One for Bible readers(Atheist ones too.)?

Throw away your bible and buy a Cheese Bible. Praise Cheesus' name daily.

Hadn't noticed that the Proverbs contradicted each other, but yes, they often are quite obvious tend to be what one could consider to be common sense at the time. Another interesting thing is that they are attributed to Solomon, but take a look at how his children turned out - sounds like he did not practice what he preached.

Edit:

For general reference, the Gideons distribute many different formats of the Bible, some complete (often to motels and hotels) and some just the NT with psalms and/or proverbs (often to schools and to the military).

The Bible Doesn't have Contradictions in it, but fulfilment's.

e.g. ( Old Testament)

Deu 19:21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

(New Testament)

Mat 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'

Mat 5:39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.

If you read these two verses they seem to contradict themselves, but they dont, Jesus is fulfilling the law of the old testament.

Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.

Jesus came to bring the old Testament to its fulfilment, this is why people dont realise the message in the bible, you must read it through the Holy Spirits eyes and not your own and you can only do that if you invite the Holy Spitit in to guide you.

If you read the Bible with just human eyes and understanding you will find error, not with the Bible but with your understanding, thats why you need God's help.

So, No this does not annoy me, and if i may suggest dont "look randomly" through the Bible, but take time to read the Bible.

Brother in Christ

Michael B

Do read the rest of the Bible and it will become clear to you.

The Scriptures are not there to spoon-feed you, it is rather like the parables, unless you really want to find the true answer you will settle for the superficial. Many in Jesus' day heard the parables and didn't really understand at all. The same was true for the disciples, but they asked and were told.

Listen to the 'echoes' in Scripture. Sixty six books with a single purpose, to tell us about God's plan and purpose with mankind and His gospel of salvation through His son Jesus.

An eye for an eye and turn the other cheek is the ultimate proverb contradiction. This means you have scriptural reference to acquit or convict anyone. By commanding they are to be punished because of an eye for an eye. Or commanding you forgive them.

Yes, you're right. However, the Bible is only a first approximation even at allegory. Moreover, if we had a book of proverbs in our own cultures, it would say both "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "out of sight, out of mind".

It doesn't annoy me. It just confirms for me that my thoughts on the non validity of the bible as an intelligent work are correct

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" and "turn the other cheek" spring to mind. There are a conveniently large number of these in the bible, making it possible to justify just about anything you like with reference to the good book. It doesn't annoy me, but I do wonder how hardcore religious types can justify it.

The Gideon Bible does not contain the book of Proverbs it contains all the books of the New Testament and the Psalms.

You're right. I can't say it annoys me though.

Jews apparently relish these contradictions and embrace them when discussing the meaning of scripture.

The Bible is a collection of myths and legends derived from other peoples in the Middle East, such as the Amorites (Babylonians) via the Canaanites (Phoenicians). Some examples follow:

CREATION

The name of God in Genesis is derived from the Canaanite (Phoenician) god El. And the Canaanites probably derived their mythology from the Babylonians. If you read the Babylonian creation epic, the Enuma Elish, you'll see parallels between Marduk and the God of Genesis 1 and his mother Tiamut, a personification of the ocean of chaos ("and darkness was upon the face of the deep").

ADAM & EVE

The story is a myth that seems to be a way of explaining why hardships came into the world, and - like the Greek Pandora myth - women are blamed. The cultures that devised these myths considered men as godlike and women as inherently sinful, and were punished by being cursed to bear children.

Part of the punishment was to toil with the land. So there's an element of explaining the change from nomads to farming, which then led to villages and towns illustrated in the myth of Cain and Abel.

The serpent bit seems to explain why snakes crawl on their bellies.

NOAH

God instructs Noah to build an ark to contain his family and at least one male and one female of every species of animal, so that the world can be repopulated after the Flood. There are some discrepancies in the story suggesting two different writers: for example, in Genesis 6:19 God tells Noah to take "two of every kind" of creature into the ark, but in 7:2 this becomes seven pairs of all clean animals, one pair of all unclean animals, and seven pairs of each species of bird. But both tell a very similar tale, and they have been skilfully woven together to form a generally consistent whole. The Noah myth seems to have been derived from the Babylonian character of Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh; and there's an ancient Greek parallel in the story of Deucalion; and in the Hindu story of Manu.

GOD

The idea of the biblical God changes throughout the course of the Bible, and there seems to be several changes of Deity. For example, when Moses encounters God - or the angel of the Lord, depending on what version you read - God introduces himself as Yahweh (I am who am, I will be what I will be, etc), which is a different name to that used at the beginning of Genesis, Elohim, a plural of El a Canaanite (Phoenician) deity; continuity with previous beliefs is maintained by claiming to be the God of Abraham and Isaac. In fact the first Creation myth in Genesis probably derives from the Babylonian Creation Epic, Enuma Elish, probably via the Canaanites.

LOT'S WIFE

The fate of Lot's wife, who looks back at the destruction and is turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26), explains the origin of one of the natural pillars of salt that are on the top of Mount Sodom. It is also an instance of the widespread taboo, found in many cultures, on looking back. It occurs, for example, in the ancient Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

SATAN

Satan was originally portrayed as under the orders of God, and testing mankind under God's direction (Job). But Satan became demonised by early Christians in the latter part of the first century.

Christians have for some reason identified Lucifer (Latin: Light Bearer) with Satan. Lucifer was applied to Venus as it appeared as the Morning Star. But Christians seem to see the fall of Satan in Isaiah 14:12, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!" But if you read Isaiah 14:3 onwards, you'll see that the passage is a taunt against the King of Babylon, likened perhaps to a fallen angel.

The author's identification of the Dragon with Satan and the Serpent from Eden seems contrived. The word Devil comes from Greek Diabolos and means Accuser/Advocate, as does Satan; so it's probably just a translation of Satan into Greek.They were originally different myths:

Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made."

Job 1:6: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them."

The myth of the advocate/accuser probably became fearful over time. Perhaps originally fear of being found out by someone (though mythical) whose job was to do so. It might have become more comforting, by degrees, to demonise him and turn him into an enemy rather than servant of God.