How Many Donkeys Did Jesus Ride

In Shane's latest lame attempt to point out a contradiction in the Bible he offers the following:

Marcus.

I guess its time to move on.

Here is another biblical issue.

There is a huge mistake regarding Jesus triumphal entry.

According to Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus entered the city riding on A donkey.

According to Matthew, Jesus is said to be riding on two donkey's? (Matthew 21:1-7).

Matthew mentions two animals in three of the verses so it cannot be explained away as a translation error. Matthew even has Jesus riding both animals at the same time.

This is because Matthew obviously must have misunderstood (Zechariah 9:9) which says "mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey".
Anyone who is familiar with OT Hebrew would know that the word translated "and" in this passage does not mean another animal, but instead its used in the sense of "even" a colt!

"Even" is given for emphasis here!
Matthew was evidently not aware of this.

This is but one example I am prepared to offer here that shows Matthew's gospel is full of fulfilled prophecies working the way Matthew wanted them to. And that Matthew in his zeal to prove Jesus was the Messiah, searched the OT for passages that could be construed as prophecy and modified events Jesus life to fulfill them!!!!

 Here is the most succinct answer I have seen.

(Category: misread the text & misunderstood the historical context)
The accusation is that the Gospels contradict about how many donkeys Jesus rode into Jerusalem on. This accusation is based on not reading the text of Matthew properly and ignoring his full point about this event.
It first should be noted that all four Gospel writers refer to this event, the missing reference above being John 12:14-15. Mark, Luke and John are all in agreement that Jesus sat on the colt. Logic shows that there is no "contradiction" as Jesus cannot ride on two animals at once! So, why does Matthew mention two animals? The reason is clear.
Even by looking at Matthew in isolation, we can see from the text that Jesus did not ride on two animals, but only on the colt. For in the two verses preceding the quote in point (b) above by Shabbir, we read Matthew quoting two prophecies from the Old Testament (Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9) together. Matthew says:
"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gently and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey'."
Matthew 21:5
By saying "a donkey" and then "on a colt, the foal of a donkey" Zechariah is using classic Hebrew sentence structure and poetic language known as "parallelism", simply repeating the same thing again in another way, as a parallel statement. This is very common in the Bible (i.e. Psalm 119:105 mentions, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path," yet says the same thing twice in succession). It is clear that there is only one animal referred to. Therefore Matthew clearly says Jesus rode only on a colt, in agreement with the other three Gospel writers.
So why does Matthew say that the colt and its mother were brought along in verse seven? The reason is simple. Matthew, who was an eyewitness (where as Mark and Luke were quite possibly not) emphasizes the immaturity of the colt, too young to be separated from its mother. As the colt had never been ridden the probability was that it was still dependent on its mother. It would have made the entry to Jerusalem easier if the mother donkey were led along down the road, as the foal would naturally follow her, even though he had never before carried a rider and had not yet been trained to follow a roadway.
Here again we see that there is no contradiction between the synoptic accounts, but only added detail on the part of Matthew as one who viewed the event while it was happening.
This is just one of many of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. He fulfilled ones that were in his control as well as ones which he could not manipulate, such as the time and place of his birth (Daniel 9:24-26, Micah 5:1-2, Matthew 2:1-6), and his resurrection (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:24-32) to name but two.
Some Muslims believe that in the Taurat there is reference to the prophecy which the Qur'an speaks of in Sura 7:157 and 61:6 concerning Muhammad. However, these Muslims yet have to come up with one, while Jesus is predicted time and time again.

 This is from 101 Cleared-up contradictions in the Bible see number 36.  If you have a problem with me using someone else' answer, what about how you quoted directly from http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/paul_carlson/nt_contradictions.html (Section F). That is fine, but next time could you give a link. Next!

Debunking Christianity: Bible Contradiction Quiz Show Part 1

John Loftus has posted a video from YouTube in which there is a mock quiz show with questions from the Bible. The thing is that the questions are phrased a certain way out of context and such that the answers seem ambiguous and conflicting. Let's see if we can help with the confusion. This is part 1.





How long Does God's Anger lasts?
Micah 7:18; Jer 17:4

18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy. - Micah 7:18

4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn forever." - Jeremiah 17:4

There is no contradiction look at the whole verses. Micah 7:18 is with respect to the remnant. The people God saved out of the ashes of those who were consumed by his wrath that kindles against them forever in Jeremiah 17:4. There is only one message here.

Does Yaweh temp people?
Gen 22:1; James 1:13

 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied. - Genesis 22:1

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; - James 1:13

So the issue is does Genesis 22:1 say "God tested Abraham" like modern translations (ie NIV) or does it say "tempted" like the KJV. The Hebrew word in question is "nacah". Any lexicon will tell you that the word can mean to "temp" or :"test" depending on the context. So why in this verse is "test" a better translation...or even "try" as in refining metal of impurities? The answer is simple. It lies in the difference between "tempting" and "testing". "Tempting" has the goal of destruction.  The idea is to goad one into doing something wrong with awful consequences. However "testing: is about improvement. Why do we give students tests in school? It's not to watch them fail but to show what they have learned and give them more tools to run with.  God tests us. Satan tempts us. In addition, comparing the two passages is a problem because Genesis is in Hebrew and James is in Kione Greek. Are they the same ideas? In James 1:13, the word is "peirazo" and it is used to translate nacah into Greek.


Can Salvation be attained by works? Yes and No
Gal 2:16,Romans 3:28
Matt 19:17, Luke 19:26-8;James 2:24

The Bible clearly tells us that salvation cannot be attained by works. I find it interesting that the quiz does not reference what Paul or James wrote about "works". These scriptures clear up the supposed confusion.

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:8-10 (written by Paul)

¹⁷Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
 ¹⁸Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
 ¹⁹Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. - James 2:17-19 (Written by James)

So both Paul and James were talking about salvation and faith, but were they talking about the same "works"? No. They both use the word "Ergon" but in different contexts. Paul is talking about religious acts and traditions that people think are going to guarantee salvation. James is talking about the hypocrisy of claiming faith and salvation but never doing anything to help others! They taught the same thing when you sum up all their letters: Salvation is throught faith in Jesus Christ but we are saved to do good works but we don't do good to get salvation.


Consequences of seeding Yaweh's face? Death and life
Exodus 33:20,John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16
Ge 32:30,Ex 33:11, Genesis 12:11; EX 24:9-11



This video answers the above:






Does Yaweh Delight in burnt offerings?
Jer 7:22
Ex:20-24

Jeremiah 7:22 is offered as a rebuttal to the idea that God does not delight in burnt offerings but it's woefully out of context.

 ²¹ " 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.

God does desire obedience more than sacrifice but that does not mean that they were not supposed to make sacrifices!

Is God the Author of Evil
IS 45:7;1 John 4:8

This question is not a Yes or No question. The question presupposes that God is accountable for allowing evil. I wrote more about that here!

Was Humans created before the animals
Gen 2:18-9;1:25-27

Genesis 2 is a snapshot that gives more detail than Genesis 1 does.  There is no conflict because Genesis 2 does not say the animals were made after Adam, just reiterates that God did it.

Did Paul's companions hear the voice he did on the road to Damascus?
Acts 229:9; Act 9:7

Answered here.

Will the Earth last Forever?
2 Peter 3:10; Ecc 1:4

The Bible and science says no.  Ecc 1:4 is talking about the earth being a constant with respect to human life spans. It is not saying that the earth is eternal.

Is Jesus the only man to have ascended into heaven?
2 Kings 2:11; John 3:13

Jesus is the only man who ascended into heaven. He went on his own! Enoch and Elijah were taken. 

Were Children supposed to be punished for the sins of their fathers?
Deut 24:16; Deut 5:9

Again context is ignored. Deut 24:16 is in context of people punishing crime in society.  Deut 5:9  is about what God does. The two can't be confused or conflated.  Big mistake.

God never tires or rest. IS 40:28 but Is 1:14; Is 43:24

More stupidity. Isaiah 40:28 is about God not being able to be tired with respect to becoming weak after exertion. God doesn't do that. Isaiah 1:14 and 43:24 are about about being fed up with circumstance and situation. This shows that God's patience does have limits.

Debunking Christianity: Bible Contradiction Quiz Show