Thomas+Nicolella



__**Introductory Paragraph:**__


 * Believers of both the Hebrew and Christian bible have analyzed both texts to receive a thorough understanding of what these texts are attempting to convey whether it be through facts or hints and laws conveyed by the god of their religion to its people. It has been proven in both Judaism and Christianity that there are contradictions in both sacred texts of those religions, the Jewish bible and the Christian bible which are similar in many ways. Many of these contradictions have caused followers to stray away from their original beliefs, while others believe god has put those contradictions in the bible to convey some sort of message to it's readers and followers.**

__**Christianity:**__

The following quotes are exact lines from the Christian bible. There are many contradictions within this text, however, some of them stand out especially because of their significance and importance within the Christian community.

**__Quotes:__** Notes: There are so many contradictions recorded in the bible, but I focused on the quotes that I saw were most important



**__Analysis:__**


 * The Christian bible showcases ten commandments to it's followers, number six being, "you shall not murder". However, as you can see in the above contradictory quotes also seen in the bible there are some things that just do not make sense to some followers in this sacred text.**


 * Basically, The quotes that express "gods" view on killing and murder (the first two quotes) were put into this text as laws given forth by "god" or the bible's authors to keep order within the Christian religion and attempt to relay harsh consequences for those that defy "gods" law. However, some believe that the contradictory quotes were put there to show that "god" is above law, even his own and can defy them to enforce new laws. Another of the ten commandments,** “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." **tells the Christian followers that they shall not judge or disobey god or they risk being punished. It also dictates that in the bible, followers of "god" would obey his current word, almost overwriting his previous words. It seems as though as long as it comes from the lord, it will be followed even if it is contradictory. If it is the lords word, it is the correct belief.**


 * On the website: http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/sacred/understanding/ I asked the question: "Were there contradictions in the text?" to both a Christian educator and a Christian faith leader. The Educator was a male while the faith leader was a female. As I heard the believers of Christianity talk about this question they had very different reactions. The male educator had a very hard time analyzing these contradictions. He talked about two different sections of the bible and how they each talked about something Jesus had said about the poor. However, in these different sections/books it depicted that Jesus had said something slightly different, but meant entirely different things about the poor. This man had a very hard time wondering about this because there was no true explanation as to what Jesus actually said. On the other hand, the female faith leader was very understanding of these contradictions and acknowledged them as a good thing because since there are different sections of the bible written by different authors/believers, they all present a different view and opinion as to what actually happened throughout the time the bible was being constructed. It seems as though believers of the Christian bible have different views on the contradictions within the text based on their role in the society whether that be an educator, faith leader, young person, etc.**



**__Judaism:__**

The following quotes are exact lines from the Jewish bible. There are many contradictions within this text, however, some of them stand out especially because of their significance and importance within the Christian community.

Note: The Hebrew bible is basically the Christian bible, translated into Hebrew with subtle changes like different section/book names. The Hebrew bible was then translated into the Jewish bible which is once again written in the English language and again, has different names for sections/books of the bible.

**__Quotes:__**



**__Analysis:__**


 * Those who have translated the Jewish bible, the Rabbis are still translating and finding new things within the text. the more you look at something and the harder you focus on the text, the more you will uncover; this is the Rabbis philosophy and some believe that one can never reveal or translate everything in the bible because it just has too much to offer.

The first two quotes in green text are also in the Christian bible, as these texts are somewhat similar, only varying because the Jewish bible was originally the Hebrew bible translated to the English language. In the first quote, "god" conveys one of the ten commandments to his followers through Moses which is "**You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." **which I translate to mean: We are to fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, or lie about our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain his actions in the kindest way. the second quote adds to this one saying that if you do not obey this commandment you are disobeying the lords law and will be seen as an equivocator by god for as long as they continue to lie.

Again, I traveled to: http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/sacred/understanding/ to see what believers of Judaism believe about contradictions within the bible. Again I asked a faith leader and an Educator. This time however, the educator was a female and the faith leader was a male. The faith leader quotes this, "It is only through these contradictions that we can bring new light to an ancient text." This man believes that contradiction drive everything that Rabbis have done with the text. He realizes that it presents a challenge to translators to try and make sense of. However, I'm not actually sure if he sees these contradictions as misleading him or if he sees them as a good thing. It seems though that he looks at these contradictions as a foundation for the bible.

The female educator has a similar perspective on the contradictions within the bible. "If I were to find a contradiction, my assumption wouldn't be that this is a mistake in the text or a problem in the text, rather it say....okay, this was a contradiction and it was a contradiction put there intentionally by god." This woman sees these contradictions as intentional, and similar to the faith leader, she does not see these contradictions as a bad thing within the text but rather they are contradictions to make her "...learn something, help me look for something, to ask me something about the text." She also believes that the contradictions and their narrative are so powerful that they can become more important than the problem itself (the problem that some sections of the bible contradict themselves and do not totally make sense.) It looks as if most believers of the bible understand and acknowledge that there are contradictions within the text but shine a different light upon them making them something better than they actually are.**

__**Final Thoughts:**__


 * There are hundreds of recorded contradiction recorded within the Jewish and Christian bibles. They are similar texts and have most of the same contradictions within them. I have seen, throughout my research that many believers of these religions do indeed acknowledge these contradictions wit****hin the ancient texts but put them under a different light and make them into something divergent such as something that was intentionally put there by the lord almighty.**

__**Works Cited:**__ Sacred Texts: //Christian Bible// //Jewish Bible//

1) "Understanding Scared Texts." //SACRED//. Web. 20 Oct 2009. . 2) "Online parallel bible." //Online Parallel Bible: Weaving Gods Word Into the Web//. 12 Sep 2009. Web. 22 Oct 2009. . 3) Barker, Daniel. "Bible Contradictions." //Losing Faith in Faith//. 18 Nov 2007. Web. 20 Oct 2009. .