The Destroyed Bible – On How to Reconstruct the Bible, part 2 | True Freethinker

Mariano has published his second part of his series on how we can reconstruct the New Testament even if we some how lost all of the copies. Mariano, in doing this summarizes what Textual Criticism is and how it is used to understand what the Bible text really says. You should read this!



The Destroyed Bible – On How to Reconstruct the Bible, part 1 | True Freethinker
The Destroyed Bible – On How to Reconstruct the Bible, part 2 | True Freethinker

Debunking Christianity: What Best Debunks Religion: Studying Science Or the Humanities?

John Loftus has pointed to a news article suggesting that students who major in Humanities are more likely to walk away from religion than those who are into the sciences. I'm not surprised by that. The humanities have men and our natures as the standard and relatively equal. However, in the sciences we can see objective truth. There are absolutes. There are well defined and predictive description of nature outside of opinion and emotion. When it comes to history, psychology, sociology, and the like they drive on emotion and one can argue about what is right and wrong and you can't really pin down truth because outside of God you have no rule brick and standard to examine truth claims. I think this is why I like science and engineering better. The truth is you need all the disciplines to understand our reality. If you try to apply sociology to Physics you miss a lot but you also miss much the other way. You need both. If anything in such of things as history, I can see the hand of God just as well as I can physics. I don't really see how people can deny design of the created order and how can people also deny that in order for the world to be just as it is today - billions of choices were made that made things happen as they are. Do we really think that it was by happenstance - that it's not going somewhere? I think that takes more faith.

Debunking Christianity: What Best Debunks Religion: Studying Science Or the Humanities?

Debunking Christianity: Bible Contradiction Quiz Show Part 2

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 2.







How many fighting men did Joab count?
800K 2 Sam 24:9;1 Chron 21:5
1.1 Million 2 Sam 24:9, 1 Chron 21:5

101 Contradictions  Cleared up see number 2

How many horseman did David take with him?
700 2 Sam 8:4, 1 Chron 18:4
7000

 101 Contradictions cleared up see number 11

How much did David pay for the threshing floor?
600 shekles 1 Chron 21:25
50 Shekles 2 Samu 24:24

50 Sheckles for the threshing floor and oxen but 600 for the threshing floor, oxen, and property! Checkout http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/ata20041219.htm


800 men killed in one encounter 2 Sam 23:8 or 300 1 Chron 11:11

101 Contradictons cleared up see number  8


Did both thieves mock Jesus or just one?Did Luke 23:39-42; Mark 15:32; Matt 27:44

Both Thieves mocked Jesus and then one of them repented. One account is just more detailed. Just because one reports that one repented and another says that they both mocked Jesus does not mean both did not happen. It is not mutually exclusive. Also look at 101 Contradictions Cleared Up - number 53

Did Jesus heal 2 blind men or one on the way to Jericho? Mark 10:46; Matt 20:30, Luke 18:35

2 Blind men. Just because one account only focuses one blind man and the other mentions that there was another does not make for a contradiction. If one had said that no one was healed on the way Jericho or only one man was healed or only two men were healed  then there would be grounds for misunderstanding.


Accused contradiction concerning the number of angels and their actions at the tomb
Matt 28:2,MArk 16:5,Luke 24:4, John 20:12

No contradiction the accounts vary in detail...there is no logical conflict.

And the number of women at the tomb


John 20:1, MAtt 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:10

Neither Gospel tells us how many women total went to the tomb, but instead focuses on certain ones. Where is the contradiction.

The video then lists a bunch of crimes and then ask what the penalty was.

Crime:
Fortune Telling
Cursing a parent
Hitting a parent
Not listening to a priest
Following another religion
adultery
Not seeking the Lord God of Israel
Fornication
Prophesying falsely
Homosexuality
Blasphemy
Working on the Sabbath
Allowing a few people in the town to worship other gods.

Then it tried to show  that the Bible is unfair because the penalty for these crimes were all death. The part about disobedient children was not carried out for any and all offenses as the video tries to lie. The thing about  ancient Israel is that it was a theocracy and by what right do we judge these punishments as "overkill"? An emotional one...because we know it means we deserve death. You can find yourself on this list. easily. If you broke one of them you are guilty of them all.


Good or Bad to be rich? Luke 6:24;Psalm 122:1-3

Jesus never says it's wrong to be rich. It's wrong to put your wealth ahead of God. Love of money is the root of evil not money itself..()

Sell possessions and give it to the poor - Luke 18:22; 12:33; 14:33

Never are we iold to give and not have anything for yourself.

Socialism - Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:34-37

Depends on how you define your terms. If sharing everything so no one has need or goes without then that is what the early church did -  but that is not what socialism is and has never been like that where it has been practiced.


Did the curtain rip before or after Jesus died: Mark 15:37-38;Luke 23:45-46;Matt 27:50-51

 101 Bible Contradictions - read number 50

Who's soldiers put purple rob on Jesus - Pilate or Herod? Luke 23:11, MAtt 27:27-28; John 19:1-2

Does anyone really think that an order from Pilate to Herod's soldiers would be disobeyed? I didn't think so.

Did Jesus curse the fig tree before or after he drove the merchants from the temple? Matt 21:12,17-19, Mark 11:12-17

Bible Contradictions cleared up - numbers 45 and 46
 
Should Homosexuals be killed or exiled? 1 Kings 15:11-12, LEv 20:13

1 Kings 15:11-12 is a description of what Asa did, not what God said to do. Lev 20:13  is what god said to do. Therefore there is no contradiction. Did the the author even bother to read these?


When the women arrived at the tomb was it open or closed? MAtt 28:2, Luke 24:2

101 Contradictions cleared up - read number 85


Did Judas hang himself or did he fall down and his guts spill out? Acts 1:18; Matt 27:5

Both. He fell from hanging himself and his guts spilled out. 

Is God the author of confusion? 1 Cor 14:33

 No

Was Jesus born during the time of herod or not? Luke 2:1, Matt 2:1

Yes he was. Jesus was born somewhere between 9- 6 BC and Herod died i n 4 BC. There is no problem here.

The video shows no understand of what the promises of God are. It's not just heaven. It's about having a relationship with the only one who can tell you what your purpose is. The video author is gravely mistaken. Gee, I wonder if Loftus bothered to check any of these out? Guess not.

Debunking Christianity: Bible Contradiction Quiz Show