Bible Stories Never Preached in Church…Part Two
More evidence that the Bible was not inspired by a perfect God
We now review a few more Bible stories that are sometimes preached in part, but never with the whole story or their contradictions included. Often the preachers’ main point or emphasis, is the total opposite of what the Bible is actually saying when carried out to any fair and logical conclusion. It is very similar to preaching that little Johnnie obeyed his mother by going to the store and bringing home milk and bread without indicating that the items were stolen and that the clerk was shot to death.
Intentional “cherry picking,” whether it involves things like journalism, courtroom testimony, science experiments, stock analysis, real estate inspections, or teaching the Bible are deceptive. Such a tactic is dishonest and often does immense damage. Should not the servants of an almighty and perfect god be expected to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, like the rest of us are?
What is very clear, almost all, if not all Christian doctrines are developed and built on the “art” of “cherry picking” without fair and honest disclosure of other relevant details. They often cause unnecessary guilt, abuse, suicide, and sometimes, even murder.
The Bible states in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.” The following are a few more examples of where Christian listeners are given just part of the story…sometime stories they never hear a word about, despite the Biblical obligation of preachers to tell it all, based on Timothy quoted above.
* Matthew 2 tells the story that all two-year-old boys and under were killed by King Herod in his attempt to kill baby Jesus. However, that occurred only because God gave the “three wise men” wrong directions. The “star” directed them straight to King Herold in Jerusalem instead of to Bethlehem where Jesus was at. Thus, baby Jesus was saved when his parents were instructed to escape to Egypt, while all baby boys under two years of age were slaughtered. This story is often preached that God is faithful in protecting his people while totally ignoring the slaughter of innocent babies and toddlers and the untold grief it caused many parents and siblings. It seems to me that the story lacks anything positive about God and only is another example of why the Bible cannot possibly have been inspired by a perfect and loving God. Worse yet, Matthew states that this was a direct fulfillment of a prophecy found in Jeremiah 31:15 making it premeditated murder.
* Here is a law that you never hear anything about from any preacher as it is so absurd. Leviticus 12:1–5: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: ‘When a woman gives birth and delivers a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days; as she is in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Then on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall stay at home in her condition of blood purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall stay at home in her condition of blood purification for sixty-six days. Why does God declare mothers of baby girls unclean for twice the number of days than for baby boys? The real question is why would a perfect God think that new mothers are unclean in the first place?
* Many preachers make it sound like the virgin birth is clearly taught in the Bible without including the following relevant facts. First, like most of what are said to be Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, any honest reading of Isaiah 7:10–16 has nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, its word for “virgin” is usually translated as “young maiden.” A reading of Isaiah 7 will show it was directed at King Ahaz and actually fulfilled in Isaiah 8:3–4. The only way to make it fit was having the apologists invent a new hermeneutical rule from thin air called “dual prophecy.”
Second, it is not mentioned at all by Paul; the earliest New Testament writings. Only Matthew and Luke mention it but in contradictory accounts. John does not allude to it at all other than to dispute it by saying that Joseph was in fact the father of Jesus. In Mark 3:20–22 , the earliest Gospel by all accounts, he indicates that His family thought Jesus was crazy and tried to take custody of Him. Mark 3:31 confirms that His mother was part of those who thought He “lost His senses.” This shows that the earliest writings did not view Him at all as having any type of unusual birth or His Mother would not have responded the way she did. She also seemed to have forgotten it in Luke 2:41–52 when He disappeared from the family at age 12.
Third, virgin births were frequent in mythology and with powerful kings and pharaohs, long before the New Testament was written. Few scholars dispute that it was added to Jesus’ biography many years after Paul and Mark. It did not become an “orthodox doctrine” until centuries later.
It just seems that honest preachers would at least tell their followers that it is in no way clear cut and certainly not like some of them, who warn that unless you believe that the virgin birth is true, salvation is not possible.
* That takes us naturally to the genealogies of Jesus which many hear every Christmas season about His birth. But again, many vital details are completely ignored. The Bible lists two genealogies that have many differences between them. They are found in Matthew 1:1–17 and Luke 3:23–38.
Matthew lists 28 generations between David and Jesus while Luke tells us there were actually 43. You can count them for yourself if you wish.
From which of David’s sons was Jesus descended? Matthew states it was Solomon, but Luke 3 says no, it was from Nathan. Read it very carefully as the apologists lie when they try to suggest that one of these were Mary’s genealogy as both clearly and specifically state that it is Joseph who is the father of Jesus.
The two lists contain some names that are the same, while each has names that the other one does not. In fact, Matthew states that the father of Joseph was Jacob while Luke tells us it was Heli.
If Jesus did not have a father, what is the point of tracing the line of men? Suggesting one line is from His mother, is just not an honest reading of it.
As a side note, if Jesus did not have a father, would “He” not have had two X chromosomes, if, He had DNA at all. Obviously, to be human requires DNA from both parents and egg cells carry only the X chromosomes.
* Many sermons are preached about the wonderful power of God in delivering His children from 400 years of Egyptian slavery, yet skips over, or at least minimizes the fact that God killed all the first born of whom many were babies. All first born animals too. He had to harden the heart of Pharaoh several times, because Pharaoh was going to free them on his own. WHY? Exodus 9:14 tells us: For this time, I am going to send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
They never mention the absurdity of how 2,500,000 slaves outran the Egyptian military who were chasing them with horses and chariots, nor how they lived 40 years in a desert without water or material to build shelter. They never disclose the fact that despite numerous and vast attempts by archeologists to find evidence, never has a shred of evidence been found. They then sum up how God gave them the promised land, but without including the details that said gift involved cold blooded murder, massive rapes of young girls and the cruel enslavement of many human beings.
Deuteronomy 21:10–13: ”When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her (that means to rape her) and be her husband and she shall be your wife.” (Rape and kidnapping were not only approved by the Bible, but they were expressly authorized as part of God’s Law)
In other genocides, their instructions were different. 1 Samuel 15:3: “Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
Apologists claim that all the foreigners killed were evil. Not so. First, God never tried to reach them, as the Israelites were the only people that His promise was made to. Second, babies and animals are not evil, and third, the Bible tells us exactly why they were killed; so that the Israelites would not be tempted to worship other gods nor to have sex and marriages with foreigners. Read it word for word in Exodus 34:11–16.
Genocides, rapes, and slavery for the foreigners so that God’s favorite people would not be tempted to have sex and party with them. For more about why the Exodus and conquest never occurred, click here. For more showing that the Bible is not pro-life, click here.
Is it not deception when just part of a story is told while intentionally concealing details which would negate the point you tried to make? Especially when people are staking their entire life on what is being told to them.
* A couple examples regarding “half truths” follows in which one of the two verses is preached but never both of them at the same time. The story becomes unbelievable if both are included:
When was the empty tomb first discovered by Mary Magdalene? It was after sunrise according to Mark 16:2 but John 20:1 said it was still dark. Worse yet, John tells us she saw the stone removed while it was dark but in Mark, we see her going to the tomb after the sun came up wondering who would move the stone for her to get in. Any attempt to reconcile this will only dig their hole deeper.
The story of Jesus cursing the fig tree for not bearing fruit (even though it was not the season to bear), is another when both verses are combined, makes it unbelievable. Matthew 21:19–20 says it withered immediately while Mark 11:13–14, 20–21 says it was the next morning. Both cannot be true.
Was Jairus’s daughter alive when Jesus was approached? Mark 5:22–23 says yes while Matthews 9:18 says that she was already dead.
* Preachers usually describe God’s attributes as being love, holy, perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (all powerful, all knowing…past, present, and future…and being everywhere at all time.) They also teach that God is eternal…never having a beginning or a designer (think about that one…always existing?) Yet, the Bible teaches that God has many more attributes than those, but which are seldom mentioned in church. There are literally hundreds of verses that Dan Barker quotes word for word in the following 19 links clearly documenting other attributes of God. And remember, if Jesus is God…”I and the Father are one”…those attributes must also apply to Him as “God never changes nor repents.”
jealous and proud of it
petty
unjust
unforgiving
control-freak
vindictive
bloodthirsty
ethnic cleanser
misogynistic
homophobic
racist
infanticidal
genocidal
filicidal
pestilential
megalomaniacal
sadomasochistic
capriciously malevolent
bully
Here is a YouTube video regarding that book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crn1T3Ynx2U&t=69s
* Despite the fact that the Bible is thought by millions to be infallible; few preachers ever admit the fact that there are literally hundreds of contradictions. Most advance absurd solutions and utilize the hermeneutical rules that their apologists have invented for no other reason than that. We conclude with just a few:
Who was Moses’ father-in-law? Exodus 3:1, 4:18 & 18:1 says it was Jethro. Exodus 2:18 says Reuel while Judges 4:11 states that it was Hobab.
How many days and nights did Jesus spend in the tomb? According to Matthew 12:40 Jesus Himself said it would be three days and three nights but a careful reading of Mark 15:25 & 15:42–46 and Mark 16:9 shows it was only two days and two nights.
How high were the pillars of brass? 1 Kings 7:15 says 18 cubits. 2 Chronicles 3:15 says 35 cubits
Has anyone ever seen God? Saying no are John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16 and 1 John 4:12. Saying yes are Genesis 32:30 and Exodus 33:11.
Did anyone besides Jesus ever ascend without dying? 2 Kings 2:11 and Hebrews 11:5 says yes while John 3:13 says no.
A careful reading of Genesis 11:26 & 32 and that of Genesis 12:4 and Acts 7:4 will show that Abram was only 75 years old after he had already lived 135 years. You really have to read the fine print if you are going to stake your life on this book.
When was Eve created? Genesis 1:24–27 says it was at the same time that Adam was (on the sixth day) but Genesis 2:18–23 says it was after Adam and the animals were created in order to find a better companion for Adam.
* The Ten Commandments listed in Exodus 20 are very different from the Ten listed in Exodus 34. Which list is the correct one? Exodus 34:1 states, Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you smashed.” Exodus 34:28b states, And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34 indicates that this is the list that was originally on the tablets that were smashed. It even refers to them as the Ten Commandments. Despite Exodus 34 claiming to be the real Ten, much fighting and energy is expended to post the wrong list in schools and in court rooms. If the Bible is taught and studied honestly and competently, crazy things like this would never happen. So, where did the Exodus 20 list come from? Ask your favorite preacher or apologist. If they are honest, they will tell you that it definitely did not come from a god but was a result of multiple human beings making stuff up. For more about the Ten, click here.
