RALPH
<< I can't put my hands on Dave's posting just now, but he
claimed that Darrel's book on contradictions in the Bible is
invalid because Darrell doesn't believe in God.>>
(DAVE 4/15) Ralph: Not completely. I said it was invalid
because Darrel based it on the premise that God does not exist
- not actually that he didn't believe in God or not.
DAR
Could Dave please cite an example of where I have ever
based an example of Bible contradiction, either in my book or
on this list, "on the premise that God does not exist."
That would be great.
<<DAVE
This is a minute point, but is important to clarify I think (I
don't believe Darrel actually states his belief in the book). >>
DAR
No, Darrel does not. Nor does the existence or non-
existence of Yahweh affect the fact that "X" does not equal
"non-X".
As Ken Hobbs has so patiently repeated over and over on
this list, good ahead and assume the existence of Yahweh, (a
presumption that I, as far as I know, I allow throughout my
book) then show us how this makes the book known as the
Bible, inerrant.
Could Dave or another inerrantist who believes as he does
please explain how the "existence of Yahweh" in anyway
solves the example of Bible contradiction given below?
X
After leaving KADESH they went to mount HOR. Following
Aaron's death ON MOUNT HOR they continued on to
ZALMONAH and then PUNON.
And they removed from KADESH, and pitched in MOUNT
HOR, in the edge of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest
went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD,
AND DIED THERE... And they departed from mount Hor, and
pitched in ZALMONAH. And they departed from Zalmonah,
and pitched in PUNON. Num. 33:37-42. See also Num. 20:27-
28; Deut. 32:50
VERSUS
NON-X
After leaving BEEROTH they went to MOSERA. Following
Aaron's death IN MOSERA they continued on to
GUDGODAH and then JOTBATH.
And the children of Israel took their journey from
BEEROTH of the children of Jaakan to MOSERA: THERE
AARON DIED, and there he was buried, and Eleazar his son
ministered in the priest's office in his stead. From thence they
journeyed unto GUDGODAH; and from Gudgodah to
JOTBATH... Deut. 10:6,7
Incidentally, the closest I come to making a formal premise
in my book on inerrancy is on page 17 where I have:
***
"By way of contradiction, the Bible can destroy, on its
own authority, any claim that it is error free. A good
contradiction is a deadly argument drawing on the Bible's own
authority!
Now, there is something we can check up on. In the end,
the reason for believiing that the Bible contradict itself is the
fact that it does.
DOES THE BIBLE CONTAIN
CONTRADICTIONS, INCONSISTENCIES
AND
MISTAKES?
If it can be shown that it does, how can the following
possibly be true?
THE BIBLE IS THE INERRANT WORD OF
GOD."
***
Bottom line: Here is what Dave does not like. He does not
like the fact that I did not presume, at the outset, a priori, that
Yahweh is the author of the Bible. I DID NOT make the
presumption that Yahweh was NOT the auther of the Bible,
but that is not good enough for Dave. He must assume
inerrancy in order to believe it. He simply wants to make his
little circle as all inerrantists do. It goes like this:
God wrote the Bible
Therefore the Bible is inerrant
I know God wrote the Bible because the Bible tells me so.
I wonder, were Dave to read the Koran or book of Mormon
would he presume beforehand, at the outset, that they were the
inerrant word of God? Why not?
cheers,
Darrel
--------------------
"Today all but the most extreme Jewish and
Christian fundamentalist recognize the
complicated and heterogeneous origins of the
Bible and that it contains statements that in any
other literary work would be considered
erroneous. Modern biblical criticism has
immeasurably enriched our understanding of
biblical backgrounds, customs, and mores, but it
has inevitably raised other issues. Most modern
believers acknowledge that in the end the issue of
biblical inspiration is ultimately a mystery truly
a matter of faith."
-- William H. Barnes, Oxford Companion To The Bible, pg.
304)