood. And Revelation says after the sun turns black and the moon turns red, an angel will darken a third of both of them.

Then they will still exist.

Apparently they won’t be completely destroyed at this point, because after that a woman will wear the sun and put her feet on the moon. And an angel will even make the sun more powerful.

And then they won’t be needed.

Then there’s the new Jerusalem, which won’t need the sun or moon either.

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Was the last supper before, during, or after the Passover?

Contradictions,

According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the “last supper” happened on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. These gospels all equate the Festival of Unleavened Bread with the Passover, and say the last supper was the Passover meal.

But the Passover meal is eaten at the beginning of Passover, and Leviticus says the Festival of Unleavened Bread starts the day after that. So the last supper would have to be the day after the Passover meal.

And then there’s the gospel of John, which says the last supper happened before the Passover festival. After Jesus was arrested, the Passover meal was still to come. And when Jesus was brought before Pilate, Passover still hadn’t happened. Passover certainly didn’t start the day before the last supper, according to John.

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Will it be dark on the day of the Lord?

Contradictions

The prophets keep talking about this terrible day in the future called “the day of the Lord“. They say it will be a dark day: Isaiah says the sun will be darkened and the moon and stars won’t show their light. Similarly, Joel says the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars won’t shine. And Amos says that day will be darkness and not light, pitch-dark without a ray of brightness.

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Did Joshua completely destroy Debir?

Contradictions, ,

The book of Joshua says Joshua attacked the city of Debir, putting it and its villages to the sword. He and his people totally destroyed everyone there, leaving no survivors.

The chapter after that mentions that Joshua totally destroyed the Anakites from Debir and some other places, along with their towns. That’s either a contradiction of the statement that they were already destroyed, or just part of a recap. But there’s definitely a contradiction later.

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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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