The Skeptics Annotated Bible

by Wells, Steve

  11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

  (2.11) “Judah … hath married the daughter of a strange god.”

  12 The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.

  13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

  14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

  15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

  (2.15) “Let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.”

  16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

  17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

  (2.17) “Ye have wearied the LORD with your words.”

  MALACHI 3

  3 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

  (3.1, 4.5) “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.” The gospel of Mark claims that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy given in Malachi. But the Malachi prophecy says that God will send Elijah before “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” in which the world will be consumed by fire. Yet John the Baptist flatly denied that he was Elijah (Elias) in John 1.21 and the earth was not destroyed after John’s appearance.

  2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope:

  3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

  4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

  5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

  (3.5) “I will be a swift witness against … false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right.” God disapproves of adultery, lying, oppressing workers, and mistreating widows, orphans, and strangers. Does this mean that he also disapprove of slavery?

  42 Does God approve of slavery?

  6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

  (3.6) “I am the Lord, I change not.”

  32 Does God repent?

  7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

  (3.8-10) God will curse you if you don’t give him money and meat.

  8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

  (3.8) “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” God is robbed by those who don’t pay the full tithe.

  9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

  (3.9) “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me.” God curses the Israelites for “robbing” him by not paying the proper amount of money in tithes.

  10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

  (3.10) “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.”

  11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

  12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

  13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

  14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

  15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

  16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

  17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

  18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

  (3.18) “Discern between the righteous and the wicked.”

  35 Has there ever been a righteous person?

  MALACHI 4

  4 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

  2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

  3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

  (4.1a) “The day cometh, that shall burn as an oven.”

  (4.1b-3) “All the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up … And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.” God will burn “the wicked” and the “righteous” will walk around on their ashes.

  4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

  (4.4) “Remember ye the law of Moses.”

  56 Must we obey the Old Testament laws?

  117 Where did Moses receive the ten commandments?

  5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

  (4.5) “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (See note for 3.1)

  6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

  (4.6) “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” The Old Testament ends fittingly with these words: “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

  40 Will God curse the earth (again)?

  THE NEW TESTAMENT

&nb
sp; MATTHEW

  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. — Matthew 10.35-36

  The New Testament gets off to a slow start with the gospel of Matthew, whose first words are: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.” It then lists 39 straight begats, such as “And Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab.” Believers must be bored silly by chapter one, but skeptics shouldn't be, because the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 directly and completely contradicts the one given in Luke 3. The two don't agree on anything, not even the name of Joseph's father.

  But then Matthew is a very contentious book. If you have an opinion about anything, Mathew is likely to disagree with you. The SAB lists 136 contradictions in Matthew, more than any other book of the Bible.

  There's more than just contradictions in Matthew, though. In it you'll also find that:

  Jesus strongly approved of the law and the prophets. He had no objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament and said that its laws will be binding forever. 5.17

  To avoid sin, Jesus told his followers to cut off their hands and pluck out their eyes. This advice was given immediately after he said that anyone who looks with lust at a women commits adultery. 5.29, 18.8

  Jesus told his disciples not to pray in public. 6.5-6

  He said that most people are going to hell. 7.13-14

  He sent devils into a herd of pigs, causing them to run off a cliff and drown. 8.32

  Families will be torn apart because of Jesus. 10.21

  Jesus came to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He came “not to send peace, but a sword.” 10.34-37

  He condemned entire cities to dreadful deaths and to the eternal torment of hell because they didn't care for his preaching. 11.20-24

  He spoke in parables so that no one would understand him, “lest … they … should understand … and should be converted, and I should heal them.” 13.10-15

  “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” 13.12, 25.29

  Jesus was rejected by those who knew him best—the people of his home town of Nazareth. 13.55-57

  Jesus told his followers that he will return and establish his kingdom within their lifetime. 16.28, 23.36, 24.34

  Abandon your wife and children for Jesus and he'll give your a big reward. 19.29

  Matthew’s Jesus rode into Jerusalem sitting on both an ass and a colt (must have taken some practice!). 21.2-7

  “His blood be on us, and on our children.” 27.25

  MATTHEW 1

  1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

  (1.1) “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” The gospel of Matthew begins with a boring genealogy like that we are told to avoid in 1 Tim 1.4 (“Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies”) and Titus 3.9 (“Avoid foolish questions and genealogies”).

  2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

  3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

  (1.3) “Judas begat Phares … of Thamar.” Judah “went in unto” his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who was disguised as a prostitute. She conceived and bore Pharez, an ancestor of Jesus. (Gen 38.2-29) It's a good thing it was more than ten generations ago. Otherwise Jesus could not “enter into the congregation of the Lord.” (Dt 23.2)

  4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

  5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

  6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

  (1.6) “David the king begat Solomon.” There are 28 generations listed from David to Jesus in Matthew's genealogy, while Luke's (3.23-31) has 43. Except for David at one end and Jesus at the other, only three names in the two lists are the same.

  326 The genealogy of Jesus, Matthew vs Luke?

  327 From which of David's sons was Jesus descended?

  7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

  8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

  9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

  (1.9) “Ozias begat Joatham.” 1 Chr 3.11-12 lists three generations between Osiah and Jotham (Joash, Amaziah, and Azariah), but Matthew omits all three.

  261 Generations from David to the Babylonian Captivity

  10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

  11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

  (1.11) “Josias begat Jechonias.”

  262 Was Jeconiah the son or the grandson of Josiah?

  12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

  (1.12) “Jechonias begat Salathiel and Salathiel begat Zorobabel.”

  263 Did Jeconiah have any children?

  264 Who was Zerubbabel's father?

  13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

  14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

  15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

  16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

  (1.16) “Jacob begat Joseph.”

  326 Matthew vs Luke genealogies of Jesus

  328 Who was Jesus' paternal grandfather?

  17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

  (1.17) “From David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations.”

  261 Matthew vs 1 Chronicles genealogies of Jesus

  325 How many generations from Jesus to Abraham?

  18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

  (1.18) “When … Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” After listing the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew tells us that Joseph was not Jesus' father after all, which of course makes the entire genealogy meaningless. The Holy Ghost, not Joseph, was the one who impregnated Mary, contradicting many scriptures which clearly state that Joseph was the father of Jesus.

  329 Was Joseph the father of Jesus?

  19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

  (1.19) “Joseph … being a just man.”

  33 Has there ever been a just person?

  20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

  21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

  22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

  23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

  (1.23) “A virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” The prophecy given in Is 7.14 referred not to a virgin but to a young woman, living at the time of the prophecy. And Jesus, of course, was called Jesus—and is not called Emmanuel in any other
verse in the New Testament.

  24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

  25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

  (1.24-25) “Joseph … knew her not till” Many Christians believe that Mary was always a virgin, but these verses imply that she and Joseph “came together” after the birth of Jesus, their “firstborn son.”

  MATTHEW 2

  2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

  (2.1) “Jesus was born in Bethlehem … in the days of Herod the king.”

  330 When was Jesus born?

  2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

  (2.2) “We have seen his star in the east.”

  4 Is astrology condemned by the bible?

  3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

  4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

  5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

  (2.5) “In Bethlehem of Judaea” Matthew claims that Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfils this prophecy. But this is unlikely since:

  1) “Bethlehem Ephratah” in Micah 5.2 refers not to a town, but to a clan: the clan of Bethlehem, who was the son of Caleb's second wife, Ephrathah (1 Chr 2.18, 2.50-52, 4.4), and

  2) The prophecy (if that is what it is) does not refer to the Messiah, but rather to a military leader, as can be seen from Micah 5.6. This leader is supposed to defeat the Assyrians, which, of course, Jesus never did.

  6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.