"101 'Cleared-Up' Contradictions In The Bible"

By: Jay Smith, Alex Chowdhry, Toby Jepson, James Schaeffer and edited
by Craig Winn

"The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and
questions him." (Proverbs 18:17)

The Charge of Contradiction

Muslims talk often about the many contradictions in the Bible. The number of
contradictions vary depending on whom you are talking to. Kairanvi's Izhar-ul-
Haq presents 119 contradictions, while others such as Shabbir Ally have
supposedly found 101. The problem as they see it concerns their supposition that
any religious book claiming absolute divine authority must not include any
contradictions, as a message emanating from an Omniscient being must be
consistent with itself.

The Muslims quote from the Qur'an (4:82) which says "do they not consider the
Qur'an (with care). Had it been from any other than Allah, they would have found
there-in many a discrepancy."

A Definition of Revelation:

In order to respond to this challenge it is important we understand the

presupposition and thinking that underlies such a challenge. The principle of non-
contradiction has been elevated to the status of an absolute criterion, capable of
being applied by human beings in judging the authenticity of God's word. This is
not a proposition to which Christians can or should give assent. The Christian will
gladly admit that scripture is ultimately non-self-contradictory. But the Christian
cannot agree that the principle of non-contradiction is given to men as a criterion
by which they are to judge God's word. It is this criterion which the Muslims have
imposed upon the discussion of revelation. And it is a criterion which is lethal to
Islam as the Qur'an is filled with internal contradictions as well as errors of fact,
history, and science.

Setting a false standard is a mistake which many of us fall into; measuring that
which is unfamiliar to us by a standard which is more familiar; in this case
measuring the Bible with the standard which they have borrowed from the Qur'an.
Their book, the Qur'an, is falsely believed to have been 'sent down' from heaven
unfettered by the hands of men. It is this misconception of scripture which they
then impose upon the Bible. But it is wrong for Muslims to assume that the Bible
can be measured using the same criteria as that imposed on the Qur'an—a
criterion upon which the Qur'an itself fails miserably.

The Bible is not simply one book compiled by one man as the Muslims errantly
claim for their Qur'an, but a compilation of 66 books, written by more than 40
authors, over a period of 1500 years! For that reason Christians have always
maintained that the entire Bible shows the imprint of human hands. Evidence of
this can be found in the variety of human languages used, the varying styles of
writing, the differences in the author's intellects and temperaments, as well as the
apparent allusions to the author's contemporary concepts of scientific knowledge,
without which the scriptures would not have been understood by the people of
that time. That does not mean, however, that the Bible is not authoritative, for
each of the writers received their revelation by means of inspiration.

A Definition of Inspiration:

In 2 Timothy 3:16, we are told that all Scripture is inspired. The word used for
inspiration is theopneustos which means "God-breathed," implying that what was
written had its origin in God Himself. In 2 Peter 1:21 we read that the writers
were "carried along" by God. Thus, God used each writer, including his personality
to accomplish a divinely authoritative work, for God cannot inspire error.

The Bible speaks many times of its inspiration: In Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; and
Hebrews 10:7, Yahshua says that what was written about him in the Old
Testament would come to pass. Romans 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12 refer to the Old
Testament as the Word of God. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:13, "This is what we
speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the
Spirit." This is corroborated in 2 Timothy 3:16, as we saw above. In 1
Thessalonians 2:13, Paul when referring to that which he had written says, "...you
accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God..." Peter
speaks of the inspiration of Paul's writings in 2 Peter 3:15-16, where he maintains
that, "...Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the
same way in all his letters..." Earlier, in 2 Peter 1:21 Peter writes, "For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were
carried along [moved] by the Holy Spirit." And then finally in Revelation 22:18,19
the writer John, referring to the book of Revelation states, "...if anyone adds
anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if
anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from
him his share in the tree of life..."

Charles Wesley summarizes this high view of inspiration brilliantly when he

says, "The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men or
devils, or of God. However, it was not written by good men, because good men
would not tell lies by saying 'Thus saith the Lord;' it was not written by bad men
because they would not write about doing good, while condemning sin, and
themselves to hell; thus, it must be written by divine inspiration" (McDowell
1990:178).

How does God inspire the writers? Does He simply move the writers by
challenging their heart to reach new heights, much like we find in the works of
Shakespeare, Milton, Homer and Dickens, all of which are human literary
masterpieces? Or does that which He inspire contain the words of God-along with
myths, mistakes and legends, thus creating a book in which portions of the Word
of God can be found, along with those of finite and fallible men? Or are the
scriptures the infallible Word of God in their entirety? In other words, how,
Muslims will ask, is this inspiration carried out? Does God use mechanical
dictation, similar to that which we find erroneously claimed for the Qur'an, or does
He use the writers' own minds and experiences?

The simple answer is that God's control was always with them in their writings,
such that the Bible is nothing more than "The Word of God in the words of
men" (McDowell 1990:176). This means that God utilized the culture and
conventions of his penman's milieu. Thus history must be treated as history,
poetry as poetry, hyperbole and metaphor as hyperbole and metaphor, and
generalization and approximation as what they are. Differences between literary
conventions in Bible times and in ours must also be observed: Since, for instance,
nonchronological narration and imprecise citation were conventional and
acceptable in those days, we must not regard these things as faults when we find
them in Bible writers. When total precision of a particular kind was not expected
nor aimed at, it is no error not to have achieved it. Scripture is inerrant, not in the
sense of being absolutely precise by modern standards, but in the sense of
making good its claims and achieving that measure of focused truth at which its
authors aimed.

The truthfulness of Scripture is not negated by the appearance in it of

irregularities of grammar or spelling, phenomenal descriptions of nature, reports
of false statements (for example, the lies of Satan), or seeming discrepancies
between one passage and another if they can be explained or if they are minor. It
is not right to set the so-called 'phenomena' of Scripture against the teaching of
Scripture about itself. Apparent inconsistencies should not be ignored. Solution of
them, where this can be convincingly achieved (as we have attempted in this
paper), will encourage our faith. However, where for the present no convincing
solution is at hand we shall not pretend to create one, but instead hope for future
enlightenment. For example, not too long ago the OT was considered false
because there was no evidence that the Hittites existed. Today, proof abounds.

This is not a blind hope in other areas either. For instance, a century ago there
were about 100 parts of the body whose function were mysterious to doctors, and
people would say "This is proof of evolution as these are left over parts which we
don't need anymore". However, because of on-going and diligent research we are
now left with only one organ in the body which appears to be redundant. In time,
perhaps we will find a use for that organ as well. This principle can also be seen
with the Bible. So many 'discrepancies' have also been cleared up due to greater
research and understanding. Had Shabbir been around a century or even 25 years
ago his list could easily have been 1001 contradictions. As new data is uncovered,
we are continually finding answers to many of the historical mysteries. Therefore
we have every reason to believe that, in God's time, the rest will be solved as
well.

We are fully aware that the Christian criteria for revelation is not acceptable to
Muslims, as it is in seeming conflict with their erroneous view of the Qur'an. Yet,
by simply measuring the Bible against the 'sent down' concept which they wrongly
claim for their Qur'an, Muslims condemn themselves of duplicity, since they
demand of the New Testament that which they do not demand of the previous
revelations, the Taurat and Zabuur, though both are revered as equally inspired
revelations by all Muslims. Muslims believe that Moses wrote the Taurat and David
the Zabuur. However, neither claimed to have received their revelations by a
means of a nazil ('sent down') transmission. So why insist on such for the New
Testament, especially since the document makes no such claim itself? Especially
since, the Qur'an fails miserably in this regard.

The underlying reason perhaps lies in the misguided belief by Muslims that the
Qur'an, because it is the only revelation which came "unfettered" by human
intervention, is thus the truest and clearest statement of Allah's word, and
therefore supersedes all previous revelations, even annulling those revelations, as
they have supposedly been corrupted by the limitations of their human authors.

Left unsaid is the glaring irony that the claim for a nazil revelation for the Qur'an
comes from one source alone, the man to which it was supposedly revealed,
Muhammad. Yet there are no external witnesses both before or at the time who
can corroborate Muhammad's testimony. Not even miracles are provided to
substantiate his claims, nor are there any known documents of such a Qur'an
from the century in which it is claimed to have been revealed (see the paper on
the historicity of the Qur'an versus the Bible.)

Even if we were to disregard the historical problems for early Qur'ans, a further
problem concerns the numerous Muslim traditions which speak of the many
differing copies of Qur'anic codices which were prevalent during the unverified
collating of the Uthmanic recension in the mid-seventh century. Since the
conflicting copies were allegedly destroyed, we cannot know today whether the
Qur'an in our possession was even similar to that which was first revealed.

What Muslims must understand is that Christians have always maintained that the
Word of God, the Bible, was indeed written by men, but that these men were
always under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Further,
the Qur'an was recited by a man who claimed to have forgotten much of it. Not
only was it ultimately written down by men, it had to be passed along orally for
decades. What's more, the resulting book is a jumbled mess, often plagiarized,
and very poorly written. Even when one takes the worst passage of the Bible and
contrasts it with the best of the Qur'an, the comparison is shocking.

God in the Bible deliberately chose to reveal His Word through inspired prophets
and apostles, so that His Word would not only be conveyed to humanity correctly,
and comprehensively but would be communicated to their understanding and
powers of comprehension as well. This may be why the Qur'an says that only
Allah understands portions of it.

There are other problems with the contention maintained by Muslims that the
Bible is full of contradictions. For instance, what then will Muslims do with the
authority which their own Qur'an gives towards the Bible? How can a book which
the Qur'an says its God inspired not measure up to the standards it imposes?

The Qur'an gives authority to the Bible:

The Qur'an, itself, the highest authority for all Muslims, gives divine authority to
the Bible and claims it's authentic, at least up to the seventh-ninth Centuries.
Consider the following Suras:

Sura Baqara 2:136 points out that there is no difference between the scriptures
which preceded and those of the Qur'an, saying, "...the revelation given to
us...and Jesus...we make no difference between one and another of them." Sura
Al-I-Imran 3:2-3 continues, "Allah...He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the
Gospel (of Jesus)...as a guide to mankind." Sura Nisaa 4:136 carries this farther
by admonishing the Muslims to, "...Believe...and the scripture which He sent
before him." In Sura Ma-ida 5:47,49,50,52 we find a direct call to Christians to
believe in their scriptures: "...We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Law
that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel... Let the people of the Gospel
judge by what Allah hath revealed therein, if any do fail to judge by the light of
what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel..." Again, in
Sura Ma-ida 5:68 we find a similar call: "People of the Book!...Stand fast by the
law, the Gospel, and all revelation that hath come to you from YOUR LORD. It is
the revelation that has come to thee from THY LORD."

To embolden this idea of the New and Old Testament's authority we find in Sura
10:94 that Muslims are advised to confer with these scriptures if in doubt about
their own, saying: "If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee,
then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee. The truth had
indeed come to thee from thy Lord." And as if to emphasize this point the advice
is repeated in Sura 21:7, "...the apostles We sent were but men, to whom We
granted inspiration. If ye realize this not, Ask of those who possess the message."
This is crucial as it doesn't say: "those who possessed the message." That means
according to the Qur'an at the time of this revelation in the seventh century the
Bible was the uncorrupted Word of God.

Finally, in Sura Ankabut 29:46 Muslims are asked not to question the authority of
the scriptures of the Christians, saying, "And dispute ye not with the people of the
book but say: We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and that
which came down to you." This in itself is devastating to Islam as the
"revelations" are mutually exclusive and completely incompatable.

If there is anything in these Suras which is clear, it is that the Qur'an emphatically
endorses the Torah and the Gospel as authentic and authoritative revelations from
God. In fact, nowhere is there any warning in the Qur'an that the former
scriptures had been corrupted, nor that they were contradictory. If the Qur'an was
indeed the final and complete revelation, if it was the seal of all former revelations
the Muslims claim, than certainly the author of the Qur'an would have included a
warning against that which had been corrupted in the earlier scriptures. But
nowhere do we find even a hint that the Bible was contradictory, or indeed that it
was corrupted.

There are some Muslims, however, who contend that according to sura 2:140 the
Jews and Christians had corrupted their scriptures. This aya says (referring to the
Jews), "...who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have
from Allah...?" Yet, nowhere does this aya state that the Jews and Christians
corrupted their scriptures. It merely mentions that certain Jews have concealed
"the testimony they have from Allah." In other words the testimony is still there
(thus the reason the afore-mentioned suras admonish Muslims to respect the
former scriptures), though the adherents of that testimony have chosen to
conceal it. If anything this aya is a ringing endorsement to the credibility of those
former scriptures, as it assumes a testimony from Allah does exist amongst the
Jewish community.

God does not change His Word

Furthermore, the Muslim Qur'an holds to the premise that God does not change
His word and that it cannot be changed. Sura Yunus 10:64 says, "No change can
there be in the words of Allah." This is repeated in Sura Al An'am 6:34: "There is
none that can alter the words of Allah," found also in Sura Qaf 50:28,29. The
Qur'an's law of abrogation found in Sura 2:106 contradicts these verses, but
that's just one of many Qur'anic anomalies.

In the Bible we, likewise, have a number of references which speak of the
unchangeableness of God's word; such as, Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Isaiah 8:20;
Matthew 5:17-18; 24:35; and Revelation 22:18-20. If this is the recurring theme
in both the Bible and the Qur'an, it is hardly likely that we would find a scripture
with such a multiplicity of contradictions which Muslims claim are found in the
Bible. What then should we do with the contradictions which the Muslims claim
are there? If they are there, such an attack is suicidal for Islam.

Contradictions analyzed:
When we look at the contradictions which Muslims point out we find that many of
these supposed errors are not errors at all but either a misunderstanding of the
context or nothing more then a copyist mistake or translation error. The former
can easily be explained, while the latter needs a little more attention. It is quite
clear that the books of the Old Testament were written between the 17th and the
5th century BC on the only parchments available at that time, pieces of Papyrus,
which decayed rather quickly, and so needed continual copying. We now know
that much of the Old Testament was copied by hand for 3,000 years, while the
New Testament was copied for another 1,400 years, in isolated communities in
different lands and on different continents, yet they still remain basically
unchanged.

Today many older manuscripts have been found which we can use to corroborate
those earlier manuscripts. In fact we have an enormous collection of manuscripts
available to which we can go to corroborate the textual credibility of our current
document. Concerning the New Testament manuscripts (MSS) we have in our
possession 5,300 Greek manuscripts or fragments thereof, 10,000 Latin Vulgate
manuscripts and at least 10,000 other early translations. In all we now have more
than 25,000 manuscript copies or portions of the New Testament from which to
use! Obviously this gives us much more material with which to delineate any
variant verses which may exist. Where there is a variant reading, these have been
identified and expunged and noted as footnotes on the relevant pages of the
texts. In no way does this imply any defects with our Bible (as found in the
original autographs).

Christians readily admit, however, that there have been 'scribal errors' in the
copies of the Old and New Testament. It is beyond the capability of anyone to
avoid any and every slip of the pen in copying page after page from any book,
sacred or secular. Although Muslims are wont to deny it, these scribal errors have
been proven to exist in their book as the earliest Qur'an fragments differ
significantly from today's text. Yet we may be sure that the original manuscript
(better known as autograph) of each book of the Bible, being directly inspired by
God, was free from all error. Those originals, however, because of the early date
of their inception no longer exist as they all preceded the invention of paper,
which is more durable, in the fourth century A.D.

The individuals responsible for the copying (scribes or copyists) were prone to
making two types of scribal errors, well known and documented by those expert
in the field of manuscript analysis. One concerned the spelling of proper names
(especially unfamiliar foreign names), and the other had to do with numbers. The
fact that it is mainly these type of errors in evidence gives credence to the
argument for copyist errors. If indeed the originals were in contradiction, we
would see evidence of this within the content of the stories themselves. (Archer
1982:221-222) In Hebrew numbers are a significant problem because they were
designated by letters, not numerals.

What is important to remember, however, is that no well-attested variation in the

manuscript copies that have come down to us alter any doctrine or teaching of the
Bible—not one. To this extent, at least, the Holy Spirit has exercised a restraining
influence in superintending the transmission of the text.

Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is

necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents were
inspired. For that reason it is essential that we maintain an ongoing textual
criticism as a means of detecting any slips that may have crept into the text in the
course of its transmission. The verdict of this science, however, is that the Hebrew
and Greek text appears to be amazingly well preserved, so that we are amply
justified in affirming, with the Westminster Confession, a singular providence of
God in this matter and in declaring that the authority of Scripture is in no way
jeopardized by the fact that the copies we possess are not entirely error-free.

Similarly, no translation is or can be perfect, and all translations are an additional

step away from the autograph. This is even true if the language is the same as
time significantly alters the meaning of words. For example, the Religious Arabic
of the Qur'an is so dated, it is no longer written or spoken apart from the Qur'an.
And there are many words in which no one knows their meaning. Moreover,
language itself is an imprecise tool. Meanings are heavily influenced by time,
culture, circumstance, and even inflection. Often, the context of a passage is often
as important to the meaning as the words themselves.

Yet the verdict of linguistic science is that English-speaking Christians are served
with a host of translations and Hebrew and Greek dictionaries so they have no
cause for hesitating to conclude that the true Word of God is within their reach.
Indeed, in view of the frequent repetition in Scripture of the main matters with
which it deals and also of the Holy Spirit's constant witness to and through the
Word, no serious translation of Holy Scripture will so destroy its meaning as to
render it unable to make its reader "wise for salvation through faith in Christ." (2
Tim. 3:15)

With that in mind let's look at the examples forwarded by Shabbir Ally in his
pamphlet to better ascertain whether or not the scriptures can stand the test of
authority espoused above?

While answering these challenges it became obvious that Shabbir made a number
of errors in his reasoning which could easily have been rectified had he simply
looked at the context. This may offer us an idea as to why Muslims in general
seem so fond of looking for, and apparently finding "contradictions" in the Bible—
most of which are very easily explained by appealing to the context. When we
look at the Qur'an we are struck with the reverse situation, for the Qur'an has
very little context as such to refer to. There is little narration, and passages
interject other passages with themes which have no connection. A similar theme
is picked up and repeated in another Sura, though with variations and even at
times contradictory material (i.e. the differing stories of Abraham and the idols
found in Suras 21:51-59 and 6:74-83; 19:41-49). It stands to reason, then, that
Muslims fail to look in their Holy Book with a critical eye. Is it no wonder that they
decline to do the same with the Bible.

On the second page of his booklet "101 Clear Contradictions in the Bible", Shabbir
Ally states "Permission Granted! Please copy this booklet and spread the truth."

We, the authors of this paper, have been delighted to fulfill this request. Although
we have not directly copied all his words, we have reproduced his alleged
contradictions in this booklet and replied to them. Therefore, through these
rebuttals we are doing what Shabbir requested, spreading the truth! Showing the
firm foundation of the Bible, which is the truth. Please weigh the words of Mr. Ally
against the rebuttals found herein.

1. Does God incite David to conduct the census of his people (2 Samuel
4:1), or does Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1)? (Category: misunderstood how God
works in history)
This seems an apparent discrepancy unless of course both statements are true. It
was towards the end of David's reign, and David was looking back over his career,
which had brought the Canaanite, Syrian, and Phoenician kingdoms into a state of
vassalage and dependency on Israel. He had an attitude of pride and self-
admiration for his achievements, and was thinking more in terms of armaments
and troops than in terms of the mercies of Yahweh.

Yahweh, therefore, decided that it was time that David be brought to his knees.
So he let him go ahead with his census, in order to find out just how much good it
would do him, as the only thing this census would accomplish would be to inflate
the national ego (intimated in Joab's warning against carrying out the census in 1
Chronicles 21:3). As soon as the numbering was completed, a disastrous plague
struck Israel bringing about an enormous loss of life (70,000 Israelites according
to 2 Samuel 24:15).

What about Satan? Why would he get himself involved in this affair (according to
1 Chronicles 21:1)? It seems Satan's reasons were entirely malicious, knowing
that a census would displease Yahweh (1 Chronicles 21:7-8), and so Satan incited
David to carry it through.

Yet this is nothing new, for there are a number of other occurrences in the Bible
where both Yahweh and Satan were involved in tests and trials:

In the book of Job, chapters one and two we find a challenge to Satan from
Yahweh allowing Satan to bring upon Job his calamities. Yahweh 's purpose
was to purify Job's faith, and to strengthen his character by means of
discipline through adversity, whereas Satan's purpose was purely
malicious, wishing Job as much harm as possible so that he would recant
his faith in his God.

Similarly both Yahweh and Satan are involved in the sufferings of persecuted
Christians according to 1 Peter 4:19 and 5:8. Yahweh's purpose is to
strengthen their faith and to enable them to share in the sufferings of
Christ in this life, that they may rejoice with Him in the glories of heaven to
come (1 Peter 4:13-14), whereas Satan's purpose is to 'devour' them (1
Peter 5:8), or rather to draw them into self-pity and bitterness, and thus
down to his level.

Both Yahweh and Satan allowed Yahshua the three temptations during his
ministry on earth. Yahweh 's purpose for these temptations was for him to
triumph completely over the tempter who had lured the first Adam to his
fall, whereas Satan's purpose was to deflect the savior from his Messianic
mission.

In the case of Peter's three denials of Yahshua in the court of the high priest,
it was Christ himself who points out the purposes of both parties
involvement when he says in Luke 22:31-32, "Simon, Simon, Satan has
asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you Simon, that your
faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your
brothers."

And finally the crucifixion itself bears out yet another example where both
Yahweh and Satan are involved. Satan exposed his purpose when he had
the heart of Judas filled with treachery and hate (John 13:27), causing him
to betray Yahshua. Yahweh's reasoning behind the crucifixion, however,
was that Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world should
give his life as a ransom for many, so that once again sinful man could
relish in the relationship lost at the very beginning, in the garden of Eden,
and thereby enter into a relationship which is now eternal.

Thus we have five examples where both Yahweh and Satan were involved
for different reasons and with entirely different motives. Satan's motive in
all these examples, including the census by David was driven by malicious
intent, while Yahweh in all these cases showed a view to eventual victory,
while simultaneously increasing the usefulness of the person tested. In
every case Satan's success was limited and transient; while in the end
Yahweh's purpose was well served furthering His cause substantially.
(Archer 1982:186-188)

2. 2 Samuel 24:9 gives the total population for Israel as 800,000,

whereas 1 Chronicles 21:5 says it was 1,100,000. (Category:
misunderstood the historical context or misunderstood the author's intent)

There are a number of ways to understand not only this problem but the
next challenge as well, since they both refer to the same passages and to
the same census.

It is possible that the differences between the two accounts are related to
the unofficial and incomplete nature of the census (which will be discussed
later), or that the book of Samuel presents rounded numbers, particularly
for Judah.

The more likely answer, however, is that one census includes categories of
men that the other excludes. It is quite conceivable that the 1 Chronicles
21:5 figure included all the available men of fighting age, whether battle-
seasoned or not, whereas the 2 Samuel 24:9 account is speaking only of
those who were ready for battle. Joab's report in 2 Samuel 24 uses the
word 'is hayil, which is translated as "mighty men," or battle-seasoned
troops, and refers to them numbering 800,000 veterans. It is reasonable
that there were an additional 300,000 men of military age who were
neither trained nor ready to fight. The two groups would therefore make up
the 1,100,000 men in the 1 Chronicles 21 account which does not employ
the Hebrew term 'is hayil to describe them. (Archer 1982:188-189 and
Light of Life II 1992:189-190)

3. 2 Samuel 24:9 gives the round figure Of 500,000 fighting men in

Judah, which was 30,000 more than the corresponding item in 1
Chronicles 21:5. (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

Observe that 1 Chronicles 21:6 clearly states that Joab did not complete
the numbering, as he had not yet taken a census of the tribe of Benjamin,
nor that of Levi's either, due to the fact that David came under conviction
about completing the census at all. Thus the different numbers indicate the
inclusion or exclusion of particular unspecified groups in the nation. We
find another reference to this in 1 Chronicles 27:23 where it states that
David did not include those twenty years old and younger, and that since
Joab did not finish the census the number was not recorded in King David's
Chronicle.

The procedure for conducting the census had been to start with the trans-
Jordanian tribes (2 Samuel 24:5) and then shift to the northern most tribe
of Dan and work southward towards Jerusalem (verse 7). The numbering
of Benjamin, therefore, would have come last. Hence Benjamin would not
be included with the total for Israel or of that for Judah, either. In the case
of 2 Samuel 24, the figure for Judah included the already known figure of
30,000 troops mustered by Benjamin. Hence the total of 500,000 included
the Benjamite contingent which causes the numbers to mesh perfectly.

Observe that after the division of the United Kingdom into the North and
the South following the death of Solomon in 930 BC, most of the
Benjamites remained loyal to the dynasty of David and constituted (along
with Simeon to the south) the kingdom of Judah. Hence it was reasonable
to include Benjamin with Judah and Simeon in the sub-total figure of
500,000, even though Joab may not have itemized it in the first report he
gave to David (1 Chronicles 21:5). Therefore the completed grand total of
fighting forces available to David for military service was 1,600,000
(1,100,000 of Israel, 470,000 of Judah-Simeon, and 30,000 of Benjamin).
(Archer 1982:188-189 and Light of Life II 1992:189)

4. 2 Samuel 24:13 mentions that there will be seven years of

famine whereas 1 Chronicles 21:12 mentions only three. (Category:
misunderstood the author's intent, and misunderstood the wording)

There are two ways to look at this. The first is to assume that the author of
1 Chronicles emphasized the three-year period in which the famine was to
be most intense, whereas the author of 2 Samuel includes the two years
prior to and after this period, during which the famine worsened and
lessened respectively.

Another solution can be noticed by observing the usage of words in each

passage. When you compare the two passages you will note that the
wording is significantly different in 1 Chronicles 21 from that found in a 2
Samuel 24. In 2 Samuel 24:13 the question is "shell seven years of famine
come to you?" In 1 Chronicles 21:12 we find an alternative imperative,
"take for yourself either three years of famine..." From this we may
reasonably conclude that 2 Samuel records the first approach of the
prophet Gad to David, in which the alternative prospect was seven years;
whereas the Chronicles account gives us the second and final approach of
Nathan to the King, in which the Lord (doubtless in response to David's
earnest entreaty in private prayer) reduced the severity of that grim
alternative to three years rather than an entire span of seven. As it turned
out, however, David opted for a third option, and thereby received three
days of severe pestilence. (Archer 1982:189-190 and Light of Life II
1992:190)

5. Was Ahaziah 22 (2 Kings 8:26) or 42 (2 Chronicles 22:2) when

he began to rule over Jerusalem? (Category: copyist error)

Because we are dealing with accounts which were written thousands of

years ago, we would not expect to have the originals in our possession
today, as they would have disintegrated long ago. We are therefore
dependent on the copies taken from copies of those originals, which were
in turn continually copied out over a period of centuries. Those who did the
copying were prone to making two types of scribal errors. One concerned
the spelling of proper names, and the other had to do with numbers due to
the fact that they were represented by letters and the convention changed
over time.
The two examples of numerical discrepancy here have to do with a decade
in the number given. Ahaziah is said to have been 22 in 2 Kings 8:26;
while in 2 Chronicles 22:2 Ahaziah is said to have been 42. Fortunately
there is enough additional information in the Biblical text to show that the
correct number is 22. Earlier in 2 Kings 8:17 the author mentions that
Ahaziah's father Joram ben Ahab was 32 when he became King, and he
died eight years later, at the age of 40. Therefore Ahaziah could not have
been 42 at the time of his father's death at age 40! Such scribal errors do
not change Jewish or Christian beliefs in the least. In such a case, another
portion of scripture often corrects the mistake (2 Kings 8:26 in this
instance). We must also remember that the scribes who were responsible
for the copies were meticulously honest in handling Biblical texts. They
delivered them as they received them, without changing even obvious
mistakes, which are few indeed. (Refer to the next question for a more in-
depth presentation on how scribes could misconstrue numbers within
manuscripts) (Archer 1982:206 and Light of Life II 1992:201)

6. Was Jehoiachin 18 years old (2 Kings 24:8) or 8 years old (2

Chronicles 36:9) when he became king of Jerusalem? (Category:
copyist error)

Once again there is enough information in the context of these two

passages to tell us that 8 is wrong and 18 right. The age of 8 is unusually
young to assume governmental leadership. However, there are certain
commentators who contend that this can be entirely possible. They
maintain that when Jehoiachin was eight years old, his father made him
co-regent, so that he could be trained in the responsibilities of leading a
kingdom. Jehoiachin then became officially a king at the age of eighteen,
upon his father's death.

A more likely scenario, however, is that this is yet another case of scribal
error, evidenced commonly with numbers. It may be helpful to interject
here that there were three known ways of writing numbers in Hebrew. The
earliest, a series of notations used by the Jewish settlers in the 5th century
BC Elephantine Papyri (described in more detail below) was followed by a
system whereby alphabetical letters were used for numbers. A further
system was introduced whereby the spelling out of the numbers in full was
prescribed by the guild of so-perim. Fortunately we have a large file of
documents in papyrus from these three sources to which we can refer.

As with many of these numerical discrepancies, it is the decade number

that varies. It is instructive to observe that the number notations used by
the Jewish settlers in the 5th century BC Elephantine Papyri, during the
time of Ezra and Nehemiah, from which this passage comes, evidences the
earlier form of numerical notation. This consisted of a horizontal stroke
ending in a downward hook at its right end to represent the numbers in
tens (thus two horizontal strokes one above the other would be 20).
Vertical strokes were used to represent anything less than ten. Thus eight
would be /III IIII, but eighteen would be virtually identical: /III IIII with
the addition of a horizontal line and downward hook above it. Similarly
twenty-two would be /I followed by two horizontal hooks, and forty-two
would be /I followed by two sets of horizontal.

If, then, the primary manuscript from which a copy was being carried out
was old, if the papyrus parchment became frayed, the dye blurred or
smudged, one or more of the decadal notations could be missed by the
copyist. It is far less likely that the copyist would have mistakenly seen an
extra ten stroke that was not present in his original then that he would
have failed to observe one that had been smudged, faded, or been lost in
the weaving of the papyrus.

In the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the corrections have

been included in the texts. However, for clarity, footnotes at the bottom of
the page mention that earlier Hebrew MSS include the scribal error, while
the Septuagint MSS from 275 B.C. and Syriac as well as one Hebrew MSS
include the correct numerals. It only makes sense to correct the numerals
once the scribal error has been noted. This, however, in no way negates
the authenticity nor the authority of the scriptures which we have.

Confirmation of this type of copyist error is found in various pagan writers

as well. For example in the Behistun rock inscription set up by Darius 1, we
find that number 38 gives the figure for the slain of the army of Frada as
55,243, with 6,572 prisoners, according to the Babylonian column. Copies
of this inscription found in Babylon itself, records the number of prisoners
as 6,973. However in the Aramaic translation of this inscription discovered
at the Elephantine in Egypt, the number of prisoners was only 6,972.
Similarly in number 31 of the same inscription, the Babylonian column
gives 2,045 as the number of slain in the rebellious army of Frawartish,
along with 1,558 prisoners, whereas the Aramaic copy has over 1,575 as
the prisoner count. (Archer 1982:206-207, 214-215, 222, 230; Nehls
pg.17-18; Light of Life II 1992:204-205)

7. Did king Jehoiachin rule over Jerusalem for three months (2

Kings 24:8), or for three months and ten days (2 Chronicles
36:9)? (Category: misunderstood the author's intent)

Here again, as we found in challenge number 2 and 4, the author of the

Chronicles has been more specific with his numbering, whereas the author
of Kings is simply rounding off the number of months, assuming that the
additional ten days is not significant enough to mention.

8. Did the chief of the mighty men of David lift up his spear and
killed 800 men (2 Samuel 23:8) or only 300 men (1 Chronicles
11:11)? (Category:misunderstood the historical context or misunderstood
the author's intent)

It is quite possible that the authors may have described two different
incidents, though by the same man. One author may have only mentioned
in part what the other author mentions in full. It's even possible that the
chief is being credited with the work of his soldiers in one account and not
in the other. (Light of Life II 1992:187)

9. Did David bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem after

defeating the Philistines (2 Samuel 5 and 6), or before (1
Chronicles chapters 13 and 14)? (Category: didn't read the entire text)

Shabbir Ally should have continued reading on further to 1 Chronicles 15,

as he would then have seen that David brought the Ark after defeating the
Philistines. The reason for this is that the Israelites moved the Ark of the
covenant twice. The first time, they moved it from Baal, prior to the defeat
of the Philistines, as we see in 2 Samuel 5 and 6 and in 1 Chronicles 15.
Once the prophet Samuel narrates David's victory over the Philistines, he
tells us about both times when the Ark was moved. However in 1
Chronicles, the order is as follows: the Ark was first moved from Baal; then
David defeated the Philistines; and finally, the Ark was moved from the
House of Obed-Edom.

Therefore the two accounts are not contradictory at all. What we have here
is simply one prophet choosing to give us the complete history of the Ark
at once (rather than referring to it later). In both cases the timing of
events is the same.

While the Bible's chronologies are accurate in this regard, same cannot be
said of the Qur'an. In Sura 2 we are introduced to the fall of Adam, then
we jump thousands of years ahead to God's mercy to the Israelites,
followed by a giant leap backwards to Pharaoh's drowning, followed by
Moses and the Golden calf, followed by the Israelites complaint about food
and water, and then we are introduced to the account of the golden calf
again. Following this, we read about Moses and Jesus, then we read about
Moses and the golden calf, and then about Solomon and Abraham. If one
wants to talk about chronology, what does Moses have to do with Yahshua,
or Solomon with Abraham? Chronologically the sura should have begun
with Adam's fall, then moved to Cain and Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Lot,
Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, the sons of Israel and Moses, in that order.
If such a blatant chronological mix-up can be found in this sura of the
Qur'an, then Shabbir would do well to explain it before errantly criticizing
the Bible. (Light of Life II 1992:176)

10. Was Noah supposed to bring 2 pairs of all living creatures

(Genesis 6:19-20), or was he to bring 7 pairs of 'clean' animals
(Genesis 7:2; see also Genesis 7:8,9)? (Category: misquoted the text)

This indeed is an odd question to raise. It is obvious that Shabbir Ally has
misquoted the text in the 6th chapter of Genesis, which makes no mention
of any 'clean' animals in its figure, while the 7th chapter specifically
delineates between the clean and unclean animals. Genesis 7:2 says Noah
was to bring in 7 pairs of 'clean' animals and 2 pairs of every kind of
'unclean' animal. Why did Shabbir not mention the second half of this
verse which stipulates 2 pairs in his challenge? It is obvious that there is
no discrepancy between the two accounts. The problem is the question
itself.

The reason for including seven of the clean species is perfectly evident:
they were to be used for sacrificial worship after the flood had receded (as
indeed they were, according to Genesis 8:20). Obviously if there had not
been more than two of each of these clean species, they would have been
rendered extinct by their being sacrificed on the altar. But in the case of
the unclean animals and birds, a single pair would suffice, since they would
not be needed for blood sacrifice. (Archer 1982:81-82)

11. Did David capture 1,700 of King Zobah's horsemen (2 Samuel

8:4), or was it 7,000 (1 Chronicles 18:4)? (Category: copyist error)

There are two possible solutions to these differing figures. The first by Keil
and Delitzsh (page 360) is a most convincing solution. They maintain that
the word for chariotry (rekeb) was inadvertently omitted by the scribe in
copying 2 Samuel 8:4, and that the second figure, 7,000 (for
the parasim "cavalrymen"), was necessarily reduced to 700 from the 7,000
he saw in his Vorlage for the simple reason that no one would write 7,000
after he had written 1,000 in the recording the one and the same figure.
The omission of rekeb might have occurred with an earlier scribe, and a
reduction from 7,000 to 700 would have then continued with the
successive copies by later scribes. But in all probability the Chronicles
figure is right and the Samuel numbers should be corrected to agree with
that.

A second solution starts from the premise that the number had been
reduced to 700 as it refers to 700 rows, each consisting of 10 horse men,
making a total of 7,000. Either way, this like all of the numerical disunions
is immaterial to the message and ultimately meaningless. (Archer
1982:184: Keil & Delitzsch 1949:360; Light of Life II 1992:182)

12. Did Solomon have 40,000 stalls for his horses (1 Kings 4:26),
or 4,000 stalls (2 Chronicles 9:25)? (Category: copyist error, or
misunderstood the historical context)

There are a number of ways to answer these puzzling differences. The

most plausible is analogous to what we found earlier in challenge numbers
five and six above, where the decadal number has been rubbed out or
distorted due to constant use. The horizontal lines and downward hooks
used to designate decadal numbers were easily lost in the grooves inherent
in parchment fiber, especially as it aged.

Others believe that the stalls mentioned in 2 Chronicles were large ones
that housed 10 horses each (that is, a row of ten stalls). Therefore 4,000
of these large stalls would be equivalent to 40,000 small ones. Another
commentator maintains that the number of stalls recorded in 1 Kings was
the number at the beginning of Solomon's reign, whereas the number
recorded in 2 Chronicles was the number of stalls at the end of his reign.
We know that Solomon reigned for 40 years; no doubt, many changes
occurred during this period. It is quite likely that he reduced the size of the
military machine his father David had left him. (Light of Life II 1992:191)

13. According to the author, did Baasha, the king of Israel die in
the 26th year of king Asa's reign (1 Kings 15:33), or was he still
alive in the 36th year (2 Chronicles 16:1)? (Category: misunderstood
the historical context, or copyist error)

There are two possible solutions to this problem. To begin with, scholars
who have looked at these passages have concluded that the 36th year of
Asa should be calculated from the withdrawal of the 10 tribes from Judah
and Benjamin which brought about the division of the country into Judah
and Israel. If we look at it from this perspective, the 36th year of the
divided monarchy would be in the 16th year of Asa. This is supported by
the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, as well as contemporary
records, which follow this convention. (note: for a fuller explanation of this
theory, see Archer, page 225-116).

Keil and Delitzsch (pp. 366-367) preferred to regard the number 36 in 2

Chronicles 16:1 and the number 35 in 15:19 as a copyist's error for 16 and
15, respectively. This problem is similar to question numbers five and six
above. In this case, however, the numbers were written using Hebrew
alphabetical type (rather than the Egyptian multiple stroke type used in the
Elephantine Papyri, referred to in questions 5 and 6). It is therefore quite
possible that the number 16 could quite easily be confused with 36. The
reason for this is that up through the seventh century BC the
letter yod (10) greatly resembled the letter lamed (30), except for two tiny
strokes attached to the left of the main vertical strokes. It required only a
smudge or fiber separation from excessive wear on this scroll-column to
result in making the yod look like a lamed. It is possible that this error
occurred first in the earlier passage, in 2 Chronicles 15:19 (with its 35
wrongly copied from an original 15); then to make it consistent in 16:1,
the same scribe (or perhaps a later one) concluded that 16 must be an
error for 36 and changed it accordingly on his copy. (Archer 1982:226: Keil
& Delitzsch 1949:366-367; Light of Life II 1992:194)

14. Did Solomon appoint 3,600 overseers (2 Chronicles 2:2) to

build the temple, or was it only 3,300 (1 Kings 5:16)? (Category:
misunderstood the author's intent)

This is not a problem. The most likely solution is that the author of 2
Chronicles included the 300 men who were selected as reservists to take
the place of supervisors who become ill, injured or died, while the author
of the 1 Kings 5:16 passage includes only the engaged supervisory force.
With the group as large as the 3,300, sickness, injury and death occured,
requiring reserves who would be called up as the need arose. (Light of Life
II 1992:192)

15. Did Solomon build a facility containing 2,000 baths (1 Kings

7:26), or over 3,000 baths (2 Chronicles 4:5)? (Category:
misunderstood the author's intent, or copyist error)

The Hebrew verb rendered "contained" and "held" is different from that
translated "received"; and the meaning may be that the sea ordinarily
contained 2,000 baths. But when filled to its utmost capacity it received
and held 3,000 baths. Thus the chronicler simply mentions the amount of
water that would make the sea like a flowing spring rather than a still pool.
This informs us that 3,000 gallons of water were required to completely fill
the sea which usually held 2,000 gallons.

Another solution follows a theme mentioned earlier, that the number in

Hebrew lettering for 2,000 has been confounded by the scribe with a
similar alphabetical number for the number 3,000.

It should be noted that Shabbir (in his debate on 25th February 1998

against Jay Smith in Birmingham, UK) quoted this "contradiction" and
added to it saying that if the bath had a diameter of 10 cubits it cannot
possibly have had a circumference of 30 cubits as the text says (since 'pi'
dictates that it would have a circumference of 31.416 or a 9.549
diameter). Shabbir made the humorous comment "Find me a bath like that
and I will get baptized in it!" But Shabbir did not read the text properly or
was more interested in a cheap laugh than truth. Why? Because the text
says that it was about 8cm thick and had a rim shaped like a lily. Therefore
it depends on where you measure. The top or bottom of the rim or the
inside or outside of the vessel. Each would all give a different diameter;
and depending on whether you measure at the top of the rim or at the
narrower point, you would get a different circumference. In other words,
Shabbir would get baptized if he were a man of his word. (Haley pg. 382;
Light of Life II 1992:192)
16-21. Are the numbers of Israelites freed from Babylonian
captivity correct in Ezra (Ezra 2:6, 8, 12, 15, 19, 28) or in
Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:11, 13, 17, 20, 22, 32)? (note: because
numbers 16-21 deal with the same census, I have included them as
one) (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

In chapter 2 of Ezra and in chapter 7 of Nehemiah there are thirty-three

family units that appear in both lists of Israelites returning from Babylon to
Judea. Of these 33 family units listed in Ezra and Nehemiah, nineteen
family units are identical, while fourteen show discrepancies in the number
of members within the family units (though Shabbir only lists six of them).
Two of the discrepancies differ by 1, one differs by 4, two by 6, two differ
by 9, another differs by 11, another two by 100, another by 201, another
differs by 105, a further family differs by 300, and the largest difference is
the figure for the sons of Azgad, a difference of 1,100 between the
accounts of Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7.

How, then, are we to account for the 14 discrepancies? The answer is quite
simple, and Shabbir, had he done any study into the history of these two
accounts would never have bothered to waste his time in asking these
questions. The fact that there are both similarities and discrepancies side-
by-side should have pointed him to the solution as well (as you who are
reading this are probably even now concluding).

There are two important factors to bear in mind when looking at these
discrepancies between the two lists. The first is the probability that though
members of the units or families had enrolled their names at first as
intending to go; in the interval of preparation, some possibly died, others
were prevented by sickness or other insurmountable obstacles, so that the
final number who actually went was not the same as those who had
intended to go. Anyone who has planned a school trip to the beach can
understand how typical a scenario this really is.

A second and more important factor are the different circumstances in

which the two registers were taken, an important fact of which Shabbir
seems to be acutely unaware. Ezra's register was made up while still in
Babylon (in the 450s BC), before the return to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:1-2),
whereas Nehemiah's register was drawn up in Judea (around 445 BC),
after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt (Nehemiah 7:4-6). The lapse
of so many years between the two lists (between 5-10 years) would
certainly make a difference in the numbers of each family through death or
by other causes.

Most scholars believe that Nehemiah recorded those people who actually
arrived at Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua in 537
or 536 BC (Nehemiah 7:7). Ezra, on the other hand, uses the earlier list of
those who originally announced their intention to join the caravan of
returning colonists back in Babylon, in the 450s BC.

The discrepancies between these two lists point to the fact that there were
new factors which arose to change their minds. Some may have fallen into
disagreement, others may have discovered business reasons to delay their
departure until later, whereas in some cases there were certainly some
illnesses or death, and in other cases there may have been some last-
minute recruits from those who first decided to remain in Babylon. Only
clans or city-group's came in with a shrunken numbers. All the rest picked
up last-minute recruits varying from one to 1,100.

When we look at the names we find that certain names are mentioned in
alternate forms. Among the Jews of that time (as well as those living in the
East), a person had a name, title, and surname. Thus, the children of
Hariph (Nehemiah 7:24) are the children of Jorah (Ezra 2:18), while the
children of Sia (Nehemiah 7:47) are also the children of Siaha (Ezra 2:44).
When we take all these factors into consideration, the differences in totals
that do appear in these two tallies should occasion no surprise whatsoever.
The same sort of arbitration and attrition has featured every large
migration in human history. (Archer 1982:229-230 and Light of Life II
1992:219-220)

22. Both Ezra 2:64 and Nehemiah 7:66 agree that the totals for the
whole assembly was 42,360, yet when the totals are added, Ezra -
29,818 and Nehemiah - 31,089? (Category: copyist error)

There are possibly two answers to this seeming dilemma. The first is that
this is most likely a copyist's error. The original texts had the correct
totals, but somewhere along the line of transmission, a scribe made an
error in one of the lists, and changed the total in the other so that they
would match, without first totaling up the numbers for the families in each
list. There is the suggestion that a later scribe upon copying out these lists
purposely put down the totals for the whole assembly who were in
Jerusalem at his time, which because it was later would have been larger.

The other possibility is forwarded by the learned Old Testament scholar

R.K. Harrison, who suggests that at any rate the figure of 42,000 may be
metaphorical, following "...the pattern of the Exodus and similar traditions,
where the large numbers were employed as symbols of the magnitude of
Yahweh, and in this particular instance indicating the triumphant
deliverance that Yahweh achieved for His captive people" (Harrison
1970:1142-1143).

Such errors do not change the historicity of the account, since in such
cases another portion of Scripture usually corrects the mistake (the added
totals in this instance). As the well-known commentator, Matthew Henry
once wrote, "Few books are printed without minor errors and typographical
mistakes; yet, authors do not disown them on account of this, nor are the
errors by the press imputed to the author. The candid reader amends
them by the context or by comparing them with some other part of the
work." (Light of Life II 1992:201, 219)

23. Did 200 singers (Ezra 2:65) or 245 singers (Nehemiah 7:67)
accompany the assembly? (Category: rounding)

As in question 7, a scribe copying the numbers in the Ezra account simply

rounded off the figure of 245 to 200. That was acceptable at the time and
remains so today.

24. Was King Abijah's mother's name Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of

Gibeah (2 Chronicles 13:2) or Maachah, daughter of Absalom (2
Chronicles 11:20 & 2 Samuel 13:27)? (Category: misunderstood the
Hebrew usage)
This apparent contradiction rests on the understanding of the Hebrew
word bat, equivalent to the English daughter. Although usually used to
denote a first generation female descendant, it can equally refer to more
distant kinship. An example of this is 2 Samuel 1:24, which states: 'O
daughters of Israel, weep for Saul...' As this is approximately 900 years
after Israel (also called Jacob) actually lived, it is clear that this refers to
the Israelite women, his distant female descendants.

When seen in this light, the 'contradiction' vanishes. 2 Chronicles 13:2

correctly states that Michaiah is a daughter of Uriel. We can assume that
Uriel married Tamar, Absalom's only immediate daughter. Together they
had Michaiah who then married king Rehoboam and became the mother of
Abijah. 2 Chronicles 11:20 and 1 Kings 15:2, in stating that Maachah was
a daughter of Absalom, simply link her back to her more famous
grandfather, instead of her lesser known father, to indicate her royal
lineage. Abishalom is a variant of Absalom and Michaiah is a variant of
Maachah. Therefore, the family tree looks like this:

       Absalom/Abishalom
               |
             Tamar-----Uriel
                    |
Rehoboam-----Maachah/Michaiah
         |
        Abijah

25. Joshua and the Israelites did (Joshua 10:23,40) or did not
(Joshua 15:63) capture Jerusalem? (Category: misread the text)

The short answer is, not in this campaign. The verses given are in
complete harmony and the confusion arises solely from misreading the
passage concerned.

In Joshua 10, it is the king of Jerusalem that is killed: his city is not

captured (verses 16-18 and 22-26). The five Amorite kings and their
armies left their cities and went to attack Gibeon. Joshua and the Israelites
routed them and the five kings fled to the cave at Makkedah, from which
Joshua's soldiers brought them to Joshua, who killed them all. Concerning
their armies, verse 20 states: 'the few who were left reached their fortified
cities', which clearly indicates that the cities were not captured. So it was
the kings, not their cities, who were captured.

Joshua 10:28-42 records the rest of this particular military campaign. It

states that several cities were captured and destroyed, these being:
Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron and Debir. All of these cities are
south-west of Jerusalem. The king of Gezer and his army were defeated in
the field whilst helping Lachish (v.33) and in verse 30 comparison is made
to the earlier capture of Jericho, but neither of these last two cities were
captured at this time. Verses 40 & 41 delineate the limits of this campaign,
all of which took place to the south and west of Jerusalem. Importantly,
Gibeon, the eastern limit of this campaign, is still approximately 10 miles
to the north-west of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is, therefore, not stated as captured in Joshua 10. This agrees
completely with Joshua 15:63, which states that Judah could not dislodge
the Jebusites in Jerusalem.
26. Was Jacob (Matthew 1:16) or Heli (Luke 3:23) the father of
Joseph and husband of Mary? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew
usage)

The answer to this is simple but requires some explanation. Matthew gives
the genealogy of Joseph and Luke gives that of Mary, making Jacob the
father of Joseph and Heli the father of Mary. This is shown by the two
narrations of the virgin birth. Matthew 1:18-25 tells the story only from
Joseph's perspective, while Luke 1:26-56 is told wholly from Mary's point
of view. Both are important as one establishes the legal lineage to David
while the other the blood lineage, fulfilling a Messianic requirement.

A logical question to ask is why Joseph is mentioned in both genealogies?

The answer is again simple. Luke follows strict Hebrew tradition in
mentioning only males. Therefore, in this case, Mary is designated by her
husband's name.

This reasoning is clearly supported by two lines of evidence. In the first,

every name in the Greek text of Luke's genealogy, with the one exception
of Joseph, is preceded by the definite article (e.g. 'the' Heli, 'the' Matthat).
Although not obvious in English translations, this would strike anyone
reading the Greek, who would realize that it was tracing the line of
Joseph's wife, even though his name was used. The second line of
evidence is the Jerusalem Talmud, a Jewish source. This recognizes the
genealogy to be that of Mary, referring to her as the daughter of Heli
(Hagigah 2:4). (Fruchtenbaum 1993:10-13)

27. Did Jesus descend from Solomon (Matthew 1:6) or from Nathan
(Luke 3:31), both of whom are sons of David? (Category:
misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

This is directly linked to 'contradiction' 26. Having shown that Matthew

gives Joseph's genealogy and Luke gives that of Mary, it is clear that
Joseph was descended from David through Solomon and Mary through
Nathan again fulfilling prophecy.

28. Was Jechoniah (Matthew 1:12) or Neri (Luke 3:27) the father
of Shealtiel? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

Once again, this problem disappears when it is understood that two

different genealogies are given from David to Yahshua, those of both Mary
and Joseph (see #26). Two different genealogies mean two different men
named Shealtiel, a common Hebrew name. Therefore, it is not surprising to
recognize that they both had different fathers!

29. Which son of Zerubbabel was an ancestor of Jesus Christ, Abiud

(Matthew 1:13) or Rhesa (Luke 3:27), and what about Zerubbabel
in (1 Chronicles 3:19-20)? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew
usage)

As with #28, two different Shealtiels necessitates two different

Zerubbabels, so it is not surprising that their sons had different names.
There was a Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel in both Mary's and Joseph's
ancestry. Matthew tells us that Joseph's father was named Jacob. Of
course, the Bible records another Joseph son of Jacob, who rose to become
the second most powerful ruler in Egypt (Genesis 37-47). We see no need
to suggest that these two men are one and the same, so we should have
no problem with two men named Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel.

The Zerubbabel mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:19,20 could easily be a third. Again, this causes
no problem: there are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels, because it was a common
name. The same may be true here. This Zerubbabel would then be a cousin of the one
mentioned in Matthew 1:12,13.

30. Was Joram (Matthew 1:8) or Amaziah (2 Chronicles 26:1) the

father of Uzziah? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

This answer is of a similar nature to that in #24. Just as the

Hebrew bat (daughter) can be used to denote a more distant descendant,
so can the Hebrew ben (son). Yahshua is referred to in Matthew 1:1 as the
son of David, the son of Abraham. Both the genealogies trace Yahshua's
ancestry through both these men, illustrating the usage of 'son'. Although
no Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew's gospel are extant today, it is clear
that he was a Jew writing from a Hebrew perspective and therefore
completely at home with the Hebrew concept of son ship.

With this in mind, it can easily be shown that Amaziah was the immediate
father of Uzziah (also called Azariah). Joram/Jehoram, on the other hand,
was Uzziah's great-great-grandfather and a direct ascendant. The line goes
Joram/Jehoram - Ahaziah - Joash - Amaziah - Azariah/Uzziah (2 Chronicles
21:4-26:1).

Matthew's telescoping of Joseph's genealogy is acceptable, as his purpose

is simply to show the route of descent. He comments in 1:17 that there
were three sets of fourteen generations. This reveals his fondness for
numbers and links in directly with the designation of Yahshua as the son of
David. In the Hebrew language, each letter is given a value. The total
value of the name David is fourteen and this is probably the reason why
Matthew only records fourteen generations in each section, to underline
Yahshua' position as the son of David.

31. Was Josiah (Matthew 1:11) or Jehoiakim (1 Chronicles 3:16)

the father of Jechoniah? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

This question is essentially the same as #30. Jehoiakim was Jeconiah's

father and Josiah his grandfather. This is quite acceptable and results from
Matthew's aesthetic telescoping of the genealogy, not from any error.

32. Were there fourteen (Matthew 1:17) or thirteen (Matthew

1:12-16) generations from the Babylonian exile until
Christ? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

As Matthew states (1:17), there were fourteen. In the first section there
are fourteen names, in the second fifteen and in the third, fourteen. The
simplest way of resolving the matter is that in the first and third sections,
the first and last person is included as a generation, whereas not in the
second. Either way of counting is acceptable.

33. Who was the father of Shelah; Cainan (Luke 3:35-36) or

Arphaxad (Genesis 11:12)? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew
usage)
The most probable answer to this is that the genealogy in the Masoretic
text of Genesis telescopes the generations as does Matthew in his list.
When we look at the Septuagint (LXX), we find the name of Cainan
included as the father of Shelah, echoing what we find in Luke. Luke,
writing in Greek, would have used the Septuagint as his authority.

On that same note, if we refer to the Septuagint, when we look at Genesis

11:12 we find that Apharxad was 135 years old, rather than 35 (which
would allow more time for him to be Shelah's grandfather). It's reassuring
to know that the Septuagint, the oldest surviving copy of the OT, is the
most accurate in numerical details, especially as they relate to decimal
positions.

34. John the Baptist was (Matthew 11:14; 17:10) or was not Elijah
to come (John 1:19)? (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

An unenlightened reading of Matthew would suggest that Yahshua is saying

that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come, while John records
John the Baptist denying it. The reason for this apparent inconsistency is a
lack of awareness and context.

The priests and Levites came to John the Baptist and asked him if he was
Elijah. Quite a funny question to ask someone, unless you know the Jewish
Scriptures. For Yahweh says through the prophet Malachi: "See, I will send
you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of Yahweh comes.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of
the children to their fathers." Therefore as the Jewish people were
expecting Elijah, and the question was quite logical.

John was about 30 years when he was asked this question. His parents
were already dead; he was the only son of Zechariah from the tribe of
Levi. So when asked if he was Elijah who ascended up into heaven about
878 years earlier, the answer was obviously "No, I am not Elijah." Yahshua
also testifies, albeit indirectly, to John not being Elijah in Matthew 11:11
where he says that John is greater than all people who have ever been
born. Moses was greater than Elijah, but John was greater than them both.

When Yahshua says to the priests of John "If you are willing to accept it,
he is the Elijah who was to come," he is demonstrating that he is God
because he knows the future. He knows that the priests will reject John's
message and thus his first coming begins quietly and benignly; it's
hardly "great and dreadful." And it ends with the cross, resurrection, and
the indwelling of his spirit in men.

The angel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic) speaks to Zechariah of his son, John,
who was not yet born, saying "he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit
and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:17) He correctly says that John will go "in
the spirit and power of Elijah" which is Yahweh's spirit and power. Gabriel
doesn't say that John is Elijah.

The Angel refers to two prophecies, Isaiah 40:3 (see Luke 3:4 to see this
applied again to John the Baptist) and Malachi 4:5 mentioned above, which
says "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful
day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers". "Elijah" whom
Yahweh foretold through Malachi the prophet will return to usher in
the "great and dreadful day" of Yahweh. At the second coming, Yahshua,
who is Yahweh in the flesh, returns in great power and the day is dreadful
as he obliterates the hundreds of millions of soldiers who have amasses in
Medigo, ready to destroy Jerusalem and wipe out the Jewish people.

So, John wasn't Elijah, yet he spoke with the same spirit and power. His
mission is the same, too, as both usher in the Messiah. Had the priests and
Levites accepted his message, the first coming wouldn't have ended with a
crucifixion.

Yahshua in Matthew 17:11 says that the prophecy of Malachi is true, and it
is. He says that this "Elijah" will suffer, like he, will suffer, and he did. "The
disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist."
Therefore, once we understand the context it is clear; John was not the
literal Elijah, but he was performing Elijah's role and was speaking with the
same power and authority—preparing the way for the Messiah, "the Lamb
of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29.

35. Jesus would (Luke 1:32) or would not (Matthew 1:11; 1

Chronicles 3:16 & Jeremiah 36:30) inherit David's
throne? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

This answer follows on directly from that to #26. Having shown that
Matthew's genealogy is that of Joseph, it is obvious from Jeremiah 36:30
that none of Joseph's physical descendants were qualified to sit on David's
throne as he himself was descended from Jeconiah. However, as Matthew
makes clear, Yahshua was not a physical descendant of Joseph. After
having listed Joseph's genealogy with the problem of his descendance from
Jeconiah, Matthew narrates the story of the virgin birth. Thus he shows
how Yahshua avoids the Jeconiah problem and remains able to sit on
David's throne. Luke, on the other hand, shows that Yahshua's true
physical descendance was from David apart from Jeconiah, thus fully
qualifying him to inherit the throne of his father David. The announcement
of the angel in Luke 1:32 completes the picture: 'the Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David'. This divine appointment, together with
his physical descendance, make him the only rightful heir to David's
throne. (Fruchtenbaum 1993:12)

36. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt (Mark 11:7; cf. Luke 19:35),
or a colt and an ass (Matthew 21:7)? (Category: misread the text &
misunderstood the historical context)

The accusation is that the Gospels contradict about how many donkeys
Yahshua rode into Jerusalem on. It is based on not reading the text of
Matthew properly and ignoring his point regarding this event.

It first should be noted that all four Gospel writers refer to this event.
Shabbir Ali omitted the reference in John 12:14. Mark, Luke and John are
all in agreement that Yahshua sat on a colt. Logic shows that there is no
"contradiction" as Yahshua cannot ride on two animals at once. So, why
does Matthew mention two animals? The reason is clear.

Even by looking at Matthew in isolation, we can see from the text that
Yahshua did not ride on two animals, but only on the colt. For in the two
verses preceding the quote in point (b) above by Shabbir, we read
Matthew quoting two prophecies from the Old Testament (Isaiah 62:11
and Zechariah 9:9) together. Matthew says: "Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you, gently and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey'." Matthew 21:5

By saying "a donkey" and then "on a colt, the foal of a donkey" Zechariah
is using classic Hebrew sentence structure and poetic language known as
"parallelism," simply repeating the same thing again in another way, as a
parallel statement. Couplets are very common in the Bible (i.e. Psalm
119:105 mentions, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path," saying the same thing twice in succession). It is clear that there is
only one animal referred to. Therefore Matthew clearly says Yahshua rode
only on a colt, in agreement with the other three Gospel writers.

So why does Matthew say that the colt and its mother were brought along
in verse seven? The reason is simple. Matthew, who was an eyewitness,
emphasizes the immaturity of the colt, too young to be separated from its
mother. As the colt had never been ridden the probability was that it was
still dependent on its mother. It would have made the entry to Jerusalem
easier if the mother donkey were led along down the road, as the foal
would naturally follow her, even though he had never before carried a rider
and had not yet been trained to follow a roadway. Here again we see that
there is no contradiction between the synoptic accounts, but only added
detail on the part of Matthew as one who viewed the event while it was
happening.

This is just one of many of the prophecies that Yahshua fulfilled. He

fulfilled ones that were in his control as well as ones which he could not
manipulate, such as the time and place of his birth (Daniel 9:24-26, Micah
5:1-2, Matthew 2:1-6), and his resurrection (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:24-32)
to name but two of hundreds.

Muslims are told to believe that in the Taurat or Torah, there is reference
to a prophecy which the Qur'an speaks of in Sura 7:157 and 61:6
concerning Muhammad. However, Muslims yet have to come up with one,
confirming that the Qur'an is errant regarding one of its most crucial
doctrines.

37. Simon Peter finds that Jesus was the Christ by a revelation
from heaven (Matthew 16:17), or by His brother Andrew (John
1:41)? (Category: too literalistic)

The emphasis of Matthew 16:17 is that Simon did not just hear it from
someone else; Yahweh had made it clear to him. That does not preclude
him being told by other people. Yahshua's point is that he was not simply
repeating what someone else had said. He had lived and worked with
Yahshua and he understood that Yahshua was none other than the Christ
(Messiah), and thus Yahweh. Yahshua did not ask, "Who have you heard
that I am?" but, "Who do you say I am?" There is all the difference in the
world between these two questions, and Peter was not in doubt.

38. Jesus first met Simon Peter and Andrew by the Sea of Galilee
(Matthew 4:18-22), or on the banks of the river Jordan (John 1:42-
43)? (Category: misread the text)
The accusation is that one Gospel records Yahshua meeting Simon Peter
and Andrew by the Sea of Galilee, while the other says he met them by the
river Jordan. However this accusation falls flat on its face as the different
writers pick up the story in different places. Both are true.

John 1:35 onwards says Yahshua met them by the river Jordan and that
they spent time with him there. Andrew (and probably Peter too) were
disciples of John the Baptist. They left this area and went to Galilee, in
which region was the village of Cana where Yahshua then performed his
first recorded miracle. "After this he went down to Capernaum with his
mothers and brothers and disciples. There they stayed for a few
days." John 2:12.

Peter and Andrew were originally from a town named Bethsaida (John
2:44) but now lived in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:30-31, Luke
4:38-39), a few miles from Bethsaida. They were fishermen by trade, so it
was perfectly normal for them to fish when they were home during these
few days (for at this time Yahshua was only just beginning public teaching
or healing).

This is where Matthew picks up the story. As Peter and Andrew fish in the
Lake of Galilee, Yahshua calls them to follow him—to leave all they have
behind and become his disciples. Before this took place, he had not asked
them, but they had followed him because of John the Baptist's testimony of
him (John 1:35-39). Now, because of this testimony, plus the miracle in
Cana, as well as the things Yahshua said (John 1:47-51), as well as the
time spent with the wisest and only perfect man who ever lived, it is
perfectly understandable for them to leave everything and follow him. It
would not be understandable for them to just drop their known lives and
follow a stranger who appeared and asked them to, like children after the
pied piper! Yahshua did not enchant anyone—they followed as they
realized who he was—the one all the prophets spoke of, the Messiah—God.

39. When Jesus met Jairus, his daughter 'had just died' (Matthew
9:18), or was 'at the point of death' (Mark 5:23)? (Category: too
literalistic)

When Jairus left his home, his daughter was very sick, and at the point of
death, or he wouldn't have gone to look for Yahshua. When he met
Yahshua he was not sure whether his daughter had already succumbed.
Therefore, he could have uttered both statements; Matthew mentioning
her death, while Mark speaking about her sickness. However, it must be
underlined that this is not a detail of any importance to the story, or to us.
The crucial points are clear: Jairus's daughter had a fatal illness. All that
could have been done would already have been. She was as good as dead
if not already dead. Jairus knew that Yahshua could both heal her and
bring her back from the dead. As far as he was concerned, there was no
difference. Therefore it is really of no significance whether the girl was
actually dead or at the point of death when Jairus reached Yahshua.

40. Jesus allowed (Mark 6:8), or did not allow (Matthew 10:9; Luke
9:3) his disciples to keep a staff on their journey? (Category:
misunderstood the Greek usage)
It is alleged that the Gospel writers contradict each other concerning
whether Yahshua allowed his disciples to take a staff on their journey or
not. The problem is one of translation.

In Matthew we read the English translation of the Greek word "ktesthe,"

which is rendered in the King James translation as "Provide neither gold,
nor silver nor yet staves." According to a Greek dictionary this word means
"to get for oneself, to acquire, to procure, by purchase or otherwise"
(Robinson, Lexicon of the New Testament). Therefore in Matthew Yahshua
is saying "Do not procure anything in addition to what you already have.
Just go as you are."

Matthew 10 and Mark 6 agree that Yahshua directed his disciples to take
along no extra equipment. Luke 9:3 agrees in part with the wording of
Mark 6:8, using the verb in Greek, ("take"); but then, like Matthew adds
"no staff, no bag, no bread, no money". But Matthew 10:10 includes what
was a further clarification: they were not to acquire a staff as part of their
special equipment for the tour. Mark 6:8 seems to indicate that this did not
involve discarding any staff they already had as they traveled the country
with Yahshua.

This trivial difference does not effect the substantial agreement of the
Gospels. We would not be troubled if this were a contradiction, for we do
not have the same view of these Gospels as a Muslim is erroneously taught
about the Qur'an. If indeed Christian scribes and translators had wished to
alter the original Gospels, this "contradiction" would not have been here. It
is a sign of the authenticity of the text as a human account of what took
place, and is a clear sign that it has not been deliberately corrupted.

41. Herod did (Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:16) or did not (Luke 9:9)
think that Jesus was John the Baptist? (Category: misread the text)

There is no contradiction here. In Luke 9:9, Herod asks who this incredible
person could be, as John was now dead. In Matthew 14:2 and Mark 6:16
he gives his answer: after considering who Yahshua could be, he concluded
that he must be John the Baptist, raised from the dead. By the time Herod
actually met Yahshua, at his trial, he no longer thought that he was John
(Luke 23:8-11). He had heard more about him and understood John's
claims about preparing for one who was to come (John 1:15-34). He may
well have heard that Yahshua had been baptized by John, obviously ruling
out the possibility that they were the same person.

42. John the Baptist did (Matthew 3:13-14) or did not (John 1:32-
33) recognize Jesus before his baptism? (Category: misunderstood
the author's intent)

John's statement in John 1:33 that he would not have known Yahshua
except for seeing the Holy Spirit alight on him and remain, can be
understood to mean that John would not have known for sure without this
definite sign. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from before his birth
(Luke 1:15) and we have record of an amazing recognition of Yahshua
even while John was in his mother's womb. Luke 1:41 relates that when
Mary visited John's mother, the sound of her greeting prompted John, then
still in the womb, to leap in recognition of Mary's presence, as the mother
of the Lord.
From this passage we can also see that John's mother had some
knowledge about who Yahshua would be. It is very likely that she told John
something of this as he was growing up (even though it seems that she
died while he was young).

In the light of this prior knowledge and the witness of the Holy Spirit within
John, it is most likely that this sign of the Holy Spirit resting on Yahshua
was simply a confirmation of what he already thought. Yahweh removed
any doubt so that he could be.

43. John the Baptist did (John 1:32-33) or did not (Matthew 11:2)
recognize Jesus after his baptism? (Category: misread the text)

In the passage of John 1:29-36 it is abundantly clear that John recognized

Yahshua. We should have no doubt at all about this.

Matthew 11:2 takes place later on, and many things have happened in the
interim. John's original knowledge of Yahshua was limited to a brief
encounter and like all humans under extreme duress, he had become
somewhat disillusioned. He did not know exactly what form Yahshua's
ministry would take during the first coming, or that he himself would be
hauled off to prison. We are told from Matthew 3:11 some of what John
knew: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with
unquenchable fire." This is the classic portrayal of the Messiah as the
conquering king who would bring Yahweh's judgment on all those who
reject him, bringing peace and justice to those who follow him. John
obviously understood this, but it relates to the second coming, not the
first.

However, the Messiah was also portrayed in the scriptures as a suffering

servant, in the first coming, who would suffer on behalf of His people. This
is shown clearly in Isaiah 53, especially verse 12: "For he bore the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors." John also understood
this, as shown by his statement in John 1:29: "Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!"

What was sometimes not so well understood was how the two portrayals of
the Messiah (i.e., the first and second coming) interacted. Many thought
that the Messiah would bring his terrible judgment as soon as he came. In
fact, this will occur when he returns (his return is alluded to in Acts 1:11,
for example). Some were confused, therefore, by Yahshua's reluctance to
act as a military leader and release the nation of Israel from Roman
oppression at that time as he will do at the battle of Armageddon upon his
return.

This confusion is illustrated by Luke 24:13-33, where Yahshua spoke with

two of his followers on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. They
were initially kept from recognizing him (v.16). They told him how they
"had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel" (v.21).
They were correct in this hope, but failed to understand the first stage in
Yahweh's redemptive process. Yahshua corrected their misunderstanding
in v. 25,26: "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things
and then enter his glory?"
It is most likely that a similar misunderstanding prompted John the
Baptist's question in Matthew 11:2. Despite having been so sure of
Yahshua's identity as the Messiah, pacifist and hellish events had clouded
his certainty. After expecting Yahshua to oust the Romans and restore the
kingdom of Israel, instead he had seen Yahshua 'teach and preach in the
towns of Galilee' (Matthew 11:1), with no mention of a military campaign
and ultimately he saw him attacked and crucified. John surely wondered
what had gone wrong: had he misunderstood the Messiah's role?
Yahshua's answer in Matthew 11:4-6 makes it clear: "Go back and report
to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and
the good news is preached to the poor."

These activities were Messianic prerogatives, as foretold by Isaiah 29:18;

35:5; 61:1. Although John's disillusionment was a natural human reaction,
he had been right all along. The Messiah was here and all would be
revealed in its proper time. The Bible is showing us genuine human
reactions and reporting them as the occurred because the Bible is
Yahweh's way of dealing with humans.

44. When Jesus bears witness to himself, is his testimony not true
(John 5:31) or is his testimony true (John 8:14)? (Category:
misunderstood the historical context)

"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid" (John 5:31) compared

with "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid" (John
8:14). It appears to be a contradiction, but only if the context is ignored.

In John 5 Yahshua is speaking about how he cannot claim on his own to be

the Messiah nor Yahweh, unless he is in line with Yahweh's revealed word.
That is, without fulfilling the prophecies spoken in the Old Testament. But
as Yahshua did fulfill them and was proclaimed to be the Messiah by John
the Baptist who the prophets also spoke of as heralding the way for the
Messiah (see #34), then Yahshua was indeed who he claimed to be, God.
Yahshua says of the Jewish scriptures which his listeners studied
diligently, "These are the Scriptures that testify about me".

We read of a somewhat different setting in John 8. Yahshua has just

claimed to be the Messiah by quoting Old Testament Messianic prophecies
and applying them to himself (John 8:12, Isaiah 9:2, Malachi 4:2). "Then
some Pharisees challenged him, 'Here you are, appearing as your own
witness; your testimony is not valid'." Verse 13.

It is to this statement that Yahshua responds "Yes it is". Why? Because the
Pharisees were using a law from Deuteronomy 19:15 which says "One
witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he
may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of
two or three witnesses. If a malicious witness takes the stand." Therefore
they broadened the law to mean more that it does actually say. Indeed,
the testimony of one man was valid—however not enough to convict, but
enough when used in defense to bring an acquittal. This law is not
speaking about anyone making a claim about himself, only in a court when
accused of a crime.

So when Yahshua says in reply to them "Even if I testify on my own

behalf, my testimony is valid" he is right to do so according to the laws the
Pharisees had come to judge him by. He also says that he knew exactly
who he was, whereas they did not. He was God. Therefore his word could
be trusted.

However, it is a good principle not to believe just anyone who claims to be

the Messiah. Any claimant must have proof. Therefore the second thing
Yahshua goes on to state in John 8 is that he has these witnesses too, the
witnesses that the Pharisees were asking for. "I am one who testifies for
myself; my other witness is the Father who sent me." Verse 18. The same
proclamation as in John 5 that he was fulfilling the prophecies that they
knew (see just before this incident in John 7:42 for further proof of this
point).

There is no contradiction, simply clarity and great depth which can be seen
when Yahshua's answers are viewed in the context of the scripture, Jewish
culture and law.

45. When Jesus entered Jerusalem he cleansed (Matthew 21:12) or

did not cleanse (Mark 11:1-17) the temple that same day, but the
next day? (Category: misunderstood the author's intent)

The key to understanding may be found in Matthew's use of narrative. At

times he can be seen to arrange his material in topical order rather than
strict chronological sequence as do many writers. This is done for clarity,
especially when related issues are more revealing combined than they are
set in a chronology.

With this in mind, it is probable that Matthew relates the cleansing of the
temple along with the triumphal entry, even though the cleansing occurred
the next day. Verse 12 states that 'Yahshua entered the temple' but does
not say clearly that it was immediately following the entry into Jerusalem.
Verse 17 informs us that he left Jerusalem and went to Bethany, where he
spent the night. Mark 11:11 also has him going out to Bethany for the
night, but this is something that he did each night of that week in
Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:23 states: "Yahshua entered the temple courts" in a similar

fashion to verse 12, yet Luke 20:1 says that the following incident
occurred "one day," indicating that it may not have been immediately after
the fig tree incident.

According to this interpretation, Yahshua entered the temple on the day of

his triumphal entry, looked around and retired to Bethany. The next
morning he cursed the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem (at which time it
started to wither) and cleansed the temple when he got there. Returning to
Bethany that evening, as it was getting dark, the withered fig tree may not
have been noticed by the disciples. It was only the following morning in the
full light of day that they saw what had happened to it. (Archer
1994:334.335)

46. Matthew 21:19 says the tree which Jesus cursed withered at
once, whereas Mark 11:20 maintains that it withered
overnight. (Category: misunderstood the author's intent)

The differences found between the accounts of Matthew and Mark

concerning the fig tree have much to do with the order both Matthew and
Mark used in arranging their material. When we study the narrative
technique of Matthew, we find (as was noted in #45 above) that he
sometimes arranges his material in a topical order rather than in strict
chronology, that is more characteristic of Mark and Luke.

For instance, if we look at chapters 5-7 of Matthew which deal with the
sermon on the Mount, it is quite conceivable that portions of the sermon
on the Mount teachings are found some times in other settings, such as in
the sermon on the plain in Luke (6:20-49). Matthew's tendency was to
group his material in themes so that timeless truths could be assimilated
more easily. We find another example of this exhibited in a series of
parables of the kingdom of heaven that make up chapter 13. Once a theme
has been broached, Matthew prefers to carry it through to its completion,
as a general rule.

When we see it from this perspective it is to Mark that we look to when

trying to ascertain the chronology of an event. In Mark's account we find
that Yahshua went to the temple on both Palm Sunday and the following
Monday. But in Mark 11:11-19 it is clearly stated that Yahshua did not
expel the tradesmen from the temple until Monday, after he had cursed
the barren fig tree (verses 12 to 14). Matthew followed his topical
approach, whereas Mark preferred to follow a strict chronological
sequence. These differences are not contradictory, but show merely a
different style in arranging material. Both are valid. (Archer 1982:334-335
and Light of Life III 1992:96-97)

It is interesting to note that they Qur'an uses neither chronological nor

topical organization. It is a complete jumble of haphazardly repeated and
conflicting stories, threats, torments, and violent demands. Its lack of
organization is proof that it was not divinely inspired.

47. In Matthew 26:48 Judas came up and kissed Jesus, whereas in

John 18:3 Judas could not get close enough to Jesus to kiss
him. (Category: misquoted the text)

This is rather an odd discrepancy by Shabbir, for nowhere in the John

account does it say (as Shabbir forthrightly maintains) that Judas could not
get close enough to Yahshua to kiss him. Not being able to get close to him
had nothing, therefore, to do with whether he kissed him or not. It seems
that Shabbir imagines this to be the problem and so imposes it onto the
text. The fact that John does not mention a kiss does not mean Judas did
not use a kiss. Many times we have seen where one of the gospel writers
includes a piece of information which another leaves out. That does not
imply that either one is wrong, only that, as witnesses, they view an event
from different perspectives, and so include into their testimony that which
they deem to be important. (Light of Life III 1992:107)

48. Did Peter deny Christ three times before the cock crowed (John
13:38), or three times before the cock crowed twice (Mark 14:30,
72)? (Category: discovery of earlier manuscripts)

This accusation is that Yahshua says to Peter "the cock will not crow till
you have denied me three times" (John 13:38) and also "Before the cock
crows twice you will deny me three times" (Mark 14:30). However, as the
King James translation has it the cock crowed prior to Peter's third denial
in Mark, while the prediction in John failed. This problem is one of
manuscript evidence.  Matthew 26:33-35, 74-75 "before the cock crows
you will disown me three times" Luke 22:31-34, 60-62 "before the cock
crows today, you will deny three times that you know me" John 13:38
"before the cock crows, you will disown me three times."

Mark is therefore the odd one out. This is due to the second crow being a
later addition to the original Gospel for some unknown reason. Early
manuscripts of Mark do not have the words "a second time" and "twice" in
14:72, nor the word "twice" in 14:30, or the cock crowing a first time in
verse 14:68 as in the King James translation. Therefore an erroneous
addition is spotted by the clarity of having 4 accounts of the event and
many early manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark. As a relatively early English
translation, the King James translators did not have nearly as many early
Greek manuscripts to work with as we do today and they were
considerably more reliant on the Latin Vulgate, which was itself a
translation.

Another explanation is plausible, although not necessary as the issue does

not arise in the oldest copies of Mark. If the first crow verse (68 in the King
James) was not in the original but the others ("twice" in 30 and 72) were,
as in the New International translation. For as a cock can (and often does)
crow more than once in a row, there would be no contradiction (the first
and second crows being together, with Peter remembering Yahshua's
prediction on the second crow), for since we may be very sure that if a
rooster crows twice, he has at least crowed once. Mark therefore just
included more information in his account than the other gospel writers.

49. Jesus did (John 19:17) or did not (Matthew 27:31) bear his
own cross? (Category: misread the text or the texts are compatible with
a little thought)

John 19:17 states that he went out carrying his own cross to the place of
the skull. Matthew 27:31 tells us that he was led out to be crucified and
that it was only as they were going out to Golgotha that Simon was forced
to carry the cross.

Mark 15:20 agrees with Matthew and gives us the additional information
that Yahshua started out from inside the palace (Praetorium). As Simon
was on his way in from the country, it is clear that he was passing by in
the street. This implies that Yahshua carried his cross for some distance,
from the palace into the street. Weak from his floggings and torture, it is
likely that he either collapsed under the weight of the cross or was going
very slowly. In any case, the soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for
him. Luke 23:26 is in agreement, stating that Simon was seized as they
led Yahshua away. Thus the contradiction vanishes. Yahshua started out
carrying the cross and Simon took over at some point during the journey.

50. Did Jesus die before (Matthew 27:50-51; Mark 15:37-38), or

after (Luke 23:45-46) the curtain of the temple was
torn? (Category: misread the text)

After reading the three passages Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37 and Luke
23:45, it is not clear where the apparent contradictions are that Shabbir
has pointed out. All three passages point to the fact that at the time of
Yahshua's death the curtain in the temple was torn. It does not stand to
reason that because both Matthew and Mark mention the event of Christ's
death before mentioning the curtain tearing, while Luke mentions it in
reverse order, that they are therefore in contradiction, as Matthew states
that the two events happened, 'At that moment', and the other two
passages nowhere deny this.

They all agree that these two events happened simultaneously for a very
good reason; for the curtain was there as a barrier between God and man.
Its destruction coincides with the death of the Messiah, thereby allowing
man the opportunity for the first time since Adam's expulsion from God's
presence at the garden of Eden, to once again be reunited with Him. There
is no discrepancy here, only good news and profound truth.

51. Did Jesus say everything openly (John 18:20) or did he speak
secretly to his disciples (Mark 4:34, Matthew 13:10)? (Category:
misunderstood the historical context)

The reason people say that Yahshua contradicts himself about saying
things secretly or not, especially in relation to parables, is due to a lack of
textual and cultural information. This answer requires significant
background, some of which I hope to give briefly here.

Firstly a parable is a story given in order to clarify, emphasize or illustrate

a teaching, not a teaching within itself. Yahshua was a Jewish Rabbi. In
Rabbinical literature there are approximately 4000 parables recorded. It
was thought by Rabbis to be good practice to divide their instruction of the
people into three parts, the latter third typically being two parables
representative to the first two thirds. Yahshua carries on in this tradition
with just over one third of his recorded instruction being in the form of
parables. He drew upon a wealth of images that the Israelis of his day
knew, using common motifs such as plants, animals, and relationships.
Therefore the point of each of Yahshua's parables was clear to all the
listeners, which can be seen from the Gospels too. Parables were so rich
and also so subtle that not only could they drive home a clear and simple
point to the ordinary listener, but the scholars could turn them over and
over in their mind, deriving greater and greater meaning from them. So,
Yahshua often expanded on the meaning of a parable to his disciples, his
close students, in response to their inquiry or to instruct them further as
any Jewish Rabbi would.

This can be seen from reading Mark 4:34 in context. For it says, "With
many similar parables Yahshua spoke the word to them [the crowds], as
much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without
using a parable [to clarify, emphasize or illustrate the teaching]. But when
he was alone with his own disciples he explained everything [taught them
more, for they could understand more than the crowds]." Mark 4:33-34.

Therefore parables were not secret teachings. They are not esoteric
knowledge given only to the initiated. It makes no sense (nor has any
historical basis) to say that Yahshua went around confusing people. He
went around in order to teach and instruct people. So when Yahshua was
asked while on trial in court (John 18:20) about his teaching, he says
something to the words of "I taught publicly—everyone heard my words.
You know what I taught. I did not teach in secret." He was right.

As all this is true, what are these "secrets of the kingdom of heaven" which
Yahshua speaks of? The only 'secret' ("the mystery hidden for long ages
past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writing by
the command of the eternal God, so that the nations might believe and
obey him" (Romans 16:25-26) is that Yahshua is God!

This secret was that Yahshua's mission was foretold by the prophets, that
he was the fulfillment of these prophecies and the greatest revelation that
would ever be given to mankind. His words were not only for the saving of
people, but also for the judging of people because they were "ever hearing
but never understanding, ever seeing but never perceiving" (Matthew
13:14) as many of the hearers of the parables were unwilling to accept the
truth and form an eternal relationship with him.

Many people enjoyed Yahshua's teaching, came for the nice moral
discourses and the excellent parables, but not many followed him as the
perceived cost was too great (see Luke 9:57, 14:25, 33). But it was these
things his disciples were beginning to understand because they trusted
Yahshua. The secrets of the kingdom of heaven were revealed to them and
then to us through these disciples following (and explaining) Matthew
13:10: "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear [unlike the crowds]. For I tell you the truth, many
prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it" [as they did not live during
the lifetime of Yahshua-all the prophets were before him].

The secret which was revealed is Yahshua is Yahweh, Yahshua is the one
all the prophets spoke of, the salvation of mankind, God's greatest
revelation, the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 21:6-8, 22:12-16), the
only way to be right with Yahweh (John 3:36, Romans 6:23).

52. Was Jesus on the cross (Mark 15:23) or in Pilate's court (John
19:14) at the sixth hour the day of the crucifixion? (Category:
misunderstood the historical context)

The simple answer to this is that the synoptic writers (Matthew, Mark and
Luke) employed a different system of numbering the hours of day to that
used by John. The synoptics use the traditional Hebrew system, where the
hours were numbered from sunrise (approximately 6:00am in modern
reckoning), making the crucifixion about 9:00am, the third hour by this
system.

John, on the other hand, uses the Roman civil day. This reckoned the day
from midnight to midnight, as we do today. Pliny the Elder (Natural History
2.77) and Macrobius (Saturnalia 1.3) both tell us as much. Thus, by the
Roman system employed by John, Yahshua's trial by night was in its end
stages by the sixth hour (6:00am), which was the first hour of the Hebrew
reckoning used in the synoptics. Between this point and the crucifixion,
Yahshua underwent a brutal flogging and was repeatedly mocked and
beaten by the soldiers in the Praetorium (Mark 15:16-20). The crucifixion
itself occurred at the third hour in the Hebrew reckoning, which is the ninth
in the Roman, or 9:00am by our modern thinking.

This is not just a neat twist to escape a problem, as there is every reason
to suppose that John used the Roman system, even though he was just as
Jewish as Matthew, Mark and Luke. John's gospel was written after the
other three while he was living in Ephesus. This was the capital of the
Roman province of Asia, so John would have become used to reckoning the
day according to the Roman usage. Further evidence of him doing so is
found in John 21:19: 'On the evening of that first day of the week'. This
was Sunday evening, which in Hebrew thinking was actually part of the
second day, each day beginning at sunset. (Archer 1994:363-364)

53. The two thieves crucified with Jesus either did (Mark 15:32) or
did not (Luke 23:43) mock Jesus? (Category: too literalistic an
interpretation)

This apparent contradiction asks did both thieves crucified with Yahshua
mock him or just one. Mark 15:23 says both did. Luke 23:43 says one
mocked and one defended Yahshua. It isn't too difficult to see what it
going on here. The obvious conclusion is that both thieves mocked
Yahshua initially. However after Yahshua had said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing," one of the robbers seems to
have had a change of heart and repented on the cross, while the other
continued in his mocking.

There is a lesson here which shouldn't be overlooked; that the Lord allows
us at any time to repent, no matter what crime or sin we have committed.
These two thieves are symptomatic of all of us. Some of us when faced
with the reality of Christ continue to reject him and mock him, while others
accept our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. The good news is that like
the thief on the cross, we can be exonerated from that sin at any time,
even while 'looking at death in the face'.

54. Did Jesus ascend to Paradise the same day of the crucifixion
(Luke 23:43), or two days later (John 20:17)? (Category:
misunderstood how God works in history)

The idea that Yahshua contradicts himself (or the Gospels contradict
themselves) concerning whether he had ascended to Paradise or not after
his death on the cross is due to misunderstandings about the nature of
Yahshua, time and paradise as well as the need to contextualize the nature
of Yahweh and eternity in the fourth dimension. To fully appreciate the
truths contained in these passages, one would need an entire book.

Yahshua says to the thief on the cross "Truly I say to you, today you will
be with me in Paradise." Since there is no punctuation in Greek,
linguistically the argument can be made that the comma is in the wrong
place. Thus: "Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise."
The statement is true either way. Paradise is outside of time. And even
inside the constraints of time it's true as Yahshua is Yahweh so the thief
would indeed be with God in paradise immediately upon his death as a
result of his trusting Yahshua.

Yahshua says to Mary Magdalene, according to the rendering of the King

James translation, that he had not yet "ascended" to his Father. However,
this should be rendered "returned" to his Father. In Luke, Yahshua dies,
and his spirit ascended to Paradise (see vs. 46). In John, Yahshua has
been bodily resurrected, and in that state, he had not yet ascended to the
Father.

Yahshua was with God, and was God, before the beginning of the world
(John 1 and Philippians 2:6-11). Yahshua saying "for I have not yet
returned to the Father" does not mean he wasn't in heaven between his
death and resurrection in "our time." By way of parallel (albeit an
imperfect one), I do go to my original home and the area where I grew up
without returning there. Returning as in myself being restored to what was
and remaining there.

However, a more likely understanding of the text has to do with the

context. Another way to say, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not
ascended to my Father. Go instead to my brothers...", would be, "Do not
hang on to me Mary—I have not left you physically yet. You will see me
again. But now, I want you to go and tell my disciples that I am going to
heaven soon."

The complexity of time as a dimension and the fact that Yahshua is

Yahweh is the Father makes this somewhat difficult to fully understand but
the texts are not mutually exclusive. There is no contradiction.

55. When Paul was on the road to Damascus he saw a light and
heard a voice. Did those who were with him hear the voice (Acts
9:7), or did they not (Acts 22:9)? (Category: misunderstood the Greek
usage or the text is compatible with a little thought)

Although the same Greek word is used in both accounts (akouo), it has two
distinct meanings: to perceive sound and to understand. Therefore, the
explanation is clear: they heard something but did not understand what it
was saying. Paul, on the other hand, heard and understood. There is no
contradiction. (Haley p.359)

56. When Paul saw the light and fell to the ground, did his traveling
companions fall (Acts 26:14) or did they not fall (Acts 9:7) to the
ground? (Category: misunderstood the Greek usage or the text is
compatible with a little thought)

There are two possible explanations of this point. The word rendered
'stood' also means to be fixed, to be rooted to the spot. This is something
that can be experienced whether standing up or lying down.

An alternative explanation is this: Acts 26:14 states that the initial falling
to the ground occurred when the light flashed around, before the voice was
heard. Acts 9:7 says that the men 'stood speechless' after the voice had
spoken. There would be ample time for them to stand up whilst the voice
was speaking to Saul, especially as it had no significance or meaning to
them. Saul, on the other hand, understood the voice and was no doubt
transfixed with fear as he suddenly realized that for so long he had been
persecuting and killing those who were following Yahshua. He had in effect
been working against the God whom he thought he was serving. This
terrible realization evidently kept him on the ground longer than his
companions. (Haley p.359) When Muslims come to recognize that Allah
was modeled after Satan, they have a similar response.

57. Did the voice tell Paul what he was to do on the spot (Acts
26:16-18), or was he commanded to go to Damascus to be told
what to do (Acts 9:7; 22:10)? (Category: misunderstood the historical
context)

Paul was told his duties in Damascus as can be seen from Acts 9 and 22.
However in Acts 26 the context is different. In this chapter Paul doesn't
worry about the chronological or geographical order of events because he
is talking to people who have already heard his story. In Acts 9:1-31 Luke,
the author of Acts, narrates the conversion of Saul.

In Acts 22:1-21 Luke narrates Paul speaking to Jews, who knew who Paul
was and had actually caused him to be arrested and kept in the Roman
Army barracks in Jerusalem. He speaks to the Jews from the steps of the
barracks and starts off by giving his credentials as a Jew, before launching
into a detailed account of his meeting with Yahshua and his conversion.

In Acts 26:2-23 Luke, however, narrates the speech given by Paul, (who
was imprisoned for at least two years after his arrest in Jerusalem and his
speech in Acts 22,). This was given to the Roman Governor Festus and
King Herod Agrippa, both of whom were already familiar with the case.
(Read the preceding Chapters). Therefore they did not require a full blown
explanation of Paul's case, but a summary. Which is exactly what Paul
gives them. This is further highlighted by Paul reminding them of his
Jewish credentials in one part of a sentence, "I lived as a Pharisee," as
opposed to two sentences in Acts 22:3. Paul also later in the Chapter is
aware that King Agrippa is aware of the things that have happened in
verses 25-27.

58. Did 24,000 Israelites die in the plague in 'Shittim' (Numbers

25:1, 9), or was it only 23,000 Israelites who died (1 Corinthians
10:8)? (Category: confused this incident with another)

This apparent contradiction asks how many people died from the plague
that occurred in Shittim (which incidentally is misspelt 'Shittin' in Shabbir's
pamphlet). Numbers 25:1-9 and 1 Corinthians 10:8 are contrasted.
Shabbir is referring to the wrong plague here.

If he had looked at the context of 1 Corinthians 10, he would have noted

that Paul was referring to the plague in Exodus 32:28, which takes place at
Mt. Sinai in Western Arabia and not to that found in Numbers 25, which
takes place in Shittim, amongst the Moabites. If there is any doubt refer to
verse 7 of 1 Corinthians 10, which quotes from Exodus 32:6, "Afterwards
they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry."

Now there are those who may say that the number killed in the Exodus 32
account were 3,000 (Exodus 32:28) another seeming contradiction, but
one which is easily rectified once you read the rest of the text. The 3,000
killed in verse 28 account for only those killed by men with swords. This is
followed by a plague which the Lord brings against those who had sinned
against him in verse 35, which says, "And the Lord struck the people with
a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made." It is to
this plague which Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 10:8. (Geisler/Howe
1992:458-459)

Yahweh has no tolerance for false prophets, false gods, or false doctrines.
Those who accept false religions have made their choice and have
therefore damned themselves. To keep them from damning others,
especially in proximity to his chosen people, he exterminates them. This is
a lesson for Christians and Jews. We are not called to be tolerant of false
prophets like Muhammad, false gods like Allah, or false religions like Islam.
By tolerating them, their clerics and kings kill millions and damn billions.
59. Did 70 members of the house of Jacob come to Egypt (Genesis
46:27), or was it 75 members (Acts 7:14)? (Category: misunderstood
the historical context)

This apparent contradiction asks how many members of the house of Jacob
went to Egypt. The two passages contrasted are Genesis 46:27 and Acts
7:14. However both passages are correct. In the Genesis 46:1-27 the total
number of direct descendants that traveled to Egypt with Jacob were 66 in
number according to verse 26. This is because Judah was sent on ahead in
verse 28 of Chapter 46 and because Joseph and his two sons were already
in Egypt. However in verse 27 all the members of the family are included,
including Joseph and his sons and Judah making a total number of 70,
referring to the total number of Jacob's family that ended up in Egypt not
just those that traveled with him to Egypt.

In the older Septuagint and Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts the number given
in verse 27 is 75. This is because they also include Joseph's three
grandsons and two great grandsons listed in Numbers 26:28-37, and in at
least the Septuagint version their names are listed in Genesis 46:20.
Therefore the Acts 7:14 quotation of Stephen's speech before his
martyrdom is correct because he was quoting from the Septuagint.

60. Did Judas buy a field (Acts 1:18) with money from betraying
Jesus, or did he throw it into the temple (Matthew
27:5)? (Category: misunderstood the author's intent)

This apparent contradiction asks, 'What did Judas do with the money he
received for betraying Yahshua? In Acts 1:18 it is claimed that Judas
bought a field. In Matthew 27:5 it was thrown into the Temple from where
the priests used it to buy a field. However, upon closer scrutiny it appears
one passage is just a summary of the other.

Matthew 27:1-10 describes in detail the events that happened in regard to

Judas betrayal of Yahshua, and their significance in terms of the fulfillment
of the Scriptures. In particular he quotes from the prophet Zechariah
11:12-13 which many think are clarifications of the prophecies found in
Jeremiah 19:1-13 and 32:6-9.

In the Acts 1:18 passage however, Luke is making a short resume of

something that people already knew, as a point of clarification to the
speech of Peter, among the believers (the same situation as we found in
question number 57 earlier). This is illustrated by the fact that in verse 19
he says, "Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this." Also it is more than
probable that the Gospel record was already being circulated amongst the
believers at the time of Luke's writing. Luke, therefore, was not required to
go into detail about the facts of Judas' death.

61. Did Judas die by hanging himself (Matthew 27:5) or by falling

headlong and bursting open with all his bowels gushing out (Acts
1:18)?(Category: the texts are compatible with a little thought)

This alleged contradiction is related to the fact that Matthew in his Gospel
speaks of Judas hanging himself but in Acts 1:18 Luke speaks about Judas
falling headlong and his innards gushing out. However both of these
statements are true.
Matthew 27:1-10 mentioned the fact that Judas died by hanging himself in
order to be strictly factual. Luke, however in his report in Acts1:18-19
wants to cause the feeling of revulsion among his readers, for the field
spoken about and for Judas, and nowhere denies that Judas died by
hanging. According to tradition, it would seem that Judas hanged himself
on the edge of a cliff, above the Valley of Hinnom. The rope snapped, was
cut or untied and Judas fell upon the field below as described by Luke.

62. Is the field called the 'field of blood' because the priest bought
it with blood money (Matthew 27:8), or because of Judas's bloody
death (Acts 1:19)? (Category: misunderstood the wording)

Once again, looking at the same two passages, Shabbir asks why the field
where Judas was buried called the Field of Blood? Matthew 27:8 says that
it is because it was bought with blood-money, while, according to Shabbir
Acts 1:19 says that it was because of the bloody death of Judas.

However both passages agree that it was due to it being bought by blood-
money. Acts 1:18 starts by saying, "With the reward he got for his
wickedness, Judas bought a field". So it begins with the assumption that
the field was bought by the blood-money, and then the author intending to
cause revulsion for what had happened describes Judas bloody end on that
piece of real estate.

63. How can the ransom which Christ gives for all, which is good
(Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:5-6), be the same as the ransom of the
wicked (Proverbs 21:18)? (Category: misunderstood how Yahweh
works in history)

This contradiction asks, 'Who is a ransom for whom?' Shabbir uses

passages from Mark 10:45 and 1 Timothy 2:5 to show that it is Yahshua
that is a ransom for all. This is compared to Proverbs 21:18 which speaks
of "The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for
the upright."

There is no contradiction here as they are talking about two different types
of ransom. A ransom is a payment by one party to another. It can be made
by a good person for others, as we see Christ does for the world, or it can
be made by evil people as payment for the evil they have done, as we see
in the Proverbs passage and throughout the Islamic Hadith and Qur'an.

The assumption being made by Shabbir in the Mark and 1 Timothy

passages is that Yahshua was good and could therefore not be a ransom
for the unrighteous. In this premise he reflects the Islamic denial that
someone can pay for the sins of another, or can be a ransom for another.
In Islam there is no savior, no cross, no redemption, and no choice. Islam
is based upon predestination and good works which are invariably bad. It
is obviously wrong to impose Islam's capricious and irrational criterion to
Biblical interpretation. Despite the Qur'an's denials, Christ as a ransom for
the many is clearly taught in the Bible.

Again Shabbir's supposition relies upon quotations being taken out of their
context. The Mark 10:45 passage starts off by quoting Yahshua as
saying, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many." This was spoken by Yahshua
because the disciples had been arguing over the fact that James and John
had approached Yahshua about sitting at his right and left side when Christ
came into his glory. Here Yahshua is again prophesying his death which is
to come and the reason for that death, that he would be the ransom
payment that would atone for all people's sin.

In 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Paul is here speaking, saying, "For there is one God

and one mediator between God and men, Christ Yahshua, who gave
himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time."

This comes in the middle of a passage instructing the Early Church on

worshiping Yahweh. These two verses give the reason and the meaning of
worshiping Yahweh. The redemptive ransom given by Yahweh, that
through Yahshua's atoning work on the Cross, Yahweh may once again
have that saving relationship with man.

The Proverbs 21:18 passage speaks however of the ransom that Yahweh
paid through Egypt in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, as is highlighted in
the book of Isaiah, but particularly in Chapter 43:3: "For I am Yahweh,
your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your
ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead."

This picture is further heightened in verses 16 and 17 of the same Chapter.

This also has some foundation from the book of Exodus 7:5; 8:19; 10:7;
12:33. Chapters 13 and 14 particularly point to this. As history records for
us in the Bible it was through this action that the Old Covenant was
established between God and the Kingdom of Israel.

64. Is all scripture profitable (2 Timothy 3:16) or not profitable

(Hebrews 7:18)? (Category: misunderstood how God works in history)

The accusation is that the Bible says all scripture is profitable as well as
stating that a former commandment is weak and useless, and therein lies
the contradiction. This is a contextual problem and arises through
ignorance of what Yahweh promised to do speaking through the Prophets,
concerning the two covenants which He instituted.

Muslims think that this is a contradiction only because they don't

understand the central message of the Bible—Old and New Testaments—
which revolves around the Old and New Covenants, or old and new
relationship between Yahweh and his creation, man. There is no choice in
Islam and thus no love. With no love, there is no relationship between
Allah and man in Islam and therefore no covenant. Further, in Islam,
perverse deeds like murder and thievery are called good, and they from
the basis for forgiveness of sin or bad deeds like not fighting or tolerance.
In the Bible good deeds (which are defined quite differently from Islam's
criterion) have no influence on the forgiveness of sin. Only sacrifice
accomplishes that. It's not unlike our legal system. Not murdering ten
people does not serve as an offset for a murder nor free one from having
to sacrifice one's freedom or life as the just punishment for the crime. Not
robbing a hundred banks will not free one from the sacrifice of time and
money that the judge will require if you rob the bank on the second block.

Due to space this wonderful issue cannot be looked at in depth here.

However, some background information will have to be given in order for a
reader, unfamiliar with the Bible, to understand.
Yahweh's word originates from him, and is indeed useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training as 2 Timothy states. That is a general
statement which refers to all that which comes from Yahweh.

Hebrews chapter 7 speaks of a particular commandment given to a

particular people at a specific time; under the old covenant, the sacrificial
system in the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem. Yahweh
established in the covenant with His people Israel a system where they
would offer sacrifices, animals to be killed, in order for him to forgive them
of their sins; particularly what God calls in Leviticus chapters 4 to 6, the
"sin offering" and the "guilt offering".

This concept of substitutional death is foreign to Islam, but is fundamental

to Biblical Judaism and Christianity. Sacrificial offerings in Islam are
designed to appease Allah and other idols rather than for the forgiveness
of sin. In Judeo-Christianity, atonement must take place for sin. The
penalty of sin is death, and someone has to pay that price. There is no
forgiveness for sin without the shedding of blood, for Yahweh is just. He
cannot ignore the crime of sin any more than an earthly judge can ignore
the crimes of theft, murder, or rape. Anarchy would result.

Yahweh established this system of atonement as the Old Testament shows

by referring to the need for atonement 79 times! However, it also records
Yahweh saying "The time is coming, declares Yahweh, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will
not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by
the hand and led them out of Egypt" [i.e. at Mount Sinai where He gave
the first covenant to the people of Israel just after he saved them from
Egypt] (Jeremiah 31:31). The reason Yahweh gives for the change in
covenants is that his people did not remain faithful to the old one and
something needed to be done to resolve a broken relationship. He says
that this new covenant will necessitate a once-for-all payment for their
sins, unlike the previous covenant (Jeremiah 31:34, Daniel 9:24).

Yahweh also speaks in the Old Testament of the Messiah who would bring
this about. A Messiah not from the Levitical priesthood, but a perfect man
from the tribe of Judah. He, the Messiah—Yahweh in the flesh—would be
the sacrifice that would pay for all sin in one go, and approach Yahweh not
on the merit of his ancestry (as with the Levitical priests), but on his own
merit, being like God, perfect, because he is God. If people follow this
Messiah and accept his payment of the penalty for sin for them, then
Yahweh will forgive their sin as His justice has been satisfied. He himself
made the sacrifice. Those who accept this gift can draw near to Yahweh,
for Yahweh wants to be in relationship with His creation (Genesis 3:8-11)
and the sin which stops that, is now forgiven.

Obviously this is quite involved and only a comprehensive reading of the

Old and New Testaments will explain it adequately. All scripture is
profitable, including that concerning the sacrificial system as it is fulfilled in
the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It's the essence of the promised
renewed covenant with His people. Clean animals, especially sheep and
doves, in the original system were replaced with the perfect lamb and
peace sacrifice of the Messiah, Yahshua, in the new covenant or
relationship. It's that simple. It's that magnificent. It's the Gospel.
Many scriptures describe the Messiah who would bring about the new
covenant. In this Yahweh "makes his life a guilt offering" and we are told
"Surely he took up our infirmities [sins] and carried our sorrows, he was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace [with Yahweh] was upon him." See
Isaiah chapter 53. It is the best presentation of the Gospel message in the
Bible.

You can pay the price for your sin if you wish, but it will cost you your life
eternally. You will die for your own sin and go to hell. Or, because of the
love of Yahweh and trust that the Messiah paid that price for you, and was
pierced" in substitution for you, bringing you peace with God. Then Yahweh
will permit you to enter heaven for eternity as His justice is satisfied. For
as John the Baptist when seeing Yahshua mentioned, "Look, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sins of the word!" He also said, "Whoever
believes in the Son [Yahshua] has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son
will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 1:29, 3:36.

God teaches that He will do this. It was fulfilled in the death and
resurrection of the Messiah, Yahshua, EXACTLY as the Old Testament said
it would happen, and the new covenant was established. Sin was paid for
once for all by the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" as
John the Baptist announced upon seeing Yahshua. He is the one Yahweh
promised. So through his death the old system of sacrifices, offering
animals over and over again, became unnecessary. Yahweh's ultimate
solution is equal parts consistent, just, superior and comprehensive.
(Hebrews 8:7-13).

So, like clarification #92, Yahweh did not change His mind on His plan for
enabling people to be right with Him. He simply provided the ultimate
solution. It was His intention all along to use the new covenant to fulfill the
old, as the Old Testament shows.

A further point needs to be addressed a here. These ceremonial laws were

required of the Israelites alone, as they were the ones who operating
within the stipulations, ordinances and decrees of the Mosaic covenant.
Any Gentile, or non-Israelite, who wished to convert to Judaism, was
obligated to observe these covenantal ordinances as well. But Christians
are not converts to Old Covenant. They are believers in Yahshua, Yahweh,
the Savior. They operate within the context of a "new covenant," the one
established in Yahshua's blood by his atoning sacrifice, not the old
covenant which God made with Israel at Sinai. Within this new covenant,
Christians can learn a great deal about the nature of Yahweh, his desired
relationship with us, and how to live from what is written in the Old
Testament. So there is a clear line of continuity, revelation and renewal
between the covenants, new and oldÑbecause both Israel and Christianity
share the same scriptures, Messiah, and most importantly, God. Therefore
all those Scriptures are profitable for studying, to know where we have
come from, and where we are going. But not every commandment,
ordinance or decree in the Old Testament is applicable to Christians in the
same way it was (or is) to Israel. Though we have much in common, we
have a new covenant, which present Jews need to read about and
acquiesce to, as it fulfills all that they look for and continue to hope for.
65. Was the wording on the cross, as ( Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26,
Luke 23:38, and John 19:19) all seem to have different
wordings? (Category: misread the text)

This seeming contradiction takes on the question, 'What was the exact
wording on the cross?' It is argued that Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke
23:38, and John 19:19 all use different words posted above Yahshua's
head while hanging on the cross. This can be better understood by looking
at John 19:20 which says; "Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place
where Yahshua was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in
Aramaic, Latin and Greek."

It is interesting that Pilate is said to have written the sign and may have
written different things in each of the languages according to Pilate's
proficiency in each of the languages. The key charge brought against
Yahshua in all of the Gospels is that he claimed to be 'King of the Jews.' If
this had been missing from any of the accounts then there may have been
a possible concern for a contradiction here; but this is not the case. For a
further explanation of this see Archer's explanation. (Archer 1982:345-
346).

66. Did Herod want to kill John the Baptist (Matthew 14:5), or was
it his wife Herodias (Mark 6:20)?(Category: misunderstood the
author's intent)

The supposed contradiction pointed out by Shabbir is, 'Did Herod want to
kill John the Baptist?' The passages used by Shabbir to promote his
conjecture are Matthew 14:5 where it appears to say that Herod did and
Mark 6:20 where Shabbir suggests that Herod did not want to kill him.
However the passages in question are complimentary passages.

When we look at the whole story we see that Matthew 14:1-11 and Mark
6:14-29, as far as I have been able to see nowhere contradict each other.
This seems to be a similarly weak attempt to find a contradiction within the
Bible to that of contradiction 50. In both passages Herod has John
imprisoned because of his wife Herodias. Therefore it is the underlying
influence of Herodias on Herod that is the important factor in John's
beheading. Mark's account is more detailed than Matthew's, whose Gospel
is thought to have been written later, because Matthew does not want to
waste time trampling old ground when it is already contained within Mark's
Gospel. Notice also that Mark does not anywhere state that Herod did not
want to kill John, but does say that Herod was afraid of him, because of
John's righteousness and holiness, and, as Matthew adds, the factor of
John's influence over the people.

67. Was the tenth disciple of Jesus in the list of twelve Thaddaeus
(Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19) or Judas, son of James (Luke
6:12-16)? (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

Both are correct. It was not unusual for people of this time to use more
than one name. Simon, or Cephas was also called Peter (Mark 3:16), and
Saul was also called Paul (Acts 13:9). In neither case is there a suggestion
that either was used exclusively before changing to the other. Their two
names were interchangeable.
68. Was the man Jesus saw sitting at the tax collector's office
whom he called to be his disciple named Matthew (Matthew 9:9) or
Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27)? (Category: misunderstood the historical
context)

The answer to this question is exactly the same as the previous one in that
both scriptures are correct. Matthew was also called Levi, as the scriptures
here attest.

It is somewhat amusing to hear Shabbir drawing so much attention to this

legitimate custom. In the run-up to a debate in Birmingham, England in
February 1998, he felt free to masquerade under an alternative name
(Abdul Abu Saffiyah, meaning 'Abdul, the father of Saffiyah', his daughter's
name) in order to gain an unfair advantage over Mr Smith, his opponent.
By disguising his identity he denied Mr. Smith the preparation to which he
was entitled. Now here he finds it contradictory when persons in 1st century
Judea uses one or the other of their names, a practice which is neither
illegal nor duplicitous. There are perfectly legitimate reasons for using an
alternative name. However, in the light of Mr. Ally's unfair and deceitful
practice outlined above, there is a ring of hypocrisy to these last two
questions raised by him—as there is to all of Islam.

69. Was Jesus crucified on the daytime after the Passover meal
(Mark 14:12-17) or the daytime before the Passover meal ( John
13:1, 30, 29; 18:28; 19:14)? (Category: misunderstood the historical
context)

Yahshua was crucified in the daytime before the Passover meal. The
reason why Mark seems to say it was after is one of culture and
contextualising.

The evidence from the Gospels that Yahshua died on the eve of the
Passover, when the Passover meal would be eaten after sunset, is very
solid. Before we delve (albeit briefly) into this issue, it is worth noting that
Mark 14 records that Yahshua does not eat the Passover with his disciples.

Luke 14:12 says it was "the Feast of Unleavened Bread", which is also
called "Passover." As the name suggests, part of the Passover meal was to
eat bread without yeast. It is a commandment which Jewish people keep
even today for the meal, for Yahweh makes it clear for reasons of prophecy
and revelation that at Passover: "eat bread without yeast And whoever
eats bread with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.
Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened
bread." See also Exodus 12:1-20.

The Greek word for "unleavened bread" is 'azymos'. This is the word used
by Mark in "the Feast of Unleavened Bread", chapter 14 verse 12. The
Greek word for normal bread (with yeast) is 'artos'. All the Gospel writers,
including Mark, agree that in this last meal with his disciples the bread
they ate was artos, in other words a bread with yeast. "While they were
eating, Yahshua took bread [artos], gave thanks and broke it, and gave it
to his disciples, saying Take it; this is my body." Mark 14:22. Therefore,
this meal was not a Passover meal. The use of the different words in the
same passage confirms this. For it would be unthinkable to them to eat
something that Yahweh had commanded them not to eat (bread with yeast
- artos), and not to eat something that they were commanded to eat
(unleavened bread - azymos).

So what does Mark mean in verses 12-17? Firstly, we read, "when it was
customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb." Exodus 20:1-8 says that this
must happen on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. However,
there was dispute as to when this day was, due to the debate on separate
calendars which were used for calculating feast-days. It is possible that
separate traditions were in vogue in Yahshua life. So, indeed it may have
been "customary" to sacrifice the lamb on that day for some, although
many, probably most, recognized the Passover as being the next evening.

Secondly, the disciples ask Yahshua "Where do you want us to go and

make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" They had no idea that
Yahshua was going to give his life for the sins of the world like the
Passover lamb of Exodus 20 did to save the Israelites from God's wrath
upon Egypt. Yahshua had explained to them, but they did not grasp it for
many reasons, including the hailing of Yahshua by the people as Messiah in
the Triumphal Entry, which was still ringing in their ears. He does not state
that he would eat it with them. He wanted to, but he knew he would not.
There is no room for any dogmatic statement that the Passover must be
eaten on the same day the room was hired or prepared. Indeed, Jewish
people, because of Exodus 12, thoroughly prepared their houses for the
Feast of Unleavened Bread in advance.

Thirdly, the Gospels couch the last supper in terms of fulfillment. Luke 22
records Yahshua saying that he had longed to eat "this" Passover meal
with them. So, does Luke say it was the Passover meal? It is doubtful, due
to the same use of artos and azymos, amongst other reasons. Yahshua did
make this last supper a time of special fellowship with his disciples, his
friends, being painfully aware of the agony he would go through, only a
few hours later. He also wanted to show his disciples that the Passover
spoke of him; that he was the sacrifice that would bring in the New
Covenant He had promised (see questions #64 and #34) just like the
lambs that was killed 1500 years earlier to save the people if Israel from
His wrath. He illustrated through the meal that he is the "Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world" as John the Baptist called Yahshua (John
1:29). He wanted to eat it with them for he says, "I will not eat it again
until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16). His coming
death was its fulfillment, "For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been
sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

So, there is no contradiction. Yahshua died before the Passover meal as he

himself became the ultimate "passover."

70. Did Jesus both pray (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42)
or not pray (John 12:27) to the Father to prevent the
crucifixion? (Category: misread the text)

This apparent contradiction asks: 'Did Yahshua pray to the Father to

prevent the crucifixion?' Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42 are
supposed to imply that he does. John 12:27, however, seems to say that
he doesn't.

This is a rather weak attempt at a contradiction and again wholly relies

upon the ignorance of the reader. Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, and Luke
22:42 are parallel passages which take place in the Garden of Gethsemane
just before the arrest of Yahshua. In all of these passages Yahshua never
asks for the Crucifixion to be prevented but does express his anguish over
the pain and suffering that he is going to encounter over the next few
hours, in the form of his trials, beatings, whippings, and alienation from
people on the Cross, the ordeal of crucifixion itself and the upcoming
triumph over Satan. He does, however, more importantly ask for Yahweh's
will to be carried out over the next few hours knowing that this is the
means by which he will die and rise again, and by doing so atone for all the
sins of the world.

John 12:27 comes from a totally different situation, one which takes place
before the circumstances described above. It is said while Yahshua is
speaking to a crowd of people during the Passover Festival at the Temple
in Jerusalem (in fact even before the gathering of the Twelve with Yahshua
at the Upper Room). On this occasion Yahshua again says something very
similar to the other passages above: "Now my heart is troubled, and what
shall I say? 'Father save me from this hour'? No it was for this very reason
that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Again we are reminded that he is feeling anguish. He knows events are

fast unfolding around him. He knows exactly what is to come. Yet, this
statement is said in reply to some Greeks who have just asked something
of Yahshua through his disciples. Were they there to offer him a way out of
his upcoming troubles? Perhaps, but Yahshua does not go to meet them
and indeed replies to their request to meet him in this way.

71. Did Jesus move away three times (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark
14:32-42) or once (Luke 22:39-46) from his disciples to
pray? (Category: the texts are compatible with a little thought)

Shabbir asks how many times Yahshua left the disciples to pray alone at
the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his arrest. Matthew 26:36-46
and Mark 14:32-42, show three but Luke 22:39-46 only speaks of one.
However once again there is no contradiction once you realize that the
three passages are complementary.

Note that the Luke passage nowhere states that Yahshua did not leave the
disciples three times to go and pray. Because he does not mention all three
times does not imply that Yahshua did not do so. Obviously Luke did not
consider that fact to be relevant to his account. We must remember that
Luke's Gospel is thought of as the third Gospel to have been put to paper
chronologically, therefore it would make sense for him not to regurgitate
information found in the other two gospels.

72. When Jesus went away to pray, were the words in his two
prayers the same (Mark 14:39) or different (Matthew
26:42)? (Category: imposes his own agenda)

This apparent contradiction comparing Matthew 26:36-46 with Mark

14:32-42, and in particular verses 42 and 39 respectively, is not a
contradiction at all. Shabbir asks the question: 'What were the words of
the second prayer?' at the Garden of Gethsemane. It relies heavily once
again upon the reader of Shabbir's book being ignorant of the texts
mentioned, and his wording of the supposed contradiction as contrived and
misleading.
Shabbir maintains that in the passage in Mark, "that the words were the
same as the first prayer (Mark 14:39)." Let's see what Mark does say of
the second prayer in 14:39: "Once more he went away and prayed the
same thing."

Nowhere in this verse does Mark say that Yahshua prayed the same
words as the previous prayer, but what he does imply by the words used in
the sentence is that the gist of the prayer covers the same thing. Unlike
Islam, there are no meaningless and repetitive rituals in Christ's example.
Prayer is a conversation with Yahweh, not a ritual to be preformed.

When we compare the first two prayers in Matthew (39 and 42) we see
that they are essentially the same prayer, though not exactly the same
wording. Then in verse 44 Matthew says that Christ prayed yet again
"saying the same thing!" Yet according to Shabbir's thinking the two
prayers were different; so how could Yahshua then be saying the same
thing the third time?

It seems that Shabbir is simply imposing a Muslim formula of prayer on the

passages above which he simply cannot do. You would expect this to be
the case if this was a rigidly formulated prayer that had to be repeated
daily, as we find in Islam. But these prayers were prayers of the heart that
were spoken by Yahshua because of the enormity of the situation before
him. Ultimately that situation was secondary to the gravity, power, and
loving bond that Yahshua had with the Father. It's too bad Muslims are
prevented from having a meaningful conversation with God.

73. Did the centurion say that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:47), or
that he was the Son of God (Mark 15:39)? (Category: the texts are
compatible with a little thought)

The question being forwarded is what the centurion at the cross said when
Yahshua died. The two passages quoted are Mark 15:39 and Luke 23:47.
However as has been said before with other apparent contradictions these
passages are not contradictory but complementary. Matthew 27:54 and
Mark 15:39 agree that the centurion exclaimed that Yahshua, "was the Son
of God!" Luke 23:47 however mentions that the centurion also refers to
Yahshua as, "a righteous man." Is it so hard to understand that the
centurion said both?

74. Did Jesus say "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
in Hebrew (Matthew 27:46) or in Aramaic (Mark 15:34)? (Category:
misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

The question of whether Yahshua spoke Hebrew or Aramaic on the cross is

answerable. However, the reason for Matthew and Mark recording it
differently is due to the way the event was spoken of in Aramaic after it
happened, and due to the recipients of the Gospel. However, the whole
issue is not a valid criticism.

Mark 15:34 is probably the most quoted Aramaism in the New Testament,
being "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabakthani." However, it is doubtful that Yahshua
spoke in the language that Mark records them in. The reason is simple; the
people hearing Yahshua's words thought he was calling Elijah (Matthew
27:47 and Mark 15:35). In order for the onlookers to have made this
mistake, Yahshua would have to have cried "Eli, Eli," not "Eloi, Eloi." Why?
Because in Hebrew Eli can be either "My God" or the shortened form of
Eliyahu which is Hebrew for Elijah. However, in Aramaic Eloi can be only
"My God."

It is also worth noting that lama ("why") is the same word in both
languages, and sabak is a verb which is found not only in Aramaic, but also
in Mishnaic Hebrew.

Therefore Yahshua probably spoke it in Hebrew. Why therefore is it

recorded in Aramaic as well? Yahshua was part of a multilingual society. He
spoke Greek (the common language of Greece and Rome), Aramaic (the
common language of the Ancient Near East) and Hebrew, the sacred
tongue of Judaism, which had been revived in the form of Mishnaic Hebrew
in Second Temple times. Hebrew and Aramaic are closely related Semitic
languages. That Hebrew and Aramaic terms show up in the Gospels is,
therefore, not at all surprising.

That one Gospel writer records it in Hebrew and another in extremely

similar Aramaic in a trilingual and multi-literate society is no problem to
Christians, nor is it a criticism of the Bible. If Mark recorded his words in
Arabic, then we would worry because Arabic wouldn't even be developed
as a written language for another six centuries.

75. Were the last words that Jesus spook "Father into thy hands I
commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46), or "It is finished" (John
19:30)? (Category: the texts are compatible with a little thought)

What were the last words of Yahshua before he died is the question asked
by Shabbir in this supposed contradiction. This does not show a
contradiction any more than two witnesses to an accident at an
intersection will come up with two different descriptions of that accident,
depending on where they stood. Neither witness would be incorrect, as
they describe the event from a different perspective. Luke was not a
witness to the event, and so is dependent on those who were there. John
was a witness. What they are both relating, however, is that at the end
Yahshua gave himself up to death.

It could be said that Luke used the last words that he felt were necessary
for his gospel account, which concentrated on the humanity of Christ
(noted in the earlier question), while John, as well as quoting the last
words of Yahshua, was interested in the fulfillment of the salvific message,
and so quoted the last phrase "it is finished."

John 17:4 records Yahshua's prayer in the light of his forthcoming

crucifixion, stating that He had completed the work of revelation (John
1:18), and since revelation is a particular stress of the Gospel of John, and
the cross is the consummation of that commission (John 3:16), it is natural
that this Gospel should centre on tetelestai. At any rate, if Yahshua said 'It
is finished; Father into your hands I commit my spirit' or vice versa, it
would be quite in order to record either clause of this sentence, as his last
words. Luke-Acts reaches its conclusion without any climax, because the
continuing ministry of the exalted Christ through the Holy Spirit and the
Church has no ending prior to the Parousia, and to record tetelestai might
have undermined this emphasis, or it could have been taken the wrong
way. At any rate, no contradiction is involved; purely a distinction of
emphasis.
76. Did the Capernaum centurion come personally to ask Jesus to
heal his slave (Matthew 8:5), or did he send elders of the Jews and
his friends (Luke 7:3,6)? (Category: the text is compatible with a little
thought & misunderstood the author's intent)

This is not a contradiction but rather a misunderstanding of sequence, as

well as a misunderstanding of what the authors intended. The centurion
initially delivered his message to Yahshua via the elders of the Jews. It is
also possible that he came personally to Yahshua after he had sent the
elders. Matthew mentions the centurion because he was the one in need,
while Luke mentions the efforts of the Jewish elders because they were the
ones who made the initial contact.

We know of other instances where the deed which a person tells others to
do is in actuality done through him. A good example is the baptism done
by the disciple's of Yahshua, yet it was said that Yahshua baptized (John
4:1-2).

We can see why each author chose to relate it differently by understanding

the reason they wrote the event. Matthew's reason for relating this story is
not the factual occurrence but to relate the fact of the importance of all
nations to Christ. This is why Matthew speaks of the centurion rather than
the messengers of the centurion. It is also the reason why Matthew spends
less time relating the actual story and more on the parable of the kingdom
of heaven. Matthew wants to show that Yahshua relates to all people.

Luke in his telling of the story does not even relate the parable that
Yahshua told the people, but concentrates on telling the story in more
detail, thereby concentrating more on the humanity of Yahshua by
listening to the messengers, the fact that he is impressed by the faith of
the centurion and the reason why he is so impressed; because the
centurion does not even consider himself 'worthy' to come before Yahshua.
Ultimately this leads to the compassion shown by Yahshua in healing the
centurion's servant without actually going to the home of the centurion.

77. Did Adam die the same day (Genesis 2:17) or did he continue to
live to the age of 930 years (Genesis 5:5)? (Category: misunderstood
how God works in history)

The Scriptures describe death in three ways; 1) Physical death which ends
our life on earth, 2) spiritual death which is separation from God, and 3)
eternal death in hell. The death spoken of in Genesis 2:17 is the second
death mentioned in our list, that of complete separation from Yahweh,
while the death mentioned in Genesis 5:5 is the first death, a physical
death which ends our present life.

For obvious reasons Shabbir will see this as a contradiction because he

does not understand the significance of spiritual death which is a complete
separation from Yahweh, since he will not admit that Adam had any
relationship with Yahweh to begin with in the garden of Eden. The spiritual
separation (and thus spiritual death) is shown visibly in Genesis chapter 3
where Adam was thrown out of the Garden of Eden and away from God's
presence.

Ironically Adam being thrown out of the garden of Eden is also mentioned
in the Qur'an (Sura 2:36), though there is no reason for this to happen, if
(as Muslims believe) Adam had been forgiven for his sin. Here is an
example of the Qur'an borrowing a story from the earlier scriptures without
understanding its meaning or significance, and therein lies the assumption
behind the supposed contradiction.

(For a clearer understanding of the significance of spiritual death and how

that impinges on nearly every area of disagreement Christians have with
Islam, read the paper entitled "The Hermeneutical Key" by Jay Smith.)

78. Did God decide that the lifespan of humans was to be only 120
years (Genesis 6:3), or longer (Genesis 11:12-16)? (Category:
misread the text)

In Genesis 6:3 we read: "Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit will not contend
with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty
years.'" This is contrasted with ages of people who lived longer than 120
years in Genesis 11:12-16. However this is based, on a misreading or
misunderstanding of the text.

The hundred and twenty years spoken of by Yahweh in Genesis 6:3 cannot
mean the life span of human beings as you do find people older than that
mentioned more or less straight away a few Chapters on into the book of
Genesis (including Noah himself). The more likely meaning is that the
Flood that Yahweh had warned Noah about doesn't happen until 120 years
after the initial warning to Noah. This is brought out further in 1Peter 3:20
where we read, "God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark
was being built." Therefore looking at the context of the Genesis 6:3
passage it would agree with what we find in chapter 11 of the same book.
(Geisler/Howe 1992:41)

79. Apart from Jesus there was no-one else (John 3:13) or there
were others (2 Kings 2:11) who ascended to heaven? Category:
misunderstood the wording)

There were others who went to heaven without dying, such as Elijah and
Enoch (Genesis 5:24). In John 3:13 Yahshua is setting forth his superior
knowledge of heavenly things. Essentially what he is saying, "no other
human being can speak from first hand knowledge about these things, as I
can, since I came down from heaven." He is claiming that no one has
ascended to heaven to bring down the message. In no way is he denying
that anyone else is in heaven, such as Elijah and Enoch. Rather, Yahshua is
simply claiming that no one on earth has gone to heaven and returned with
a message.

80. Was the high priest Abiathar (Mark 2:26), or Ahimelech (1

Samuel 21:1; 22:20) when David went into the house of God and
ate the consecrated bread? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew
usage & misunderstood the historical context)

Yahshua states that the event happened in the days of Abiathar the high
priest and yet we know from 1 Samuel that Abiathar was not actually the
high priest at that time; it was his father, Ahimelech.

If we were to introduce an anecdote by saying, "When king David was a

shepherd-boy...", it would not be incorrect, even though David was not
king at that time. In the same way, Abiathar was soon to be high priest
and this is what he is most remembered for, hence he is designated by this
title. Moreover, the event did happen in the days of Abiathar, as he was
alive and present during the incident. We know from 1 Samuel 22:20 that
he narrowly escaped when his father's whole family and their town was
destroyed by Saul's men. Therefore, Yahshua's statement is quite
acceptable. (Archer 1994:362)

81. Was Jesus' body wrapped in spices before burial in accordance

with Jewish burial customs (John 19:39-40), or did the women
come and administer the spices later (Mark 16:1)? (Category: the
texts are compatible with a little thought)

John 19:39,40 clearly states that Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped the body
in 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes, along with strips of linen. We also know
from the synoptic writers that the body was placed in a large shroud. There
is no contradiction here. The fact that the synoptics do not mention the
spices during the burial does not mean that they were not used.

If Mark 16:1 is taken to mean that the women were hoping to do the
whole burial process themselves, they would need the strips of linen as
well, which are not mentioned. They simply wished to perform their last
act of devotion to their master by adding extra spices to those used by
Joseph.

As Yahshua died around the ninth hour (Mark 15:34-37), there would have
been time (almost three hours) for Joseph and Nicodemus to perform the
burial process quickly before the Sabbath began. We need not suppose
that there was only time for them to wrap his body in a shroud and deposit
it in the tomb.

82. Did the women buy the spices after (Mark 16:1) or before the
Sabbath (Luke 23:55 to 24:1)? (Category: the texts are compatible
with a little thought)

Several details in the accounts of the resurrection suggest that there were
in fact two groups of women on their way to the tomb, planning to meet
each other there. See question 86 for more details of these two groups.

Now it becomes clear that Mary Magdalene and her group bought their
spices after the Sabbath, as recorded by Mark 16:1. On the other hand,
Joanna and her group bought their spices before the Sabbath, as recorded
by Luke 23:56. It is significant that Joanna is mentioned only by Luke,
thereby strengthening the proposition that it was her group mentioned by
him in the resurrection account.

83. Did the women visit the tomb "toward the dawn" (Matthew
28:1), or "When the sun had risen" (Mark 16:2)? (Category: the
texts are compatible with a little thought)

A brief look at the four passages concerned will clear up any

misunderstanding. Matthew 28:1: "At dawn...went to look at the
tomb." Mark 16:2 "Very early...just after sunrise, they were on their way
to the tomb." Luke 24:1: "Very early in the morning...went to the tomb."
John 20:1: "Early...while it was still dark...went to the tomb."
Thus we see that the four accounts are easily compatible in this respect. It
is not even necessary for this point to remember that there were two
groups of women, as the harmony is quite simple. From Luke we
understand that it was very early when the women set off for the tomb.
From Matthew we see that the sun was just dawning, yet John makes it
clear that it had not yet done so fully. The darkness was on its way out but
had not yet gone. Mark's statement that the sun had risen comes later,
when they were on their way. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that the
sun had time to rise during their journey across Jerusalem.

84. Did the women go to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body with
spices (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:55-24:1), or to see the tomb (Matthew
28:1), or for no reason (John 20:1)? (Category: the texts are
compatible with a little thought)

This answer links in with number 81 above. We know that they went to the
tomb in order to put further spices on Yahshua's body, as Luke and Mark
tell us. The fact that Matthew and John do not give a specific reason does
not mean that there was not one. They were going to put on spices,
whether or not the Gospel authors all mention it. We would not expect
every detail to be included in all the accounts, otherwise there would be no
need for four of them!

85. When the women arrived at the tomb, was the stone "rolled
back" (Mark 16:4), "rolled away" (Luke 24:2), "taken away" (John
20:1), or did they see an angel do it (Matthew 28:1-6)? (Category:
misread the text)

Matthew does not say that the women saw the angel roll the stone back.
This accusation is indeed trivial. After documenting the women setting off
for the tomb, Matthew relates the earthquake, which happened while they
were still on their way. Verse 2 begins by saying there was a violent
earthquake, the Greek of which carries the sense of, now there had been a
violent earthquake. When the women speak to the angel in verse 5, we
understand from Mark 16:5 that they had approached the tomb and gone
inside, where he was sitting on the ledge where Yahshua's body had been.
Therefore, the answer to this question is that the stone was rolled away
when they arrived: there is no contradiction.

86. In (Matthew 16:2; 28:7; Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:4-5; 23), the
women were told what happened to Jesus' body, while in (John
20:2) Mary was not told. (Category: the texts are compatible with a
little thought)

The angels told the women that Yahshua had risen from the dead.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are all clear on this. The apparent discrepancy
regarding the number of angels is cleared up when we realize that there
were two groups of women. Mary Magdalene and her group probably set
out from the house of John Mark, where the Last Supper had been held.
Joanna and some other unnamed women, on the other hand, probably set
out from Herod's residence, in a different part of the city. Joanna was the
wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household (Luke 8:3) and it is
therefore highly probable that she and her companions set out from the
royal residence.
With this in mind, it is clear that the first angel (who rolled away the stone
and told Mary and Salome where Yahshua was) had disappeared by the
time Joanna and her companions arrived. When they got there (Luke 24:3-
8), two angels appeared and told them the good news, after which they
hurried off to tell the apostles. In Luke 24:10, all the women are
mentioned together, as they all went to the apostles in the end.

We are now in a position to see why Mary Magdalene did not see the
angels. John 20:1 tells us that Mary came to the tomb and we know from
the other accounts that Salome and another Mary were with her. As soon
as she saw the stone rolled away, she ran to tell the apostles, assuming
that Yahshua had been taken away. The other Mary and Salome, on the
other hand, satisfied their curiosity by looking inside the tomb, where they
found the angel who told them what had happened. So we see that the
angels did inform the women, but that Mary Magdalene ran back before
she had chance to meet them.

87. Did Mary Magdalene first meet the resurrected Jesus during her
first visit (Matthew 28:9) or on her second visit (John 20:11-17)?
And how did she react? (Category: the texts are compatible with a little
thought)

We have established in the last answer that Mary Magdalene ran back to
the apostles as soon as she saw the stone had been rolled away.
Therefore, when Matthew 28:9 records Yahshua meeting them, she was
not there. In fact, we understand from Mark 16:9 that Yahshua appeared
first to Mary Magdalene, which was after she, Peter and John had returned
to the tomb the first time (John 20:1-18). Here, we see that Peter and
John saw the tomb and went home, leaving Mary weeping by the entrance.
From here, she saw the two angels inside the tomb and then met Yahshua
himself.

As all this happened before Yahshua appeared to the other women, there
was some delay in them reaching the apostles. We may understand what
happened by comparing the complementary accounts. Matthew 28:8 tells
us that the women (Mary the mother of James and Salome) ran away
afraid yet filled with joy...to tell his disciples. Their fear initially got the
better of them, for they said nothing to anyone. (Mark 16:8) It was at this
time that Yahshua met them. (Matthew 28:9,10) Here, he calmed their
fears and told them once more to go and tell the apostles.

There is a lot to the harmonization of the resurrection accounts. It has not

been appropriate to attempt a full harmonization in this short paper, as we
have been answering specific points. A complete harmonization has been
done by John Wenham in Easter Enigma (most recent edition 1996,
Paternoster Press). Anyone with further questions is invited to go this
book.

It must be admitted that we have in certain places followed explanations or

interpretations that are not specifically stated in the text. This is
permissible, as the explanations must merely be plausible. It is clear that
the Gospel authors are writing from different points of view, adding and
leaving out different details. This is to be expected from four authors
writing independently. Far from casting doubt on their accounts, it gives
added credibility, as those details which at first appear to be in conflict can
be resolved with some thought, yet are free from the hallmarks of obvious
collusion, either by the original authors or any subsequent editors.

88. Did Jesus instruct his disciples to wait for him in Galilee
(Matthew 28:10), or that he was ascending to God (John
20:17)? (Category: misread the text)

This apparent contradiction asks, "What was Yahshua's instruction for his
disciples?" Shabbir uses Matthew 28:10 and John20:17 to demonstrate an
apparent contradiction. However the two passages occur at different times
on the same day and there is no reason to believe that Yahshua would give
his disciples only one instruction.

This "contradiction" depends upon the reader of Shabbir's book being

ignorant of the biblical passages and the events surrounding the
resurrection. The two passages, in fact, are complementary not
contradictory. This is because the two passages do not refer to the same
point in time. Matthew 28:10 speaks of the group of women encountering
the risen Yahshua on their way back to tell the disciples of what they had
found. An empty tomb! And then receiving the first set of instructions from
him to tell the disciples.

The second passage from John 20:17 occurs some time after the first
passage, (to understand the time framework read from the beginning of
this Chapter) and takes place when Mary is by herself at the tomb grieving
out of bewilderment, due to the events unraveling around about her. She
sees Yahshua and he gives her another set of instructions to pass on to the
disciples.

89. Upon Jesus' instructions, did the disciples return to Galilee

immediately (Matthew 28:17), or after at least 40 days (Luke
24:33, 49; Acts 1:3-4)? (Category: didn't read the entire text and
misquoted the text)

This supposed contradiction asks when the disciples returned to Galilee

after the crucifixion. It is argued from Matthew 28:17 that they returned
immediately, and from Luke 24:33 and 49, and Acts 1:4 that it was after
at least 40 days. However both of these assumptions are wrong.

It would appear that Yahshua appeared to them many times; sometimes

individually, sometimes in groups, as the whole group gathered together,
and also at least to Paul and Stephen after the Ascension (see 1
Corinthians 15:5, and Acts 7:55). He appeared in Galilee, Jerusalem and
other places. Matthew 28:16 is a summary of all the appearances of Christ,
and it is for this reason that it is not advisable to overstress chronology in
this account, as Shabbir seems to have done.

The second argument in this seeming contradiction is an even weaker

argument than the one I have responded to above. This is because Shabbir
has not fully quoted Acts 1:4 which says: "On one occasion, while he was
eating with them, he gave them this command: ÔDo not leave Jerusalem,
but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak
about.'" Now the author of Acts, Luke in this passage does not specify
when Yahshua said this. However, it is apparent from the Gospels of
Matthew and John that some of the disciples at least did go to Galilee and
encounter Yahshua there; presumably after the first encounter in
Jerusalem and before the end of the forty day period before Christ's
Ascension into Heaven.

90. Did the Midianites sell Joseph "to the Ishmaelites" (Genesis
37:28), or to Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah (Geneis
37:36)? (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

This apparent contradiction is a very strange one because it shows a clear

misunderstanding of the text in Genesis 37:25. The question is asked, "To
whom did the Midianites sell Joseph?" Verse 28 is used to say the
Ishmaelites, and verse 36 Potiphar.

The traveling merchants were comprised of Ishmaelite and Midianite

merchants who bought Joseph from his brothers, and they in turn sold him
to Potiphar in Egypt. The words Ishmaelite and Midianite are used
interchangeably. This would seem obvious once you read verses 27 and 28
together. A clearer usage for these two names can also be found in Judges
8:24.

91. Did the Ishmaelites bring Joseph to Egypt (Genesis 37:28), or

was it the Midianites (Genesis 37:36), or was it Joseph's brothers
(Genesis 45:4)? (Category: misunderstood the historical context)

This supposed contradiction follows on from the last one and again
illuminates Shabbir's problem with the historical context, as well as his
inability to understand what the text is saying. This time the question
asked is, "Who brought Joseph to Egypt?" From the last question we know
that both the Ishmaelites and the Midianites were responsible for physically
taking him there (as they are one and the same people), while the
brother's of Joseph are just as responsible, as it was they who sold him to
the merchants, and thus are being blamed for this very thing by Joseph in
Genesis 45:4. Consequently, as we saw in the previous question all three
parties had a part to play in bringing Joseph to Egypt.

92. Does God change his mind (Genesis 6:7; Exodus 32:14; 1
Samuel 15:10-11, 35), or does he not change his mind (1 Samuel
15:29)? (Category: misunderstood how God works in history &
misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

This "contradiction" appears only in older English translations of the Biblical

manuscripts. The accusation arises from translation difficulties and is
solved by looking at the context of the event.

God knew that Saul would fail in his duty as King of Israel. Nevertheless,
Yahweh allowed Saul to be king and used him to do His will. Saul was
highly effective as leader, in stirring his people to have courage and take
pride in their nation, and in coping with Israel's enemies during times of
war.

However, God made it clear long before this time (Genesis 49:8) that he
would establish the kings that would reign over Israel, from the tribe of
Judah. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. Therefore there was no doubt
that Saul or his descendants were not God's permanent choice to sit on the
throne of Israel. His successor David, however, was from the tribe of
Judah, and his line was to continue. Therefore God, who knows all things,
did not change his mind about Saul, for he knew Saul would turn away
from Him and that the throne would be given to another.

The word in Hebrew that is used to express what Yahweh thought and how
he felt concerning the turning of Saul from him is "niham" which is
rendered "repent" in the above. However, as is common in languages, it
can mean more than one thing. For example, English has only one word for
"love." Greek has at least 4 and Hebrew has more. A Hebrew or Greek
word for love cannot always simply be translated "love" in English if more
of the original meaning is to be retained. This is a problem that translators
have.

Those who translated the Bible under the order of King James (hence the
King James translation, which Shabbir quotes from) translated this word
niham 41 times as "repent," out of the 108 occurrences of the different
forms of niham in the Hebrew manuscripts. These translators were
dependent on far fewer manuscripts than were available to the more
recent translators; the latter also having access to far older manuscripts as
well as a greater understanding of the Biblical Hebrew words contained
within. Therefore, the more recent translators have rendered niham far
more accurately into English by conveying more of its Hebrew meaning
(such as relent, grieve, console, comfort, change His mind, as the context
of the Hebrew text dictates).

With that in mind, a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew would be that
Yahweh was "grieved" that he had made Saul king. God does not deceive
or change his mind (unlike Allah which does both). Yahweh was grieved
that he had made Saul king. God shows in the Bible that He has real
emotions. He has compassion on people's pain and listens to people's pleas
for help. His anger and wrath are roused when He sees the suffering of
people from others' deeds.

As a result of Saul's disobedience pain was caused to God and to the

people of Israel. But also, God had it in His plan from the beginning that
Saul's family, though not being from the tribe of Judah, would not stay on
the throne. Therefore when Saul begs the prophet Samuel in verses 24 to
25 to be put right with God and not be dethroned, Samuel replies that
Yahweh has said it will be this way. He is not going to change His mind. It
was spoken that it would be this way hundreds of years before Saul was
king.

There is no contradiction here. The question was "Does God change his
mind?" The answer is, "No." But He does respond to people's situations
and conduct, in compassion and in wrath, and therefore can be grieved
when they do evil. (Archer 1994)

93. How could Egyptian magicians convert water into blood

(Exodus 7:22), if all the available water had been already
converted by Moses and Aaron (Exodus 7:20-21)? (Category: didn't
read the entire text & Imposes his own agenda)

This is a rather foolish question. To begin with Moses and Aaron did not
convert all available water to blood, as Shabbir quotes, but only the water
of the Nile (see verse 20). There was plenty of other water for the
magicians of Pharaoh to use. We know this because just a few verses later
(verse 24) we are told, "And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get
drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river." Not
only has Shabbir not read the entire text, he has imposed on the text he
has read that which simply is not there.

94. Did David (1 Samuel 17:23, 50) or Elhanan (2 Samuel 21:19)

kill Goliath? (Category: copyist error)

(Hebrew characters below are not represented properly, but hopefully this
will not prevent the reader from understanding what the authors are trying
to say)

The discrepancy as to who killed Goliath (David or Elhanan) was caused by

copyist or scribal error, which can be seen clearly. The text of 2 Samuel
21:19 reads as follows: "In another battle with the Philistines at Gob,
Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite,
who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod."

As this stands in the Hebrew Masoretic text, this is a certainly a clear

contradiction to 1 Samuel and its account of David's slaying of Goliath.
However, there is a very simple and apparent reason for this contradiction,
as in the parallel passage of 1 Chronicles 20:5 shows. It describes the
episode as follows: "In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of
Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a
shaft like a weaver's rod."

When the Hebrew for these sentences is examined, the reason for the
contradiction becomes quite obvious and the latter 1 Chronicles is seen to
be the correct reading. This is not simply because we know David killed
Goliath, but also because of the language.

When the scribe was duplicating the earlier manuscript, the fibers must
have been frayed or the die faded at this particular verse in 2 Samuel. The
result was that he made two or three mistakes (see Gleason L.
Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, page 179). The sign of the direct
object in 1 Chronicals was '-t which comes just before "Lahmi" in the
sentence order. The scribe mistook it for b-t or b-y-t ("Beth") and thus got
BJt hal-Lahmi ("the Bethlehemite") out of it. He misread the word for
"brother" ('-h , the h having a dot underneath it) as the sign of the direct
object ('-t) right before g-l-y-t ("Goliath"). Therefore he made "Goliath" the
object of "killed" instead of "brother" of Goliath, as in 1 Chronicles. The
copyist misplaced the word for "weavers" ('-r-g-ym) so as to put it right
after "Elhanan" as his family name (ben Y-'-r-y'-r--g-ym, ben ya'arey 'ore-
gim, "the son of the forest of weavers", a most improbable name for
anyone's father). In Chronicles the ore-gim ("weavers") comes straight
after men\r ("a beam of")—thus making perfectly good sense.

To conclude: the 2 Samuel passage is an entirely traceable error on the

part of the copyist in the original wording, which has been preserved in 1
Chronicles 20:5. David killed Goliath. This testifies to the honesty and
openness of the scribes and translators (both Jewish and Christian).
Although it would be easy to change this recognized error, this has not
been done in favor of remaining true to the manuscripts. Although it leaves
the passage open to shallow criticism as Shabbir Ally has shown, it is
criticism which we are not afraid of. An excellent example of human
copying error resulting from the degeneration of papyrus.
95. Did Saul take his own sword and fall upon it (1 Samuel 31:4-6),
or did an Amalekite kill him (2 Samuel 1:1-16)? (Category: misread
the text)

It should be noted that the writer of 1 & 2 Samuel does not place any
value on the Amalekite's story. Thus, in all reality it was Saul who killed
himself, though it was the Amalekite who took credit for the killing. The
writer relates how Saul died and then narrates what the Amalekite said.
The Amalekite's statement that he happened to be on Mount Gilboa (2
Samuel 1:6) may not be an innocent one. He had quite possibly come to
loot the dead bodies. In any case, he certainly got there before the
Philistines, who did not find Saul's body until the next day (1 Samuel
31:8). We have David's own testimony that the Amalekite thought he was
bringing good news of Saul's death (2 Samuel 4:10). It is likely, therefore,
that he came upon Saul's dead body, took his crown and bracelet and
made up the story of Saul's death in order that David might reward him for
defeating his enemy. The Amalekite's evil plan, however, backfired
dramatically on him.

96. Is it that everyone sins (1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36;

Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8-10), or do some not
sin (1 John 3:1, 8-9; 4:7; 5:1)? (Category: misunderstood the Greek
usage & Imposes his own agenda)

This apparent contradiction asks: "Does every man sin?" Then a number of
Old Testament passages that declare this are listed followed by one New
Testament passage from 1 John 1:8-10: "If we claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a
liar and his word has no place in our lives."

After this it is claimed by Shabbir that: "True Christians cannot possibly

sin, because they are children of God." This is followed by a number of
passages from the First Epistle of John showing that Christians are children
of God. Shabbir is imposing his view on the text, assuming that those who
are children of God, somehow suddenly have no sin. It is true that a
person who is born of God should not habitually practice sin (James 2:14),
but that is not to say that they will not occasionally fall into sin, as we live
in a sinful world and impinged by it.

The last of the verses quoted is from 1 John 3:9 which says: "No-one who
is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he
cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." Shabbir in his
quote uses an older translation for 1 John 3:9 and so states, "No one born
of God commits sin...and he cannot sin...," which is not a true translation
of the Greek. In the newer translations, such as the NIV they translate
correctly using the present continuous in this verse, as it is written that
way in the Greek. Thus those born of God will not continue to sin, as they
cannot go on sinning..., the idea being that this life of sinning will die out
now that he has the help of the Holy Spirit in him or her.

It is interesting how Shabbir jumps around to make his point. He begins

with 1 John 1, then moves to 1 John 3, then returns to the 1 John 1
passage at the beginning of the Epistle and re-quotes verse 8, which
speaks of all men sinning, with the hope of highlighting the seeming
contradiction. There is no contradiction in this as Shabbir obviously hasn't
understood the apostle's letter or grasped the fact that the letter develops
its theme as it goes on. Therefore quoting from the beginning of the letter,
then moving to the middle of the letter, and finally returning to the
beginning of the letter is not the way to read a letter.

The Scriptures clearly teach that all men have sinned except for one,
Christ, therefore we have no quarrel with Shabbir on this point. As to
Shabbir's second point I am glad he has come to realize that Christians are
children of God therefore we have no quarrel with him on this subject. It is
Shabbir's third point, however, which is a contentious one because it does
not take on board the development of the themes of the letter, of which
the one pointed out here is the call to holiness and righteousness because
of the forgiveness of sins by Yahshua Christ's atoning death. It is for that
reason that we are called not to continue in our sinful ways but to be
changed into Christ's sinless likeness. In his attempt to show a
contradiction Shabbir has mischievously rearranged the order in which the
verses were intended to be read in order to force a contradiction, which
doesn't exist.

97. Are we to bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2), or are

we to bear only our own burdens (Galatians 6:5)? (Category:
misread the text)

There is no contradiction here at all. This is not a case of 'either/or' but of

'both/and'. When you read Galatians 6:1-5 properly you will notice that
believers are asked to help each other in times of need, difficulty or
temptation; but they are also called to account for their own actions. There
is no difficulty or contradiction in this, as the two are mutually inclusive.

98. Did Jesus appear to twelve disciples after his resurrection (1

Corinthians 15:5), or was it to eleven (Matthew 27:3-5; 28:16;
Mark 16:14; Luke 24:9,33; Acts 1:9-26)? (Category: misread the text)

There is no contradiction once you notice how the words are being used. In
all the references given for eleven disciples, the point of the narrative
account is to be accurate at that particular moment of time being spoken
of. After the death of Judas there were only eleven disciples, and this
remained so until Matthias was chosen to take Judas' place. In 1
Corinthians 15:5 the generic term 'the Twelve' is therefore used for the
disciples because Matthias is also counted within the Twelve, since he also
witnessed the Death and Resurrection of Yahshua Christ, as the passage
pointed out by Shabbir records in Acts 1:21-22.

99. Did Jesus go immediately to the desert after his baptism (Mark
1:12-13), or did he first go to Galilee, see disciples, and attend a
wedding (John 1:35, 43; 2:1-11)? (Category: misread the text)

This apparent contradiction asks: "Where was Yahshua three days after his
baptism?" Mark 1:12-13 says he went to the wilderness for forty days. But
John 'appears' to have Yahshua the next day at Bethany, the second day
at Galilee and the third at Cana (John 1:35; 1:43; 2:1-11), unless you go
back and read the entire text starting from John 1:19. The explanation
about the baptism of Yahshua in John's Gospel is given by John the Baptist
himself. It was "John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to ask him who he was" (vs. 19). It is he who is referring to
the event of the baptism in the past. If there is any doubt look at the past
tense used by John when he sees Yahshua coming towards him in verses
29-30 and 32. While watching Yahshua he relates to those who were
listening the event of the baptism and its significance. There is no reason
to believe that the baptism was actually taking place at the time John was
speaking, and therefore no reason to imply that this passage contradicts
that of Mark.

100. Did Joseph flee with the baby Jesus to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-
23), or did he calmly present him at the temple in Jerusalem and
return to Galilee (Luke 2:21-40)? (Category: misunderstood the
historical context)

These are complementary accounts of Yahshua's early life, and not

contradictory at all. It would take some time for Herod to realize that he
had been outsmarted by the magi. Matthew's Gospel says that he killed all
the baby boys that were two years old and under in Bethlehem and its
vicinity. That would be enough time to allow Joseph and Mary the
opportunity to do their rituals at the temple in Jerusalem and then return
to Nazareth in Galilee, from where they went to Egypt, and then returned
after the death of Herod

101. When Jesus walked on the water, did his disciples worship
him (Matthew 14:33), or were they utterly astounded due to their
hardened hearts (Mark 6:51-52)? (Category: didn't read the entire
text)

This is not a contradiction but two complementary passages. If Shabbir

had read the entire passage in Matthew he would have seen that both the
Matthew account (verses 26-28) and the Mark account mention that the
disciples had initially been astounded, thinking he was a ghost. This was
because they had not understood from the previous miracle who he was.
But after the initial shock had warn off the Matthew account then explains
that they worshiped him.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, once we have weighed the evidence, all of the seeming

contradictions posed by Shabbir Ally can be adequately explained. When
we look over the 101 supposed contradictions we find that they fall into 15
broad categories or genres of errors—most all of which are his. Listed
below are those categories, each explaining in one sentence the errors
behind Shabbir's contradictions. Alongside each category is a number
informing us how many times he could be blamed for each category. You
will note that when you add up the totals they are larger than 101. The
reason is that, as you may have already noticed, Shabbir many times
makes more than one error in a given question. Rather than impuning the
Bible, Shabbir simply enabled us to demonstrate how miraculous Yahweh's
Book really is.

Categories of the errors evidenced by Shabbir in his pamphlet:

-he misunderstood the historical context - 25 times

-he misread the text - 15 times
-he misunderstood the Hebrew usage - 13 times
-the texts are compatible with a little thought - 13 times
-he misunderstood the author's intent - 12 times
-these were merely copyist error - 9 times
-he misunderstood how God works in history - 6 times
-he misunderstood the Greek usage - 4 times
-he didn't read the entire text - 4 times
-he misquoted the text - 4 times
-he misunderstood the wording - 3 times
-he had too literalistic an interpretation - 3 times
-he imposed his own agenda - 3 times
-he confused an incident with another - 1 time
-we now have discovered an earlier manuscript - 1 time

In Shabbir's booklet, he puts two verses on the bottom of each page. It

would seem appropriate that we give an answer to these quotes.
First, "God is not the author of confusion..." (1 Corinthians 14:33) True.
There is very little that is confusing in the Bible. When we understand all
the original readings and the context behind them, any confusion
disappears. Of course we need to think and read to understand everything
in there, as we are 2,000 to 3,500 years and a translation removed from
the original hearers.

The same could not be said for the Qur'an. It is hopelessly confused.
Without chronology or context Allah's Book is a jumbled and chaotic mess.
Worse, the historical Biblical characters stories upon which it is dependant,
do not parallel the Bible but instead originate in second century Talmudic
apocryphal writings. And because we can go to the historical context of
those writings we now know that they could not have been authored by
God, but were created by men, centuries after the authentic revelation of
Yahweh had been canonized. Therefore, the best parts of the Qur'an are
plagiarized from the worst possible source.

Second, "...A house divided against itself falls." (Luke 11:17)The Bible is

not divided against itself. Yahshua was talking about Satan destroying his
own demons—the very cast of characters that possessed Muhammad and
"inspired" his to recite the most vulgar "scripture" known to man.

Shabbir not only found nothing material, he demonstrated that it was

Islam that was a house divided. Shabbir was unable to understand the
Bible because its message is the antithesis of the Qur'an, as is its god, and
prophet. And that's an impossible position for Islam because Allah claims
that he inspired the Bible. Yet that's irrational.

We conclude with two quotes of our own: "The first to present his case
seems right... till another comes forward and questions him" (Proverbs
18:17) AndÉ"...our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom
that God gave him.... His letters contain some things that are hard to
understand which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the
other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:15-16)

Bibliography:

Archer, Gleason, L., Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, 1994 Revised

Edition, 1982, Zondervan Publishing House
Bivin, David, & Blizzard, Roy, Jr., Understanding the Difficult Words of
Jesus, Revised Edition, Destiny Image Publishers, 1994
Blomberg, Craig, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, IVP, Leicester,
 1987
France, R.T., Matthew, Tyndale IVP, 1985
Fruchtenbaum, A. 'The Genealogy of the Messiah'. The Vineyard,
November 1993, pp.10-13.
Geisler, Norman & Howe, Thomas, When Critics Ask, Victor Books,
Wheaton, Illinois, 1992
Haley, John, W., Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, Whitaker House,
Pennsylvania
Harrison, R.K., Old Testament Introduction, Tyndale Press, London, 1970
Keil, C.F., and Delitzsch, F., Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, 20
vols. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949
McDowell, Josh, Christianity; A Ready Defence, Harpendon, Scripture Press
Foundation, 1990
Morris, Leon, Luke, Tyndale Press, 1974 (1986 reprint)
The True Guidance, Part Two, ('False Charges against the Old Testament'),
Light of Life, Austria, 1992
The True Guidance, Part Three, ('False Charges against the New
Testament'), Light of Life, Austria, 1992

Additional sites addressing contradictions in the Bible can be found on

our Links page under "Bible Contradictions and Apologetics"