Well, I've just been whapped upside the head (again) with the assertion by a fundamentalist christian that the bible is the literal, unerring, perfect, infallible word of god. He insists that there are no contradictions, no inconsistencies, no instance in which one part of the bible casts doubt on any other part. So I gathered together a few of the most glaring examples that those of us trapped in an "unenlightened" (cough-sarcasm-cough) state of mind use as evidence of biblical imperfection. And as we all know, if it ain't perfect, it can't be the word of god...'cause he/she/it/ is perfect and what-not.

Alleged Genealogies of Jesus

David to Jesus
Matthew 1:6-16	Luke 3:21-31
David Solomon Roboam Abia Asa Josaphat Joram Ozias Joatham Achaz Ezekias Manasses Amon Josias Jechonias Salathiel Zorobabel Abiud Eliakim Azor Sadoc Achim Eliud Eleazar Matthan Jacob Joseph Jesus	David Nathan Mattatha Menan Melea Eliakim Jonan Joseph Juda Simeon Levi Matthat Jorim Eliezer Jose Er Elmodam Cosam Addi Melchi Neri Salathiel Zorobabel Rhesa Joanna Juda Joseph Semei Mattathias Maath Nagge Esli Naum Amos Mattathias Joseph Janna Melchi Levi Matthat Heli Joseph Jesus

Thanks to The Skeptic's Annotated Bible for assembling this list.

I've presented this particular inconsistency to several Christians and they all fall back on the same old explanation. "Oh, one of those geneologies is Mary's".

It is?

It says "Joseph" at the bottom of both of them. If one of those geneologies was Mary's, wouldn't it say "Mary" at the bottom? And if one of those geneologies is Mary's, then that means there is a lie in the Bible, because saying something that isn't true is a lie...right?

Wow, I was willing to settle for a mere contradiction, but here we have uncovered a full-fledged lie! And anyway, wasn't Joseph supposed to be Jesus' stepfather? Did the ancient Jews consider the lineage of a stepfather to be a legitimate line of succession for the Messiah? And even if they did, wouldn't identifying Jesus' real dad as God Himself be a much better pedigree than tracing back through Joseph?

Yeah, its a pitiful mess, but this is the kind of intellectual corruption Christians have to perpetrate upon themselves and each other in order to preserve their little fantasy.

Alleged Chronologies of Creation

Living Things
Genesis I	Genesis II
God makes plants God makes animals God makes Adam and Eve at the same time	God makes Adam God makes Plants God makes animals God makes Eve

OK, this is another good one. When confronted with this one, Christians roll their eyes and pedantically explain that it is the exact same story and the exact same chronology, just told with a different emphasis.

So let me quote the relevant passages so you can decide for yourself.

Genesis 1 (King James Version)

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

See? Here on the third day, plants were made. Lets move on to the sixth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

OK, now we got animals. But thats not all we get on the sixth day.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Notice the use of the word "them" when talking about man. Not him...them.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

OK, got it? Plants, animals, then man and woman at the same time. Now lets move on to...

Genesis 2 (King James Version)

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

OK, right off the bat, God made man.

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Now we get the Garden of Eden and plants. After man was made. After skipping over some geographic details we get to...

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Pay close attention. God didn't want Adam to be alone, so he started making various animals and bringing them to Adam so he could name them "but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him". Hmmm. So what does God do next?

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

...who of course turned out to be "an help meet" for Adam.

So there is the second, contradictory chronology. Plain as the nose on your face. No no, don't cut it off just for spite.

When was Jesus born?

Before 4 BCE.	After 6 CE.
Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king. Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. Herod the Great died in 4 BCE. Wikipedia: Herod the Great	Luke 2:1-2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) Quirinius became governer of Syria in 6 CE, ten years after king Herod's death. Wikipedia: Quirinius

Thanks to The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

The only defense Christians have for this one is the claim that every other single piece in the mountain of historical evidence that exists is wrong and their Bible is right. It's not much different than the crazy guy who walks down the street muttering and gesturing to someone only he can see. Even though no one else can see this person, the crazy guy will insist that he exists. Even if a bus runs through the exact spot in which the imaginary person is standing, the crazy guy will dismiss the existence of the bus that everyone can see as the fantasy...anything to preserve his delusion.

OK, here's the deal. If the bible is indeed perfect, then it should be...well...PERFECT! Not only would it avoid imperfection, it would also avoid the appearance of imperfection. Or is that something God can't do?