Swag, if you'd be willing, we can use this thread to discuss some of these alleged contradictions. I'd prefer if we could go one-at-a-time through some of these. It'd be much clearer and more orderly that way.

Post one contradiction and I'm sure you'll get our perspective on it....then we can move on to the next one.

Everyone be nice. Ad homs will get you kicked from this thread very quickly.

As I mentioned too: Make sure he doesn't confuse his interpretation of the Bible with the Bible. His interpretation of the Bible can conflict easily.

Sorry .... just saw this thread. Good idea too!

Hmmmmm... lets see. How about we start with biblical accounts of a "resurrection."

Who was at the tomb....

One angel
One young man
Two men
Two angels

Heck, maybe you can find a few spelling errors a well, swag. How about a real contradiction?

(PS - I went to NBC and ABC newssites yesterday to read a story. Imagine my shock when I found a slightly different version in each story? )

That's a good start. I think it'd be better if you provided the citations and presented the verses as well.

Matthew....28:2
Mark......16:5
Luke....24:4
John......20:12

Let us understand reality.......also..if you have issues with the "the perception of reslity"....this would undermine the whole bible....how are we to believe anything that's written then?....it could all be innaccurate, mistaken, the product of illnes, and disease...lies.....tale spinning, gross exaggeration etc.etc...

IBy the same logic, one could argue that in the Lord of the Rings, there are TWO contraditory accounts of how Frodo was healed from his wound inflicted by the Nazgul. The first says that the was healed by Aragorn, the second account says that he was healed by the elves at Rivendell. Which is right? Or maybe, since it seems unlikely that a book which was written and edited over a period of more than 20 years would contain such a grevious and obvious mistake, maybe the problem is that the reader was not very attentive? That is my point: most 'Biblical contradictions' are very artificial and contrived, and are created as a result of a sloppy or extreme reading of the text, just like these which you have presented here.
Obviously, when 4 different people recount the same event, there are going to be variations, because each individual is going to emphasize different details, it is no 'contradiction'. Hell, forget about '4 different people', whenever I myself tell the same story more than once, there are minor variations in each telling. So what? That is what one should expect, and only an extreme, hyperliteralism, born of a desire to create contradictions where none exist, would be concerned about it.

I've noticed that those who insist the Bible contains contradictions tend to read the Bible in a fundamentalistical, hyperliteralist fashion. They insist the Bible is purely of human origin and not divinely inspired, but they don't treat the books of the Bible as if they were written by human beings.

The answer to your question is "Yes."

Next question.

When were the Gospels written? 70, 100 years after Jesus' death? The apostles did not walk around with taperecorders and video cameras. It seems only natural that, as time went on, some details got forgotten but that does't detract from the truth of the Gospels...

For example, say that I get in a car accident. I tell the officer that a blue car ran a red light and caused me to crash into a fire hydrant. Let's say that in reality, the speeding car was green. That does make the accident any less true?

Swag, I think it is you who is having a hard time with reality here. You can know that reality exists - and at the same time, you need to learn/find out what that reality is. As far as the Bible goes, God presented His revelation to His CHurch. His Church, through her written and oral teachings (you seem to be pretty familiar with at least the concept of the written teachings - the Bible), provides that revelation to the people with the constant oversight of God. He is the head of the Church. So there is no 'undermining' of the Bible. We believe God's revelation because He gave it to us and He is God. Among other reasons, we believe He is God becuase He did something that no one else has been able to do - resurrect Himself. Don't get the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church confused with a bunch of others who have since taken the Church's writings and used them for themselves or created a whole other set of writings altogether.

Now, can you please tell me how on earth it is that two separate news outlets just yesterday reported on the same story and all they reported wasn't identical? One even said the suspect was wearing a dark blue shirt while the other said the shirt he was wearing was almost black.

This is so weird......are these not contradictions?.....If a group of people tell a different account of the same story....especially if they insert supernatural identities where others have not.....is this not a contradiction?......huh?

Reality exists in spite of us folks.....perception does not create reality.

Do I need to find the passage in the bible that describes the text as perfect, and beyond reproach?.........but this would be another contradiction..innaccuracy

Apparently, you just don't want to intereact with people's comments. Let me repeat for you...

No, they're not contradictions.

If you and I are observing traffic on a highway, and you say "I see a blue car on the road", and I say "I see a red car on the road", are we contradicting each other? Or are we simply focused on different things? Couldn't we BOTH be right?

Ok, let's return to our friend the dictionary, shall we.


Contradiction:
The act of contradicting.
The state of being contradicted.
A denial.
Inconsistency; discrepancy.
Something that contains contradictory elements.

n 1: opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas 2: (logic) a statement that is necessarily false; "the statement `he is brave and he is not brave' is a contradiction" [syn: contradiction in terms] 3: the speech act of contradicting someone; "he spoke as if he thought his claims were immune to contradiction"

Discrepancy:
Divergence or disagreement, as between facts or claims; difference.
An instance of divergence or disagreement. See Synonyms at difference.

Therefore, I guess the answer is yes and no: YES there is a contradiction in the sense that te Gospels are not identical and present different accounts, and NO, there is no contradiction in the sense that the Gospels are not necessarily false.

Zoe

I went to the living room and spoke to my sister who was sitting on the couch. Then I went to the kitchen and spoke to my youngest daughter.

How many people were on the couch?

It depends on who tells the story. If my sister told it she would say "I was sitting on the couch with my husband when my brother came and spoke with me". My youngest daughter would say "I was in the kitchen with my sister when dad came in to speak with me.

Nevertheless, there is no contradiction in these stories. One contains more info than the other.

There were several angels at the tomb.

We really don't know how many angels were at the tomb -- all we know is that there was more than one. There were probably more who were not seen, or who were seen but were not mentioned by the Evangelists.

I think swag has our response on this one. What's the next contradiction?

More like 30-40 years.