In this section, I will try to illustrate some of the Bible difficulties I met. I have seen many accounts of contradictions in the Bible, actually some of them were answered in commentaries, but not all. In this section, I will show some of these contradictions I have seen and I found no convincing answer to them by Christian scholars.[i][/i]


[size=8pt]Age of Ishmael when he went to Agar-

Now a question to the Bible, how old was Ishmael when he went to Agar?

The Bible tells that Ishmael was about 16 years old when he went with Agar:
Gen 17:24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Gen 17:25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Then when Abraham begat Isaac, he was 100 yrs old (Genesis 21:5), then Isaac grew and weaned(Genesis 21:9), this will take about 2 yrs, this means that Ishmael was about 16 yrs old when he went with Agar as Genesis 21 tells, my question is that how could Agar go all that way carrying a 16 yr old lad, as you can see from the rest of the chapter:
Gen 21:14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. Gen 21:15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. Gen 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot. For she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. Gen 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation. Gen 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. Gen 21:20 And God was with the lad, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.

See, the chapter goes as if Ishmael was a baby whom his mother lifts then puts, and all that he is silent, which doesn’t match with a 16 yr old lad, it may be said that in Genesis 21:14, it says ” putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child”, so it doesn’t mean that she really lifted him up, the case is that the Septuagaint tells it very clearly:

21:14 And Abraam rose up in the morning and took loaves and a skin of water, and gave [them] to Agar, and he put the child on her shoulder, and sent her away, and she having departed wandered in the wilderness near the well of the oath.

I think that the reason for this is what is said in the next chapter:

Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

We as Muslims believe that Ishmael was the one offered, and we believe that the Jews altered the word Ishmael to Isaac, and the above difficulty is the evidence, since the scripture tells “after these things”, which are supposed to be happened when Ishmael was a baby, and since it is supposed that Ishmael was the firstborn son of Abraham, then it will mean that the only son here means him not Isaac, so for the Jews to get rid of this problem, they rearranged the chapters, and put the story of Isaac birth before that chapter, but it yielded that difficulty.

When did Abraham leave Haran?


In the Old Testament it says that Terah left 70 years then he begat Abraham:

Gen 11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

And then it tells that Abraham left Haran when he was 75:

Gen 12:4 So Abram went, as Jehovah had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

And that Terah was 205 years when he died:

Gen 11:32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

This means that Terah was 70+75=145 years when Abraham left Haran, i.e., he was still alive when Abraham left Haran.

But actually the writer of Acts had another opinion:

Act 7:4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. (ESV)

So the writer of Acts says what Genesis didn’t say, Christian commentators tried to solve this problem, Adam Clarke for example writes:

“And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran – Haran was certainly the eldest son of Terah, and he appears to have been born when Terah was about seventy years of age, and his birth was followed in successive periods with those of Nahor his second, and Abram his youngest son. Many have been greatly puzzled with the account here, supposing because Abram is mentioned first, that therefore he was the eldest son of Terah: but he is only put first by way of dignity. An in stance of this we have already seen, Gen_5:32, where Noah is represented as having Shem, Ham, and Japheth in this order of succession; whereas it is evident from other scriptures that Shem was the youngest son, who for dignity is named first, as Abram is here; and Japheth the eldest, named last, as Haran is here. Terah died two hundred and five years old, Gen_11:32; then Abram departed from Haran when seventy-five years old, Gen_12:4; therefore Abram was born, not when his father Terah was seventy, but when he was one hundred and thirty.

When any case of dignity or pre-eminence is to be marked, then even the youngest son is set before all the rest, though contrary to the usage of the Scriptures in other cases. Hence we find Shem, the youngest son of Noah, always mentioned first; Moses is mentioned before his elder brother Aaron; and Abram before his two elder brethren Haran and Nahor. These observations are sufficient to remove all difficulty from this place.”

This would have been a good solution to this difficulty, but actually there is a script which doesn’t agree with that:

Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

This clearly means that when Abraham was told by God to have a child when he was 100 is a miracle, how come that Terah begat Abraham at 130?

Besides, a very important fragment was discovered within Dead Sea Scrolls that doesn’t match with this claim, it is fragment 4Q252, which says:

He gave the land to Abraham His beloved.~Terah was~one hundred~and forty years old when he left 9Ur of the Chaldees and went to Haran and Ab[ram was s]eventy. And he dwet five years in Haran. Then [Terah died] six[ty years after Abram] went out [to] the land of Ganaan. “

So as we see, saying that Terah begat Abraham at 130 doesn’t match with the Bible, and DSS doesn’t agree with it. This means that there is still a difficulty concerning what the writer of the Acts wrote.


The Story of Crucifixion



When there is a trial, to accept what the witnesses say, there must be no variation between what they are saying, but if there was a wide variation between what the witnesses say, we reject both narrations since there is no proof to overwhelm a witness over another, these variations between the writers of the Gospels prove that they didn’t witness what happened, these were stories present at their time, and everyone wrote what he heard, and these variations are a proof that the story of crucifixion in the Bible can’t be accepted.
Betrayal by Judas and Seizing Jesus:

Gospel Matthew says:

Mat 26:47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priest and elders of the people. Mat 26:48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he: take him. Mat 26:49 And straightway he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Rabbi; and kissed him. Mat 26:50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, do that for which thou art come. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Mat 26:51 And behold, one of them that were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear.

While Gospel John says:

Joh 18:3 Judas then, having received the band of soldiers, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Joh 18:4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth, and saith unto them, Whom seek ye? Joh 18:5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them. Joh 18:6 When therefore he said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Joh 18:7 Again therefore he asked them, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Joh 18:8 Jesus answered, I told you that I am he; if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: Joh 18:9 that the word might be fulfilled which he spake, Of those whom thou hast given me I lost not one. Joh 18:10 Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus. Joh 18:11 Jesus therefore said unto Peter, Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Joh 18:12 So the band and the chief captain, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound him,

We can see that there is a large difference between the two stories, in Matthew, it says that once Judas came, he went and kissed Jesus, while in John, it says that Jesus asked them”whom you seek?”, and they answered him: “Jesus”, and when he said ” I am he”, all this happened and Judas was only standing with them, and it couldn’t have happened that kissing him was in between because the script in Matthew is very clear that Judas went straightway to kiss Jesus. And it’s clear in Matthew that the sign to know Jesus was the kiss, while in John, Jesus identified himself, and only what Judas did is that he guided them, and where is the event that they fell when they heard Jesus saying “I am he”? Where did Matthew tell that? Another difference between the two stories is that in Matthew, Peter cut the high priest’s servant’s ear after they seized Jesus, while in John, Peter did that before they seize him.
Peter Denying him

Mat 26:69 Now Peter was sitting without in the court: and a maid came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilaean. Mat 26:70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. Mat 26:71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and saith unto them that were there, This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. Mat 26:72 And again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. Mat 26:73 And after a little while they that stood by came and said to Peter, Of a truth thou also art one of them; for thy speech maketh thee known. Mat 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And straightway the cock crew. Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Mar 14:66 And as Peter was beneath in the court, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest; Mar 14:67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and saith, Thou also wast with the Nazarene, even Jesus. Mar 14:68 But he denied, saying, I neither know, nor understand what thou sayest: and he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. Mar 14:69 And the maid saw him, and began again to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. Mar 14:70 But he again denied it. And after a little while again they that stood by said to Peter, of a truth thou art one of them; for thou art a Galilaean. Mar 14:71 But he began to curse, and to swear, I know not this man of whom ye speak. Mar 14:72 And straightway the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word, how that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

We can here see some differences between the 2 Gospels, in Matthew, it tells that Jesus told Peter that he will deny him 3 times after the cock crows, while in Mark, it tells that Jesus told Peter that the cock will crow twice before Peter denies him thrice, and there is no place that Jesus tells both statements since the situation happened quickly (See Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31), and in Luke, the statement was much clearer that the cock will not crow before Peter denies him thrice(Luke 22:34 and Matthew 26:34), unlike Mark which tells that the cock crew before he denies him thrice (Mark 14:68). Also in Matthew it says that a maid and then another maid asked him, while in Mark, it says that the same maid asked him twice.
The hour of crucifixion:

Mar 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

Joh 19:14 Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King!

So according to Mark, he was crucified at the third hour, while according to John, he was still at the Pilate at the sixth hour, the Christian commentators answer this by telling that what is told in Mark is in Jewish time at 9 am, while in case of John, this was by Roman time at six am, and so crucifixion was also at 9 am, but there are some problems with that conclusion, the first problem is that it is supposed that the writer of John according to Christians is the disciple John, who is Jewish, so it is not logical that he uses the Roman timing, especially that he was talking about the preparation of the Passover, and what is the need that the Holy Spirit reveals to Mark in Hebrew timing and to John in Roman timing? Besides, it is really a difficult possibility, otherwise how could it be that denying of Peter, the trial, then crucifixion happened only in 3 hours?

Sura 29:46 And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."

Why argue against that which you believe in? How is your argurment in favour of him whom though submits to?

Did you realy type all this. Clap for ur self

You have more problem than nigeria itself,you spend all ur days criticizing the bible,which christain have u ever seen or heard devoting so much to Quran,i would advice u to convert to christainity if u can spend this much time on the bible.Secondly the way they grow then is totally diff to now,Imagine metuselah living till over 900,imagine if it was how we grow now 900 would be possible,have u heard or seen anyone live upto 200 in our present time,May God show the the light so you can leave ur Sinful ways