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Self-Contradictions of the Bible, by William Henry Burr, [1860], at sacred-texts.com
1.
GOD IS SATISFIED WITH HIS WORKS.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. (Gen. 1:31.)
GOD IS DISSATISFIED WITH HIS WORKS.
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (Gen. 6:6.)
2.
GOD DWELLS IN CHOSEN TEMPLES.
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him: I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. . . . For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. (2 Chron. 7:12, 16.)
GOD DWELLS NOT IN TEMPLES.
Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. (Acts 7:48.)
3.
GOD DWELLS IN LIGHT.
Dwelling in light which no man can approach unto. (1 Tim. 6:16.)
GOD DWELLS IN DARKNESS.
The Lord said he would dwell in thick darkness. (1 Kings 8:12.)
He made darkness his secret place. (Ps. 18:11.)
Clouds and darkness are round about him. (Ps. 97:2.)
4.
GOD IS SEEN AND HEARD.
And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my backparts. (Ex. 33:23.)
And the Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. (Ex. 33:11.)
And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid. (Gen. 3:9, 10.)
For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. (Gen. 32:30.)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw, also, the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. (Is. 6:1.)
Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. . . . They saw God, and did eat and drink. (Ex. 24:9, 10, 11.)
GOD IS INVISIBLE AND CANNOT BE HEARD.
No man hath seen God at any time. (John 1:18.)
Ye hath neither heard his voice, at any time, nor seen his shape. (John 5:37.)
And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live. (Ex. 33:20.)
Whom no man hath seen nor can see. (1 Tim. 6:16.)
5.
GOD IS TIRED AND RESTS.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Ex. 31:17.)
I am weary with repenting. (Jer. 15:6.)
GOD IS NEVER TIRED AND NEVER RESTS.
Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? (Is. 40:28.)
6.
GOD IS EVERYWHERE PRESENT, SEES AND KNOWS ALL THINGS.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place. (Prov. 15:3.)
Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Ps. 139:7-10.)
There is no darkness nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. (Job 34:22, 21.)
GOD IS NOT EVERYWHERE PRESENT, NEITHER SEES NOR KNOWS ALL THINGS.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the town. (Gen. 11:5.)
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and, if not, I will know. (Gen. 18:20, 21.)
And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, amongst the trees of the garden. (Gen. 3:8.)
7.
GOD KNOWS THE HEARTS OF MEN.
Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men. (Acts 1:24.)
Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. (Ps. 139:2, 3.)
GOD TRIES MEN TO FIND OUT WHAT IS IN THEIR HEARTS.
The Lord, your God, proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut. 13:3.)
The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart. (Deut. 8:2.)
For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. (Gen. 22:12.)
8.
GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL.
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for me? (Jer. 32:27.)
With God all things are possible. (Matt. 19:26.)
GOD IS NOT ALL-POWERFUL.
And 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. (Judg. 1:19.)
9.
GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE.
With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17.)
For I am the Lord; I change not. (Mal. 3:6.)
I, the Lord, have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it. I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent. (Ezek. 24:14.)
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent. (Num. 23:19.)
GOD IS CHANGEABLE.
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (Gen. 6:6.)
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not. (Jonah 3:10.)
Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said, indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me. . . . Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house. (1 Sam. 2:30, 31.)
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. . . . And it came to pass afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Turn again and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, thus saith the Lord, . . . . I have heard thy prayer, . . . and I will add unto thy days, fifteen years. (2 Kings 20:1, 4, 5, 6.)
And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart and go up hence, thou and the people. . . . For I will not go up in the midst of thee. . . . And the Lord said, I will do this thing, also, that thou hast spoken. . . . My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. (Ex. 33:1, 3, 17, 14.)
10.
GOD IS JUST AND IMPARTIAL.
The Lord is upright, . . . and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Ps. 92:15.)
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 18:25.)
A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deut. 32:4.)
There is no respect of persons with God. (Rom. 2:11.)
Ye say the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; is not my way equal? (Ezek. 18:25.)
GOD IS UNJUST AND PARTIAL.
Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Gen. 9:25.)
For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. (Ex. 20:5.)
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, . . . it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. (Rom. 9:11, 12, 13.)
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (Matt. 13:12.)
11.
GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF EVIL.
Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good? (Lam. 3:38.)
Thus saith the Lord, Behold I frame evil against you and devise a device against you. (Jer. 18:11.)
I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. (Is. 45:7.)
Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? (Amos 3:6.)
Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments that they should not live. (Ezek. 20:25.)
GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF EVIL.
God is not the author of confusion. (1 Cor. 14:33.)
A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deut. 32:4.)
For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. (James 1:13.)
12.
GOD GIVES FREELY TO THOSE WHO ASK.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men freely and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto him. (James 1:5.)
For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth. (Luke 11:10.)
GOD WITHHOLDS HIS BLESSINGS AND PREVENTS MEN FROM RECEIVING THEM.
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. (John 12:40.)
For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor. (Josh. 11:20.)
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways and hardened our heart? (Is. 63:17.)
13.
GOD IS TO BE FOUND BY THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
Everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh fmdeth. (Matt. 7:8.)
Those that seek me early shall find me. (Prov. 8:17.)
GOD IS NOT TO BE FOUND BY THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer; they shall seek me early but shall not find me. (Prov. 1:28.)
14.
GOD IS WARLIKE.
The Lord is a man of war. (Ex. 15:3.)
The Lord of Hosts is his name. (Is. 51:15.)
GOD IS PEACEFUL
The God of peace. (Rom. 15:33.)
God is not the author of confusion but of peace. (1 Cor. 14:33.)
15.
GOD IS CRUEL, UNMERCIFUL, DESTRUCTIVE, AND FEROCIOUS.
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy. (Jer. 13:14.)
And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them. (Deut. 7:16.)
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling. (1 Sam. 15:2, 3.)
Because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand, and three score and ten men. (1 Sam. 6:19.)
The Lord thy God is a consuming fire. (Deut. 4:24.)
GOD IS KIND, MERCIFUL, AND GOOD.
The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. (James 5:11.)
For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. (Lam. 3:33.)
For his mercy endureth forever. (1 Chron. 16:34.)
I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. (Ezek. 18:32.)
The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Ps. 145:9.)
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4.)
God is love. (1 John 4:16.)
Good and upright is the Lord. (Ps. 25:8.)
16.
GOD'S ANGER IS FIERCE AND ENDURES LONG.
And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. (Num. 32:13.)
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. (Num. 25:4.)
For I have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn forever. (Jer. 17:4.)
GOD'S ANGER IS SLOW AND ENDURES BUT FOR A MOMENT.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. (Ps. 103:8.)
His anger endureth but a moment. (Ps. 30:5.)
17.
GOD COMMANDS, APPROVES OF AND DELIGHTS IN BURNT OFFERINGS, SACRIFICES, AND HOLY DAYS.
Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement. (Ex. 29:36.)
On the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. (Lev. 23:27.)
And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar; . . . it is a sweet savor; an offering made by fire unto the Lord. (Ex. 29:18.)
And the priest shall burn it all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. (Lev. 1:9.)
GOD DISAPPROVES OF, AND HAS NO PLEASURE IN BURNT OFFERINGS, SACRIFICES, AND HOLY DAYS.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. (Jer. 7:22.)
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. (Jer. 6:20.)
Will I eat of the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most high. (Ps. 50:13, 14.)
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. . . . To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand. (Is. 1:13, 11, 12.)
18.
GOD ACCEPTS HUMAN SACRIFICES.
The king [David] took the two sons of Rizpah, . . . and the five sons of Michal; . . . and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord. . . . And after that God was entreated for the land. (2 Sam. 21:8, 9, 14.)
And he [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering. (Gen. 22:2.)
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be, that whosoever 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. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. . . . And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house and behold, his daughter came out to meet him. . . . And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did according to his vow which he had made. (Judg. 11:30, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39.)
GOD FORBIDS HUMAN SACRIFICE.
Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [the Gentile nations]; . . . for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods. (Deut. 12:30, 31.)
19.
GOD TEMPTS MEN.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham. (Gen. 22:1.)
And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah. (2 Sam. 24:1.)
O Lord, thou has deceived [marginal reading, enticed] me, and I was deceived [enticed]. (Jer. 20:7.)
Lead us not into temptation. (Matt. 6:13.)
GOD TEMPTS NO MAN.
Let no may 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.)
20.
GOD CANNOT LIE.
It is impossible for God to lie. (Heb. 6:18.)
GOD LIES BY PROXY; HE SENDS FORTH LYING SPIRITS TO DECEIVE.
For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. (2 Thes. 2:11.)
Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. (1 Kings 22:23.)
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet. (Ezek. 14:9).
21.
BECAUSE OF MAN'S WICKEDNESS GOD DESTROYS HIM.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created. (Gen. 6:5, 7.)
BECAUSE OF MAN'S WICKEDNESS GOD WILL NOT DESTROY HIM.
And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I smite any more every living thing. (Gen. 8:21.)
22.
GOD'S ATTRIBUTES ARE REVEALED IN HIS WORKS.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. (Rom. 1:20.)
GOD'S ATTRIBUTES CANNOT BE DISCOVERED.
Canst thou by searching find out God? (Job 11:7.)
There is no searching his understanding. (Is. 40:28.)
23.
THERE IS BUT ONE GOD.
The Lord our God is one Lord. (Deut. 6:4.)
THERE IS A PLURALITY OF GODS.
And God said, Let us make man in our image. (Gen. 1:26.)
And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us. (Gen. 3:22.)
And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mature. . . . And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him; and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. (Gen. 18:1, 2, 3.)
For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. (1 John 5:7).