Bible Study

Chapter 01

Many churches offer Bible studies right off the bat either online or in person.

They hand out booklets with study material which is very specific to their creed.

Firstly, what is a creed?

      Answer: A Creed is a formal statement of Christian beliefs, especially the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed.

These creeds support the idea that Jesus is God but is also distinct from God as the Son.

Before you are invited to get baptised the majority of churches want to feel comfortable knowing that you will abide by and agree to the doctrines they teach.

But is this Biblical?

     Answer: No, it is not. For example, regarding the issue of baptism, Jesus did not set requirements for getting baptised.  In other words you dont have to understand church doctrines before you are invited to be baptised. 

Jesus spoke about repenting of our sins and following him.

Churches have distorted the message by saying repent of your sins and follow us the church.

Many other doctrines are taught by the church and depending on which church you attend all these doctrines are in conflict with one another.

Here are some examples:

• Hellfire
• Baptism
• Tithes
• Heaven
• Blood
• Trinity
• Salvation
• Atonement
• Blessings
• Punishment
• Prosperity
• Death
• Works
• Winning Souls for Jesus
• Suffering
• Sin

A closer look at the Bible will reveal many inconsistencies with these doctrines.






Question: What is a creed?

So, who wrote the Bible God or Man?


Most people when they read the Bible are convinced that everything that was said by Jesus for example in the New Testament was written down and recorded straight away by the apostles.

This however is far from the truth.

The Bible writers or scribes did not have sophisticated writing tools and recording equipment that we have today and therefore they could not write in real time as events were taking place.

Instead the Bible manuscripts were written decades after events occurred.

     It is common knowledge today that when we speak of events in the past and if there is no video footage of events spoken about then it is based on eye witness testimony.

A lot of proposed evidence produced in court today is based on hearsay and not on actual eye witness testimony. Such is the case with the Bible.

     The scribes and apostles often wrote on hearsay as they themselves were not actually present at the time certain events occurred.











Question: Who wrote the Bible, God or Man?

Does the Bible have errors and contradictions?

Yes, it does. Here are some examples.

David once took a census in his kingdom.  Whether he was moved to do this by God or the devil is confusing because the story is told twice.  

    In one place it says the devil made him do it, while in the other place it says God moved him to do it (1 Chron 21:1 versus 2 Sam 24:1).

1 Chron 21:1 " Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel".

2 Sam 24:1  "Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

    
At any rate, David did take a census, and for some reason that is not explained, God disapproved of the census and decided that he had to punish David.  

      God gave David a choice of three punishments. He could choose a famine, a pestilence or be put before his enemies for three months.

The result was that 70,000 people were killed. Who should have been punished? The God who moved David to take the census?  The devil? David?  (why is taking a census bad?)?  

2 Samuel 24:12-13 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ So, Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

     The one party that should not have been punished were the innocent people of the kingdom.

      When David chose i.e. the grossly immoral option of mass murder on innocents, God accepted the choice with no reprimand to David and carried out the slaughter.

2 Samuel 24:15 "So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died."










Question: Does the Bible have contradictions?

Another Bible Contradiction

Here is another example:

The last words attributed to Jesus on the cross vary slightly among the four canonical Gospels in the Bible. I will provide you with the accounts from each Gospel:

• According to the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 27:46), Jesus cried out in Aramaic, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which translates to, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
• The Gospel of Luke (Luke 23:46) records Jesus saying, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." These words are in Aramaic as well, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
• "Lastly, the Gospel of John (John 19:30) reports Jesus saying, "It is finished," in Greek, which is translated from the words "Tetelestai."

 So, what were Jesus lasts words on the cross before he died? "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." or "It is finished,"?

Matthew Describes People Raised from the Dead.

To add to the further confusion, it is interesting to note that Matthew describes an earthquake that occurred immediately after Jesus died on the cross, which caused tombs to open and bodies of many holy people to be raised. These resurrected individuals were then seen by many in the city of Jerusalem.

Matthew 27" 51-54 " At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

    The accounts of the resurrection of these holy people are unique to the Gospel of Matthew, and no other Gospel or historical record provides further details or corroboration.















Question: Can we say for sure based on the mixed reports in the Bible what in fact Jesus' last words were just before he died?

In Matthew 27:5, it is stated that after Judas Iscariot realized the consequences of betraying Jesus, he felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." However, the religious leaders did not want the money back and used it to purchase the "Potter's Field" as a burial place for foreigners. This account suggests that Judas returned the money before his suicide.

On the other hand, in Acts 1:18, which takes place after Jesus' resurrection, it is mentioned that Judas acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness and fell headlong, leading to his death. This passage appears to imply that Judas himself bought the field with the money he received for betraying Jesus. The account in Acts does not mention anything about Judas returning the money or the chief priests using it to buy the field.

Matthew 27:5 "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself."

Acts 1: 18 " (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out."







Question: Is there a contradiction in the Bible regarding what Judas did with the 30 pieces of silver he received for betraying Jesus?

As we discuss the errors and contradictions in the Bible please know that although theologians will argue that the central theme of the Bible remains the same, we must not be so quick to accept any minister's interpretation of the Bibles ancient texts without first examining these texts for ourselves and comparing them to others.

      The biggest contradiction in the Bible is the statement that says God is a God of Love (1 John 4:8). When Bible scholars are shown contradictory behaviour to love, they simply say that God is also a God of Justice and He is also fair and impartial.

      So, let's have a look at some examples of Gods fair and impartial justice.

David and Bathsheba

Once upon a time, David saw a maid bathing and decided he wanted her (2  Sam 11:2).  It didn't deter him when he found out that she had a husband. He had the husband sent to the "front lines" of a war going on to be killed in battle.  He took the women against her will, treating her like property of his own instead of as a human being with rights.

2  Sam 11:2 "One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

God did not appreciate David having sex with Bathsheba so in order to punish David he caused David's wives to be raped in public.

2 Sam 12: 9 " Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you."

Verse 11 "Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight."

      So, notice Gods so called fair and impartial Justice for David's sin. All of David's wives who are innocent must suffer and be raped in public.







Question: Would you agree that Gods judgement of the innocent wives is unfair?

Here is another example of Gods Justice:

On one occasion, David went naked in front of his servants.  When he was chastised for this by Michal, a daughter of another king, he replied that God held him in higher regard than Michal and that he would do what he wanted.

Immediately afterwards, it says in the Bible that Michal was without child till her death, as if this were caused by her chastising David.

The treatment of women in the Bible, overall, is rather primitive and barbaric.  The greatest authority against women's rights that is used by American conservatives are quotations from the Bible.

Question:  Were women treated badly in the Bible by men and did God view women as being inferior to a man?

Unfortunately, the Bible paints David as a very brave man and Gods friend.

Another exaggerated story in the Bible is the story of DAVID AND GOLIATH.

David is often given the credit for slaying Goliath, the giant.

But the question we need to ask ourselves is this viz:   

     Did giants really walk the Earth as the Bible says?  Fundamentalists decry anthropologist's fossil records, but where is their fossil record that there ever existed giant humans that walked the Earth?  

     The fact is that there is not one skeleton of any human giant.

1 Sam 17:23 "As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it".

1 Sam 17:50 "So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him."

 As a result of David's bravery and achievements on the battle field, he got away with a lot of sinful behaviour but innocent people and even animals suffered for it.

Although many people disagree as to how many rights an animal may have, we might agree that they have a right to not be needlessly tortured. David would not agree with this line of thought.  He tortured thousands of animals (2 Sam 8:4).  He would have the horses of a defeated enemy hamstrung (cutting the tendons of the back of their legs, thereby crippling them).

2 Sam 8:4 "And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots."

          At the end of the day perhaps David was merely taking tips from his God as to how to treat slaves and animals during times of war. After all his God is also said to be a God of war (Ex 15:3)

Exodus 15:3 " The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name" English Standard Version.

According to the Bible, God is

A terror (Gen 35:5).  

A great and terrible God (Deut 7:21).  

He is jealous (Deut 32:21).

He, trains men's hands for war (Ps 18:34, 144:1, Jer 48:10 & Joel 3:10).  

He is  wrathful (Zec 8:10).







Question: Is there any proof of giants during David's time and through the history of the human race?

The reason you have been asked to consider some of the appalling behaviour in the Bible by so called Bible heroes and you have also been exposed to a lot of contradictions in the Bible is so that going forward in chapter 02 as we begin to deal with church creeds (doctrines) you are already fully aware of possible contradictions and errors in the scriptures.

It is important for you to realise that theologians have been claiming for centuries that the Bible is without error. Gullible followers of the church have been hoodwinked into accepting certain teachings that are in no way reflective of who God really is and what Gods purpose for mankind is.

Finally, our purpose is not to prove that the Bible is unreliable and that certain events in the Bible did not take place. What we are saying is that man's interpretation of the Bible is unreliable and, in some cases, it can be very damaging.

Jesus said to the Samaritan women at the well John 4:21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Verse 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."

We believe God is looking for people who want to know the truth and those who want to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Hopefully this Bible course has inspired you to want to know more about our Heavenly Father.







Question: Why is it important for you to be aware of errors and contradictions in the Bible?

If you have found chapter 01 to be an eye opener please move onto chapter 02 where we will be looking at the doctrine of eternal hell.