Ik ben dinsdag jarig, en zal hier een lijst van wat ik al (van me zusje, woont bij m'n pa) heb gekregen.
€ 20,-
Jesus Camp (DVD)
Charles Darwin - The Origin of Species (boek)
Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene (boek)
zaterdag 29 maart 2008
donderdag 13 maart 2008
Letter to fundies
I do read the Bible, but for a different reason than Christians (I'm an atheist). I read it to disprove the claim that it is the "inspired word of God", infallible and perfect in all it's parts. Seeking contradictions and other fallacies. In this I, and others like me, have succeeded spectaculary. We do, offcourse, do the same to the Qur'an and all other 'holy' books. But this message will talk only about the bible. I'm going to point out some of those contradictions, and sincerely request someone to explain why Christians still see the bible as the 'word of god'. To note, I will use the New Internation Version, on bible gateway. Given the fact that I live in the Netherlands and don´t have a bible in the English lanquage at my disposal. This message will have some level of sarcasm, but it is not my intention to insult. To enlighten, it is. Also, I'm only going to tell a tiny portion of the contradictions. Writing them all down would be more an enough to fill a book.
Let us begin with Genesis. God created the earth, light, plants, animals, etc. And saw that it was good. Now we are at the dawn of mankind. God only has to create us and be done with it. Let us first turn the ´accepted´ story. God created Adam (Hebrew for man) "from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen. 2:6) But God didn't wan't him to do what men have the dendency to do when on their own, so he said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen 2:18) "But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." (Gen. 2:20-22). This version clearly shows that men are created before women.
Let us turn to the previous chapter, now will see something completely different. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1:27) This, to me, demonstrates that Adam and Eve (to use their names) were created at the same time. What does this mean, are there two different creation stories, or is Genesis 2 an detailed account of this creation.
Let us continue. This will be about God's character, which varies greatly. The simplest explanation for this would be "mood swings". But an omnipotent God surely is able to make up his mind, doesn't he? "I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them." (Jer. 13:14) No pity, mercy or compassion? Let us look at some other verses. "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (James 5:11) "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (1 Chron. 16:34) "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." (Ps. 145:9) The notion that God is good the all quite funny when you look at the Old Testament. Just look at Deut. 20:16-17. One final passage to show the "goodness" of god: "God is love." (1 John 4:16)
Young Earth Creationists often use the geneology of Jesus to show that the earth is about 6.000 years old. I've always wondered why Jesus has a geneology when he has no biological father. Though it might be mistranslated, since the Hebrew words for virgin and 'young woman' are very much the same. The Greek words aren't. To see how this might have happened just look at the Engish words 'maid' and 'maiden'. To return to geneologies.In two places in the New Testament the genealogy of Jesus is mentioned. In Matthew 1:6-16 and Luke 3:23-31 to be precise.The first one starts from Abraham(verse 2) all the way down to Jesus. The second one from Jesus all the way back to Adam. I'm going to look at the line between David and Jesus. Matthew displays 28 generations, whilst Luke has 43. (Both including David and Jesus.) To make matters worse, they almost never overlap. The geneologies can be compared here: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/gen_ml.html
Let us turn to the crucifixion of Jesus. Which will also be the last contradiction I will mention here, though not the end of this letter.
The specific question we are asking here is a very important one. Was Jesus crucified before or after the passover meal? Let us turn to the bible. 'It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.' (John 19:14-16) This cleary show Jesus being crucified before the passover meal. Let's see what Mark has to say about it. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" (Mark 14:12) If you continue reading you'll see they ate the meal and then Jesus was arrested. The next day: "It was the third hour when they crucified him." (Mark 15:25) These passages clearly show John and Mark contradicting each other outright. How do Christians explain this? How do you explain this?
This was the last of the outright contradictions I will adress. But their is one more thing I'll bring to light. Whilst I was watching Jesus Camp is appeared to me that you think you are following the word of God. Throwing out long sermons in Churches and evangelising on streetcorners. But is this really what Jesus wanted you to do? I'm going to let you draw the conclusion on this. The following passage is taken from the Book of Matthew, and it addresses prayer. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) This might be the verse with the greatest impact. I'm keen to hear your ideas about it. To me it seems that you're not obeying the word of God. Jesus even calls you hypocrites and pagans!
This attemp to show that the bible is not infallible has come to an end. I am sincerely hoping for a response.
Best Wishes,
Detlef Kroeze
ps. The source of the contradictions are: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html and http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm
Let us begin with Genesis. God created the earth, light, plants, animals, etc. And saw that it was good. Now we are at the dawn of mankind. God only has to create us and be done with it. Let us first turn the ´accepted´ story. God created Adam (Hebrew for man) "from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen. 2:6) But God didn't wan't him to do what men have the dendency to do when on their own, so he said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen 2:18) "But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." (Gen. 2:20-22). This version clearly shows that men are created before women.
Let us turn to the previous chapter, now will see something completely different. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1:27) This, to me, demonstrates that Adam and Eve (to use their names) were created at the same time. What does this mean, are there two different creation stories, or is Genesis 2 an detailed account of this creation.
Let us continue. This will be about God's character, which varies greatly. The simplest explanation for this would be "mood swings". But an omnipotent God surely is able to make up his mind, doesn't he? "I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them." (Jer. 13:14) No pity, mercy or compassion? Let us look at some other verses. "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (James 5:11) "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (1 Chron. 16:34) "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." (Ps. 145:9) The notion that God is good the all quite funny when you look at the Old Testament. Just look at Deut. 20:16-17. One final passage to show the "goodness" of god: "God is love." (1 John 4:16)
Young Earth Creationists often use the geneology of Jesus to show that the earth is about 6.000 years old. I've always wondered why Jesus has a geneology when he has no biological father. Though it might be mistranslated, since the Hebrew words for virgin and 'young woman' are very much the same. The Greek words aren't. To see how this might have happened just look at the Engish words 'maid' and 'maiden'. To return to geneologies.In two places in the New Testament the genealogy of Jesus is mentioned. In Matthew 1:6-16 and Luke 3:23-31 to be precise.The first one starts from Abraham(verse 2) all the way down to Jesus. The second one from Jesus all the way back to Adam. I'm going to look at the line between David and Jesus. Matthew displays 28 generations, whilst Luke has 43. (Both including David and Jesus.) To make matters worse, they almost never overlap. The geneologies can be compared here: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/gen_ml.html
Let us turn to the crucifixion of Jesus. Which will also be the last contradiction I will mention here, though not the end of this letter.
The specific question we are asking here is a very important one. Was Jesus crucified before or after the passover meal? Let us turn to the bible. 'It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.' (John 19:14-16) This cleary show Jesus being crucified before the passover meal. Let's see what Mark has to say about it. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" (Mark 14:12) If you continue reading you'll see they ate the meal and then Jesus was arrested. The next day: "It was the third hour when they crucified him." (Mark 15:25) These passages clearly show John and Mark contradicting each other outright. How do Christians explain this? How do you explain this?
This was the last of the outright contradictions I will adress. But their is one more thing I'll bring to light. Whilst I was watching Jesus Camp is appeared to me that you think you are following the word of God. Throwing out long sermons in Churches and evangelising on streetcorners. But is this really what Jesus wanted you to do? I'm going to let you draw the conclusion on this. The following passage is taken from the Book of Matthew, and it addresses prayer. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) This might be the verse with the greatest impact. I'm keen to hear your ideas about it. To me it seems that you're not obeying the word of God. Jesus even calls you hypocrites and pagans!
This attemp to show that the bible is not infallible has come to an end. I am sincerely hoping for a response.
Best Wishes,
Detlef Kroeze
ps. The source of the contradictions are: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html and http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm
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