BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS: MORAL TEACHINGS

The following "contradictions" come off of an Islamic site on the internet. They all involve moral teachings found in the Bible.

Hatred to the Edomite forbidden: Deuteronomy 23:7

Hatred to the Edomite sanctioned: II Kings 14:3, 7

The episode in II Kings occurred hundreds of years after the pronouncement in Deuteronomy, and by that time the Edomites had proved themselves to be enemies of Judah. In addition, the war against the Edomites in II Kings 14 was carried out at the command of King Amaziah, not God. And verse 3 specifically says that God did not approve of all Amaziah's actions.

The blood-shedder must die: Genesis 9:5-6

The blood-shedder must not die: Genesis 4:15

Genesis 9 lays down the general law for the people to follow in the future regarding capital punishment for the crime of murder. More details are given in Numbers 36:30-34 making sure that a proper trial is first held. However, the particular case of Cain is in God's hands alone, not man's. Cain is indeed cursed, and God says that he will have to pay for his sin eventually, but not at the hand of man. It is a grave mistake to assume that God, in his omniscience, has to follow the exact rules that He institutes for His fallible people. We don't know why God spared Cain for a time period, but we can assume that it has to do with a plan He had in mind for him and his descendants.

Making of images forbidden: Exodus 20:4

Making of images commanded: Exodus 25:18, 20

If Exodus 20:4 existed by itself in a vacuum, it would even forbid any kind of art. But verse 5 clarifies what kind of image is in mind, an image that is worshiped. Thus, the decoration of the ark with the image of a cherubim in Exodus 25 does not at all contradict this injunction since nowhere are the people commanded to worship it.

The author of this contradiction could have also cited Numbers 21 where God himself orders the image of a snake to be lifted up and tells the people to look on it and they will be healed of their injuries. Three comments: (a) they were not told to worship it, (b) this was a type of Jesus being crucified on the cross to save us of our sins for all who “look on” him, and (c) when later on the people did begin to worship the snake image, King Hoshea had it destroyed.

Improvidence enjoined: Matthew 6:28, 31, 34; Luke 6:30, 35; Luke 12:30

Improvidence condemned: I Timothy 5:8; Proverbs 13:22

I first had to look up the definition of “improvidence” since it is not a word we commonly use. It means acting rashly without thinking things through. The two groups of Scripture given above actually represent two different situations. The first group concerns our giving attitude toward others and our proper reliance on God to meet our individual needs. The second group also concerns love toward others, but this time involving our duty to provide for our family's needs. In that sense, we are to act as God does toward us.

Anger approved: Ephesians 4:26

Anger disapproved: Ecclesiastes 7:9; Proverbs 22:24; James 1:20

In terms of the second group of Scriptures, they all say the same thing: don't get angry quickly and don't associate with those who do so on a regular basis. Notice that none of them says to avoid anger, just to keep it in check. Turning to Ephesians 4:26, we get the consistent message there also: you can get angry but don't let it fester inside of you.

Judging of others forbidden: Matthew 7:1-2

Judging of others approved: I Corinthians 6:2-4; 5:12

Jesus, in Matthew 7:1-2, explains that individual believers are in no position to rightly judge the behavior of their brothers and sisters because of the blinders that are on their own eyes. I Corinthians 5 gives the example of gross immorality within the congregation. Paul has no trouble giving his apostolic opinion / judgment on the offending party; however, he leaves it up to the congregation as a whole to pass official judgment. Similarly, in I Corinthians 6, Paul teaches that it is appropriate to bring disputes within the body to the whole church or their leadership for judgment. Note the distinction between an individual judgment and the collective judgment of the body of Christ.

Christ taught non-resistance: Matthew 5:39; Matthew 26:52

Christ practiced physical resistance: Luke 22:36; John 2:15

The Matthew passages do teach that Jesus' followers are not to respond in kind against physical violence directed toward them. In Luke 22:36, Jesus uses obviously figurative language (New Oxford Annotated Bible calls it a striking metaphor) to warn his followers that they must be on their guard against the actions of the hostile authorities. They take him literally by hauling out two swords, and Jesus basically says, “Enough of that.” Their response is typical of their repeated incomprehension of Jesus' teachings.

The driving out of the money changers in the temple is often cited as an example of Jesus' hypocrisy regarding non-violence. First to note is that it nowhere says that Jesus used a whip to physically attack the money changers, just to drive them out. Secondly, this is not at all an example of physical resistance to a personal attack on his person. It is an example of righteous indignation directed toward those who were disgracing God's temple and preventing Gentiles from coming there to worship in peace.

Even righteous indignation can lead fallible humans like ourselves into committing ungodly acts, as witnessed by the storming of Congress recently. Being truly indignant about a perceived wrong does not prevent one from being truly deluded. That is why only an infallible person such as Jesus could do what he did without fear of committing sin.

Hatred to kindred enjoined: Luke 14:26

Hatred to kindred condemned: Ephesians 5:25, 29; 6:2

The problem passage in Luke does indeed have Jesus saying that those who come to him must hate their earthly family. Some scholars state that in Jewish thinking, comparatives and superlatives were seldom used, and so alternatives are sometimes expressed as absolute statements instead. Whether or not that is the case here, the parallel passage in Matthew 10:37 clarifies this hyperbolic language when Jesus states that his followers cannot love his family more than they love him. The reason is spelled out in the earlier verses in Matthew 10 as being due to the fact than the unbelieving members of a follower's family can and will actually betray them to the authorities. This is precisely the sort of action that happened in Hitler's Germany to opponents of fascism.