VIEWPOINT
First, a statement like the one in the Yellow Viewpoint box above is based on a foundation set by the author of the statement. Is that foundation based on the original information from the original source (spoken word of God), or from the many interpreted translations available today? My assumption is that it will be from a translated source, since we have no original Biblical documents with us today. Since the article claims to use the KJV, it starts from a place that automatically uses different words than are in the "standard" American library of words used in connection with God. Since they call themselves "American" Atheists, I assume they have an American basis for their view. In the words of Rush Limbaugh, "Words mean things."
Let's address the claims as presented on the site at AMERICAN ATHEISTS
The Sabbath Day
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." - Exodus 20:8
"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." - Romans 14:5
First, their site lists the fourth commandment, first introduced to Moses by God for the Israelites, to see if they would follow His instructions (Exodus 16:11-36). This is made one of the ten commandments four chapters later at Mt. Sinai.
Next, the ATHEISTS attempt to ridicule the words of God by quoting the Apostle Paul in Romans 14:5. This verse is not even referring to the fourth commandment, but is describing the disputable matters mentioned as the topic in the first verse of the same chapter. Disputable matters are issues where God was not specific as to the manner in which people will follow His words.
The first issue listed as an example is whether or not one can be a vegetarian or can eat meat. There is no clear statement either way, so this is up to the individual.
Next, the esteemed day issue was whether or not Gentiles had to adhere to the Jewish feast days that marked remembrance for Jewish history. The Gentile history was different, so they could decide for themselves which of these days they wanted to follow, if any. Thus, people are not to get into disputes about disputable matters - which the Sabbath was not. A commandment is a non-disputable statement from God. This statement by Paul has nothing to do with the commandments. Unless, of course, you think that Gentiles can murder, steal, commit adultery, or break any of the other commandments if they want without penalty, the commandments apply to everyone.
The Permanence of the Earth
"... the earth abideth for ever." - Ecclesiastes 1:4
"... the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." - 2 Peter 3:10
Really? Atheists will take a philosophical statement by the son of David and attempt to turn it into a "measurable" fact for comparison. Next they'll be saying that we are so stupid that we believe that the sun actually "rises" every morning, "flies" across the skies all day, then "hides" behind the horizon all night.
Solomon is making this statement after saying that a man lives only a comparatively short time here compared to the age of the earth. Even John in Revelations said that there will be a new heaven and a new earth that lasts forever. About which earth was Solomon speaking? Is this the same old earth made new again by a cleansing fire or some other rejuvenation God will use that is unknown to us? And, Peter was not referring so much to the event of finality as much as to the time approaching which will be the end of choices, after which our fate will be sealed. He was saying that people should be changing while they still can before God "makes everything new again" at some great cost to many (most?) people who do not act as God said they should.
Seeing God
"... I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." - Genesis 32:30
"No man hath seen God at any time..." - John 1:18
Once again, Atheists use the words without knowing the basics about the event causing the statement, or about God, or the meaning of the words spoken and expect to be recognized for their "insight" and "accurate interpretation". There are three persons in the God they ridicule. God, the Father, God, the Son (Jesus), and God, the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the all-powerful being that we know very little about except what He has told us. Jesus is the Son of God (God incarnate) who came to earth so that we know that He understands us as humans. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with us, the way in which we communicate to Him and Him to us.
This statement in Genesis was made by Jacob who had just spent a large portion of the night wrestling with a "man", who blessed him. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and he realized that he had actually wrestled with God. Now, how can a man see God and live?
Anyone who was walking around Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the first century could well have seen Jesus and lived. But, Jesus was God (John 10:30
30"I and the Father are one."
), so, how can that be? Now, you can choose not to believe that this is true, but you cannot say that it also means that no one can look at Jesus and live. However, Moses spent time with God without looking at His face, but God would not let him see His face in His true form. Sure, there is an argument that Christians can make statements like this to deliberately confuse the issue for Atheists, but that is exactly what the Atheists are doing with the words of the Bible to try to condemn its believers' faith. No man has seen the face of the Father at any time, but many have seen the face of Jesus.
Now, if the Atheists had really read the Bible and wanted to mention something odd, the events of Exodus 24:9-11
9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel went up, 10and they saw Israel's God. Under God's feet there was what looked like a floor of lapis-lazuli tiles, dazzlingly pure like the sky. 11God didn't harm the Israelite leaders, though they looked at God, and they ate and drank.
when seventy-three Israelites went up on the mountain and ate with God. While this seems to go against the "cannot see God's face and live" statements, remember that this was long before Jesus appeared on earth. If God could appear before men in the first century without harming them in the human form of Jesus, He could do it long before that.
Human Sacrifice
"...Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God..." - Leviticus 18:21
[In Judges, though, the tale of Jephthah, who led the Israelites against the Ammonites, is being told. Being fearful of defeat, this good religious man sought to guarantee victory by getting god firmly on his side. So he prayed to God] "...If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" - Judges 11:30-31
[The terms were acceptable to god - remember, he is supposed to be omniscient and know the future - so he gave victory to Jephthah, and the first whatsoever that greeted him upon his glorious return was his daughter, as god surely knew would happen, if god is god. True to his vow, the general made a human sacrifice of his only child to god!] - Judges 11:29-34
Now, this claim is not so much that the Bible contradicts itself as it is claiming that people should not obey God, or keep their promises to Him. The Atheists even pointed to a verse that had nothing to do with the incident Leviticus 18:21
21"... Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God..."
speaks of passing children through the fire to Molech, a pagan god. That never happened here. And, Jepthah never profaned God. So, where is the contradiction?
This is a claim that God knew which of Jepthah's children would greet him in this ill-fated tale and should have prevented the incident, but didn't, therefore God must be either cruel, non-existent or at least different than we claim.
Finally, nothing can be said here about what should have happened, only what each individual opines should have happened. However, I put that into the hands of God. Jepthah made a promise to God and kept it. I am sure that, if this girl was worthy, Jesus will take her to live with Him at the judgment. Her father was honoring his promise to God. No contradictions here. Uncomfortable activity maybe, but no contradictions.
The Power of God
"...with God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26
"...The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." - Judges 1:19
God does not make the world bow to the power of believers. The key word here is believers, which also implies, obeyers. Now, the Israelites did not win every battle they fought. The reason for losing many of the battles was lack of obedience. If you read the commentary in the NIV, it explains that the Israelites failed on at least five factors:
1:19 unable to drive the people from. Israel failed to comply with God's commands (Dt 7:1-5; 20:16-18) to drive the Canaanites out of the land. Five factors were involved in that failure: (1) The Canaanites possessed superior weapons (here); (2) Israel disobeyed God by making treaties with the Canaanites (2:1-3; (3) Israel took up the worship of other gods and so violated the covenant the Lord had made with their ancestors (2:20-21); (4) God was testing Israel's faithfulness to obey His commands (2:22-23; 3:4); (5) God was giving Israel, as His army, the opportunity to develop their skills in warefare (3:1-2). iron chariots. Wooden vehicles with certain iron fittings, perhaps axles (see noteson Jos 17:16).
As you see in the notes above, most of the reasons were given in chapter 2, but not because God changed His mind or because He was "incapable" as suggested by the Atheists. God had made a deal with them when He led them out of Egypt, and they had not kept it. He sent an angel and reminded them of this fact. That disobedience caused their failure, not any disability on His part. Now, notice the ellipse indicating there was more to the quote. The whole quote from Matthew 19:26
26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
shows where the real failure lies.
Personal Injury
"...thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." - Exodus 21:23-25
"...ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." - Matthew 5:39
Wow. How obvious can you be? Notice the ellipse at the beginning of the quote (...)? That means there is something in the sentence before that mark. Let's go back and see what that something is...Oh, look! The real quote is:
23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
"But if there is serious injury...". Now read Matthew 5:39
39"But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."
, the "comparison verse". Now, as infuriating as it can be, a slap on the cheek is not a serious injury. Now, supposed "manly" men will jump right into a fist fight if that happens, but the point here is that you should not let your emotions control the situation. Of course, if someone pulls a knife on you and slices you open, that would not be considered a slap. I say, "Cut him back." But, that's just me. Oh, look. That's what Jesus (God) said, too.
Circumcision
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." - Genesis 17:10
"...if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." - Galatians 5:2
Now, here is a rule made by God that actually falls into a category that most "Christians" claim that all of God's rules fall into - "for the Jews only". However, this rule was evidently given to the Israelites as a distinguishing mark to identify them as separate from the world and identify them as being among God's people. At the time, if you were circumcised, you were an Israelite. You got circumcised because your parents were Israelites. Notice that God did not say "between Me and the world" or "between me and all men", but "between me and you" (the Israelites).
Moving on into the first century, Paul, a good Jew and persecutor of non-Jews and causing trouble for any Jews who believed in Jesus. He met Jesus in an unsettling encounter, and was informed that he should go tell the Gentiles about God. (Acts 9:1-15
1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.
11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
)
OK. Now, Paul had new orders to go tell the Gentiles about God. Paul was told to go to the Gentiles, but tell them not to act like Jews. In fact, he told the Gentiles that they do not have to become like the Jews in order to be saved by Jesus. They just have to follow the rules that applied to them. In fact, some Gentiles thought that if the Jews were God's people, they would stand a better chance if they imitated them, circumcision, following the law to be saved, and all that. That was against what God said, so Paul was saying that if you, as a Gentile, get circumcised in order to be "saved", you will be so far from the will of God that it will do you no good. (Galatians 5:2-5
2Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
)
So, you see the difference here is between two people - The Jews who were supposed to be God's messengers to the world, and the Gentiles (everyone else) who were supposed to get the message. Becoming Jews would not be the result that God wanted.
Incest
"Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of this mother..." - Deuteronomy 27:22
"And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter...it is a wicked thing...." - Leviticus 20:17
[But what was god's reaction to Abraham, who married his sister - his father's daughter?] See Genesis 20:11-12
"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sara thy wife...I bless her, and give thee a son also of her..." - Genesis 17:15-16
Let's put this into perspective. God created the world and populated it with two people. He then gave them instructions, "Be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28
28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
). Which they did, while the population grew up to the time of the flood. At that time, there was a sharp decrease in earth's population. So the repopulation began and continued as before. They did this until that time when God knew that this continual inter-breeding would begin to cause genetic problems, once the DNA molecule had been diluted enough. Then God told the Israelites to knock off the inter-breeding with relatives.
So, what we have here is a built-in population growth method, with restrictions to be installed at the right point. That point is the "contradiction" you Atheists have highlighted. Now, because that part of the Jewish method has been accepted by the world, incest is generally not acceptable. Our reasons are that, scientifically, it is not healthy for people, and God's reason was exactly the same, just applied at a time when He knew it would work toward His goals.
By the way, that "contradiction" happened after the Exodus from Egypt, but before God told them to go and "destroy the nations" before them in the land He was giving to the Israelites if they were obedient, which they were not. Abraham was around hundreds of years before the Exodus happened, so he was still operating on the "Be fruitful and multiply" command to Adam and Eve.
Trusting God
"A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD..." - Proverbs 12:2
Now consider the case of Job. After commissioning Satan to ruin Job financially and to slaughter his shepherds and children to win a petty bet with Satan. God asked Satan: "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." - Job 2:3
This one I can understand why the Atheists question it as a contradiction. With a viewpoint that God does not exist, any beliefs beyond what you can see and touch are pointless. The Proverbs quote above indicates that a good man is treated with favor by God.
To most who read this, that favor means that he will be given special treatment, riches, power, and all the toys his little heart desires. However, in the span of time from the beginning to the end, man's time on earth is so small as to be insignificant in the scheme of things.
Now, if God is real, then gaining His favor means to gain the reward He offers for obedience to His will. That reward, according to Jesus (God Who came down to earth to give His message directly to us), for obedience is eternal life (John 3:16
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
).
This puts a different perspective on the reason for this life, if you believe it. If you don't, then you will see it in a different light, not the one written in the Book you call a mass of contradictions. Job was rewarded in his earthly lifetime for his faith, and I am sure he will receive his eternal reward at the judgment. All those family members who died will be rewarded or punished as their belief and lives deserved. In fact, according to the Bible, everyone who has ever lived on earth will receive an eternal reward. It's just that some will be in eternal life, while others will be in eternal punishment. And, yes, that means what it says, not "poof", gone forever.
So, this is maybe not a contradiction, just a "petty" bet between Satan and God. However, the way most people, even so-called "Christians", look at this life, they are betting that God does not mean what He says in His Book to us. When you follow God, most people will call you ridiculous, "legalist", or accuse you of trying to work your way to heaven. If we try to follow what God says to do, our lives work pretty much the way Job's life went - full of ups and downs - imagine that. Now we can say it's not a bet between Satan and God, but how we handle the trials and tribulations determines how we will end up in the eyes of God. If we act according to the word of God, we will win the bet for Him and ourselves. Look around you - most so-called "Christians" are not following God's word, so they are losing the bet for themselves and God.
The Holy Lifestyle
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart..." - Ecclesiastes 9:7
"...they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not..." - 1 Corinthians 7:30
Again, the Atheists are grabbing at a philosophical view of Solomon expressed with his recognition of the "futility" of this life, since no matter how hard we work at being good, we all die at the end. His monologue was mourning the fact that he could see nothing of eternal life and thought that this life was all there is, so we might as well have a good time while it lasts.
Paul, on the other hand, in 1 Corinthians 7:30 is speaking as though there is no doubt in his mind that Christ's return was imminent in his day, as many think today. He was telling people to live their lives as though Christ is coming at any moment, so everyone should live that way - calm, sober, minding everything they do as though Christ was watching them. This is Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, and it was here that he condemned the actions of a church brother who was directly violating the will of God (sleeping with his father's wife) and the congregation was blatantly supporting the offender. This letter was to get them back on track and start acting like God was watching their every move.
Considering the subject matters in this entire Atheist article, "contradiction" hardly fits. If you want to go through the Bible and pick out were someone said go left and 50 chapters later said to go right on a different trip, can you honestly call that a contradiction? However, if your goal is to point out how contradictory Christianity is, you should know more about it. Over 90% of what people call Christianity today is actually contradictory to the Word of God, but you Atheists don't point that out because you evidently don't understand the nature of contradictions, or what "Christian" people do that is actually a contradiction of the Word of God. Something like, "You say that you follow God, but the Bible says do this and you don't do it. The Bible says don't do this, and you do it regularly." Now, that would be hard to refute. But, let's continue on the track you have started.
Punishing Crime
"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father..." - Ezekiel 18:20
"I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation..." - Exodus 20:5
Two totally different premises here, plus, the title of this section refers to punishing Crime, but the verses are about sin. First, Ezekiel says that when a father sins, but his son follows God and does not sin, only the one who sins will be punished. The son is not punished because of what the father does. This is the way most people think things should be.
Here we are again with the partial verses and ellipses (...) which totally ignores the rest of the phrase "of those who hate me". When you add that phrase, you can see that the fathers teach their sons the same image worship being discussed here in the second of the ten commandments. Since this will affect generations that follow the lead of their father, this is a natural event. It may take two or three generations to learn the error of their ways and start acting correctly toward God. Note also that the punishment is for committing the sins of the parents, not punishment of the children because of the sins the parents committed - the children are sinning the same sins because they have been taught the same hate for God.
Calling these crimes instead of sins diverts the attention of the reader away from the facts. There is not necessarily criminal activity in sin (following false gods, mis-using God's name, adultery, dishonoring mother and father, breaking the Sabbath), but there is always disobedience to the will of God.
Temptation
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." - James 1:13
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham..." - Genesis 22:1
Sorry, guys, here you fell into the KJV trap of misinterpreting the Greek and redefining the word. If you use one version of the Bible, most any of them, you will run into this same thing, just on different verses. The word here in Hebrew is nahsah (
) meaning "test" or "try":
so Abraham was tested, not tempted. No contradiction here.
Family Relationships
"Honor thy father and thy mother..." - Exodus 20:12
"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26
Here again, the Atheists are interpreting statements without understanding the concepts behind them. Then they call them contradictions. The first listing is the fifth commandment given to the Israelites in the desert, the fifth of those ten intended for them to give to those in the world who want to follow God. Note the wording of the commandment, "Honor...". This means to respect, not "undying love and devotion".
Now, one thing only did Jesus require for those who follow Him - complete commitment. If you were in any way caused to stray from your mission because of the love of anyone, then you are not committed enough to be His disciple. That is why Jesus used the word "hate". You must love nothing more than your mission to bring Christ to the world. Obviously, this is not the definition that most give to the word "hate". You can honor your parents, and still walk away from them for the love of Christ. Many do not understand this kind of commitment, which is why most "Christians" are not really committed. Again, no contradiction here.
Resurrection of the Dead
"...he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more." - Job 7:9
"...the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth..." - John 5:28-29
Once again, the Atheists have taken this out of it's context in the book of Job. The passage they quote is a small portion of Job explaining that once he dies, no one he knew will see him again. He will never come home again. People that see him every day will no longer see him. He's dead, gone from this world. That is the meaning of his words here. There is some conjecture that Job 14 has reference to rising to eternal life, but it is far from definite. However, Chapter 19 definitely mentions that Job expects to see his Redeemer and God with his own eyes, "after my skin has been destroyed" (Job 19:26). So, Job does expect to somehow come back from the grave, but that is not the context of the passages being used to claim that a contradiction exists somewhere in here.
So, if Job believes that he will see God after he dies, then where is the contradiction with John 5:28-29 above?
The End of the World
"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." - Matthew 16:28
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. " - Luke 21:32-33
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:11-12
"Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." - James 5:8
"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." - 1 John 2:18
"But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." - 1 Peter 4:7
Taking these in order of presentation, the first one in Matthew 16:28 is not taken lightly, as this one has caught up many a new Christian as something that does not seem as though it has happened as yet. Well, I hold that this predicted event did happen as Jesus predicted, about a week (six days) after He predicted it. At an event known as the Transfiguration
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
, an event took place with the witnesses John, James and Peter. It involved two men who had been dead for centuries appearing beside Jesus, Moses and Elijah, speaking with Him. The apostles recognized them immediately, even though they had never seen them before. Now, considering that this is not the kind of thing that happens to just anybody, this could be interpreted as a preliminary to Jesus' coming into His kingdom. Of course, if you are an Atheist, you will not see the link here, or believe in the possibility of it happening.
The second listing seems to be speaking of the generation to which Jesus was speaking at the time. However, starting at verse 10, He speaks of a time of some great physical events (earthquakes, famines, and pestilences) that will occur during a time of great conflict between nations and kingdoms. At the same time there will be persecution of the true followers of Christ, who are telling the world about what is starting to happen. That generation is the one to which Jesus is referring. The return of Jesus to earth will occur during that generation. He was obviously not speaking of the generation to which he was talking at the time of this passage in Luke.
As for the rest of the passages above, these men were sure that the time for Jesus return was right around the corner. If the Atheists think, just because their hope was not realized yet, that it never will be, I disagree. For each of these generations since then, the same message applies. Not necessarily because Jesus will return tomorrow, but when we die, our faith and actions will have defined our spiritual fate for us at the time. So, if we are going to make sure that we are ready for the fate we desire when He returns, we need to shape up now, not later. We may not have time later (car accident, nuclear war, plane crash, robbery with murder, etc.). That is the message of all these passages.
What are we talking about here?
Contradictions? If you think that the Bible authors mis-predicted the end of time, then you may be right. Is that a contradiction, or just an error? We all make errors, but we try not to contradict ourselves or believe contradictory statements. If these Atheists would listen to the words spoken in most (98%?) of the "Christian" churches around today (some 45,000 denominations) then they would be seeing and hearing contradictions between their beliefs and the Bible. What most "Christians" don't understand is that, from the church parking lot until they get back into their cars after the service, everything they see contradicts the Bible and is not from Christianity at all. (See Pagan Christianity? for evidence and discussion.)
However, if the Atheists are actually reading the Bible, they are not finding contradictions unless they are in the misinterpreted versions. If they depend on one Bible version (NIV, KJV, ASB, ESV, etc.) then some errors are there to be uncovered, but the gist will be good with no contradictions. You have to read in the context of the time it was written, not in the selective individuality of today's personal interpretation. Usually reading from the Interlinear (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) versions, or the gist of all the different texts' meanings, the truth is more apparent, just harder for most to understand because of preconceptions or persuasion from others.
Coming from an ex-Atheist
Just so that you will know that I am not "blowing smoke" to make the Godly view seem more palatable, I was born and raised a confirmed Atheist until I met my wife at age 25. She and I discussed (argued) this topic until her argument started to make sense when I compared it to the factual probability of a created universe as opposed to an accident in a gooey puddle. By the time I was 28 (yes, it took that long), I believed enough to start investigating churches.
After a lot of trial and error, we found that the Bible was a good foundation for belief, but literally none of the churches of today follow the Bible completely. Yes, none. I started with the Seventh-Day Adventists, but found that even they allowed tradition (Christmas, Easter, both pagan tradition) through the filters and diluted the message of God. So, if you want to discuss this deeper from the view of one who has been on both sides of the discussion, let me know. I look forward to it. I am now 75 years old and have even more faith and understanding of how the Bible holds together.
(Note: I notified their site of my response and let them know that I am ready to discuss the matter if they are so inclined.)
Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.
