From: utzoo!utcsrgv!simon
Newsgroups: net.religion
Title: Biblical contradictions
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.1122
Posted: Mon Feb 28 22:49:44 1983
Received: Tue Mar  1 02:48:53 1983

Someone once said, I think it was Carl Sagan, that the extraordinary
thing about von Daniekin's books is the density of logical errors
and misleading information. Well yes--exactly, but what about the bible?
Many people have pointed out chronological peculiarities in the old
testament. There are also cases where one passage contradicts another.
(Compare Lev 20:21 with Deut 25:5, these conflicting statements managed
to inconvenience Henry VIII (then Prince Henry) in his marriage
to Catherine of Aragon.) Then there is the problem of miracles,
the evidence for which cannot said to be scientific. Myths concerning
burning bushes, people walking on water, cataclysmic floods and so on,
until they can be substantiated, are better regarded as products
of a superstitious and ignorant imagination.
Diderot wrote (in language intended to satisfy the censor)
that "Happy the people whose religion asks it to believe only things
true, holy, and sublime, and to imitate only virtuous actions. Such a
religion is ours, in which the philosopher has only to follow his reason
to arrive at the feet of our altars." This brings me to my two requests:
1) I'd like to see examples of favorite religious absurdities
submitted to the net.
2) Is anything left after we strip away all the nonsense from the bible
and, if so, how does it differ from what would be obtained by applying
the same process to the writings of other religions?