religion, contradictionsIn the Old Testament, within Genesis there are two creation stories that contradict each other so much so that many have said they are in fact two separate stories.
Does anybody have any more interesting contradictions that the next religious doorstep caller can be hit with?
In Matthew 14 is the famous “feeding the five thousand” scene. In this scene the Jesus character has gone in a boat to a “desert place apart” but the people follow him. There follows a couple of bits of narrative which appear to quite clearly indicate the passing of time, even if only a day or two. Then in chapter 15 you have him calling the multitudes to him, giving them a few parables and a bit of healing, and then telling his disciples they must be fed. The disciples, who were explicitly stated to be at the first miraculous feeding session, say unto him, “Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude.” Of course, it was a slightly easier miracle, as there were only 4000 people this time, and he had two more loaves. Apart from being somewhat sloppy editing, this basic error does seem to undermine any claims that the gospel of Matthew was written by an eye-witness author - which no moderately informed theologian would still insist on - let alone that it was written under any kind of “divine inspiration.”
there are a veritable plethora of such direct contradictions.
A good source for these is: http://www.project-reason.org/scripture_project/, especially under the tag “Contradiction”
Is Allah Merciful?
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. (1:1, 3, 163)
He is the relenting, the Merciful. (2:37, 54)
For Allah is Full of Pity, Merciful toward mankind. (2:143)
Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. (4:56)
CORRECTION: Please continue to verses 4:57-58.
Lo! those who disbelieve and deal wrong, Allah will never forgive them, neither will He guide them unto a road, Except the road of hell, wherein they will abide for ever. And that is ever easy for Allah. (4:168-9)
CORRECTION: Punishment for misdeeds does not negate mercy. Indeed, justice (both in the thelogical and secular sense) may require retribution but this is separate from mercy.
The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom. (5:33)
CORRECTION: Again, this example confuses justice and mercy. Mercy does not have to be absolute (i.e. every misdeed is forgiven) for it to exist.
Does Mohammed ask for a fee?
Whatever ye take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for Allah, and for the messenger and for the kinsman. (8:51)
And what aileth you that ye spend not in the way of Allah when unto Allah belongeth the inheritance of the heavens and the earth? (57:10)
Lo! ye are those who are called to spend in the way of Allah, yet among you there are some who hoard. And as for him who hoardeth, he hoardeth only from his soul. And Allah is the Rich, and ye are the poor. And if ye turn away He will exchange you for some other folk, and they will not be the likes of you. (47:38)
CORRECTION: I think it is clear to even the most novice reader of the Quran that fee referred to in all three examples above is not a monetary fee paid to the Muhammad. Rather, "spending in the way of Allah" is charity to the poor or in the way of social good, or as is illustrated in hadith (teachings and sayings of the Prophet), can take virtually any positive shape, such as smiling to another person. It is money or some effort paid towards the social good as opposed to personal gain.
Thou askest them no fee for it. (12:104)
Or askest thou (Muhammad) a fee from them so that they are plunged in debt? (52:40)
Or dost thou (Muhammad) ask a fee from them so that they are heavily taxed? (68:46)
CORRECTION: These references are not monetary. They are rhetorical questions about why man would reject the message from his Creator as he is not asked anything for it, but rather, it is man that gains.
Your contradictions, etc., here, in two examples:
You can also find quite a few by googling for Contradictions in the religious texts.
The two creation stories are not necessarily a contradiction. In Jewish mythology, Adam had a wife prior to Eve, by the name of Lillith. Lillith was banished from the Garden of Eden after she refused to be subservient to Adam, and she later mated with the archangel Samael.
This story would also clear up another apparent contradiction from the book of Genesis: After Cain killed Abel, he went off to the land of Nod where he married and had children--How could he have married and had children if Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel were the only humans on earth? Perhaps the people in the land of Nod were descendants of Lillith and Samael?
I won't go into too much detail about the rest of the Lillith story, since that would be off-topic, but it's fascinating stuff if you're into ancient legends and folklore (or if you ever wondered what causes wet dreams...)
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