de-conversion

So here’s ole YHWH, the Alzheimer god, forgetting what he said from one book to another.

The earth lasts forever:
-Psalm 78:69, “He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.”
-Ecclesiastes 1:4, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth abides forever.”
The earth lasts forever, not:
-II Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
-Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”

And here he is forgetting what he said from one chapter to another.
Jeremiah 3:12, “For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.”
Jeremiah 17:4, “Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever.” How can his anger be forever if his anger isn’t forever?

And showing that the apple does not fall far from the tree, YHWH’s boy, JC, seems to be similarly absent-minded.
Hide it under a bushel? No!
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Hide it under a bushel? Yes!
Matthew 6:1, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”

And he seems to be confused about his job description too.
John 9:39, Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world,”
John 12:47, “For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”

And ya gotta wonder if the YHWH/JC family didn’t have some ‘issues’.
Love yer bro
1 John 4:20, If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates (μιση) his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
Love yer bro, not
Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate (μισει) his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

And finally, here’s a question that ought to bug anyone who still thinks YHWH is such a great guy.
Around the time Jesus was born, Herod ordered the murder of innocent children (Matthew 2:16)
In the time of Moses, God killed the firstborn of every household in Egypt(Exodus 11:4-5).
How is God morally different from King Herod?

There are enough contradictions, examples of monstrous behavior by god and followers, and the like to fill a book. In fact they do fill a book; the bible. This series has just highlighted a small sampling. I’m going to leave off this series here. Hope y’all found it useful, fun, instructive, etc.

 ”If there be any mistake in the Bible, there may well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book, it did not come from the God of truth.”  —  John Wesley   (July 24, 1776)

Just one John? I think I found a few… hundred.

Now do y’all remember from Sunday school what Judas did with his thirty pieces of silver? If you’re not sure, that’s OK, ’cause neither is the Holy Spirit who inspired the authors of Holy Writ. Judas may have 
Thrown the reward money into the temple.
Matthew 27:5 – ”After he threw the money into the temple he went away and hanged himself.” 
OR
Bought a field with the money.
Acts 1:18 – ”With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong.”

Oh. That’s a contradiction, not a falsehood? Ah. Well then how about this.

Do badgers chew cud? The Bible says, “Yeah.” … twice
Leviticus 11:6 — “The coney [hyrax or rock badger], though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.”
Deuteronomy 14:6-7 – “You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney [hyrax or rock badger]. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you.”)

Would it be different if Jesus made the mistake or contradiction?  OK. How about these two from the same Bible book?
John 8:14 – “Jesus answered and said unto them, though I bear record [marturia] of myself, yet my record [marturia] IS TRUE.”
John 5:31 – ”If I bear witness [marturia] of myself, my witness [marturia] IS NOT TRUE.”
(Marturia means “bear witness” or “testify”, and it’s the same word used in both verses above.)

Want another ‘in the same book’ contradiction by the late JC?
Matthew 5:16 – “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” 
Matthew 6:1 – “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heave.” 

And now for the big contest; see if you can guess:  

Is it God, or is it Satan, or is it BibleGodDevil?
(or maybe it’s ManBearPig.)
II Samuel 24:1 says that the Lord incited David to take a census of Israel.
I Chronicles 21:1 says that Satan incited David to take a census of Israel.
Which do you think it was?

In I Samuel 16:14, we read that “an evil spirit from the Lord” troubled King Saul.
Wow. God sends evil spirits. Would anyone really want to worship a God who sends evil spirits to trouble people? Would you like it if he sent one of his evil spirits to trouble you?

Do you believe that God creates evil, as the Bible states?
Isaiah 45:7 — “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” If you believe this, why do you worship Him?

Sounds like “God” has a massive, cosmic case of the worst bipolar disorder ever.

Folks tend to think of the Bible as the go-to source for family values. Seems the Bible is a bit confounding on this topic though.

The Bible says Lot was a righteous man.
II Peter 2:7, “he [God] rescued Lot, a righteous man,”
But
 The Bible also says that Lot got drunk, had sex with his own daughters, and got them both pregnant.
Genesis 19:33-36, “That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.”

Now some friends of mine from the South of the U.S. like to make jokes along these lines, but honestly, if any man did this with his daughters, would anyone call him a righteous man? 

Enough incest. How about looking instead at attainder?

Exodus 20:5 says that God will punish a child for his father’s sin, “for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”.
But
Ezekiel 18:20 says he won’t, “The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.”

Lot’s sons would probably have hope that latter passage was right.  Oh wait, Lot was righteous… or was he?  I’m confused.

And now just to add to the confusion; the Bible tells us:

Gloat:
Psalm 58:10 — “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.”
Gloat not:
Proverbs 24:17 — “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,“

The law can convert us:
Psalm 19:7 — “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”
The law can convert us not:
Romans 8:3 — “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son”

There seems to be some confusion among the divinely inspired authors of the Bible. Maybe God can’t remember exactly who he met face to face, and who he didn’t, and who he killed.  I know I have trouble keeping those things sorted out sometimes.

Has anyone seen God face to face?
Yes.
Genesis 32:30 — “Jacob said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.’”
Exodus 33:11 –”The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”
No
Exodus 33:20 – “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
John 1:18 — “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
I John 4:12 — “No man hath seen God at any time.”

Another element of divine confusion seems to be the classic “I love them all”, “I love them all not” dilemma. Perhaps one can imagine the deity plucking petals off one of heaven’s daisies.
I want them all saved
1 Timothy 2:3-4 — “God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved.”
2 Peter 3:9  – “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
I want them damned
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12  – “God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.

That last one leads us to wonder:
Does God lie? 
Of course not
Numbers 23:19  – “God is not a man, that he should lie.”
1 Samuel 15:29  – “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man.”
Titus 1:2  – “The hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”
Hebrews 6:18  – “It is impossible for God to lie.”
But on the other hand
Jeremiah 4:10  – “Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people.”
Jeremiah 20:7 — “O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived.”
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 –”God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.”

Man that last one is nasty. First he creates them; then he sets up standards; then he MAKES THEM fail those standards; then he condemns them to eternal torment.  If that isn’t the ultimate ‘kid frying ants with a magnifying glass’….