Expert: Glenn Hansen - 1/12/2011

Question
QUESTION: I used to wonder about God, so I studied the bible and wondered who wrote it..because some of the chapters were so confusing,eg:(For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. (Jeremiah 3:12)
Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever. (Jeremiah 17:4)
If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. (John 5:31)
Jesus answered: Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid. (John 8:14)
And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
the whole world is under control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
And Jesus said, For judgement I am come into this world. (John 9:39)
I came not to judge the world (John 12:47)
)" , I simply couldn't believe that God would sent down such a disorganized book(but my hunch is that the guy named peter wrote his heart out in the bible and filled it up with gibberish), but all I found was a bunch of unverified stories which confuses the readers. First I saw that there were over 9 versions of the bible, and each of them were different. It said that Jesus was God's son....but then I started thinking that if God is not a human, then how could he have kids. This guy was saying that look, jesus didn't have any father, so his dad must have been God himself! But when I told him that Adam and Eve didn't have any parents either. Does that make them god's children too? Well, all this was so confusing , that I started looking into some other religion to see what they had to say about God etc.Then Bible considers everyone to be sinners, and that God had to send his "son" to get rid of sins.This was strange that God would kill his innocent "son" in order to get rid of evil satan.! it sounded pretty cruel to me.Why would His "son" have to die for other peoples sins, or for satan, who makes people sin? Christianity also calls religious law a curse,and so that if someone follows religious laws ,they are in a curse.I saw this video, and was very interested in what it showed.It is about religious science: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHiAGHFnzMU .I have also studied both testaments, here are some of the conflicting verses I found in The Old Testament:
1}(a)"And David took from him a thousand chariots and SEVEN HUNDRED horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen"..-II Samuel 8:4 (b)"And David took from him a thousand chariots and SEVEN THOUSAND horsemen,and twenty thousand footmen"..-I Chronicles 18:4..So the question is 700 or 7000? 2}(a)"And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,and he moved David against them to say,Go,number Israel and Judah".-II Samuel 24:1(b)"And SATAN stood up against Israel,and provoked David to number Israel."-I Chronicles 21:1.So, is the Lord of David then Satan?God forbid!3}(a) "Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had NO CHILD until the day of her death"-II Samuel 6:23.(b)"But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth:and THE FIVE SONS of Michal the daughter of Saul,whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzilai the Meholathite."-II Samuel 21:8,So, did Michal have children or not..?,there are a lot more contradictions in the old testament , showing that it could not have been holy.in the Psalm, The Muslim holy city of Makka is mentioned(original word for makka was Baca,as it's referred to in the Quran,Prophet David mentions in his Psalms 84:6:"Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well, the rain also filleth the pool."The well here is a well known well of Zamzam,still present now,close to the Ka'bah.
can you explain these verses to me?I'm confused..
thanks

ANSWER: Sara, The supposed discrepancies in the Bible have never bothered me. Reading Scripture revealed Jesus as the Messiah. Of course, I was very happy to find meaning to life, the forgiveness of sin and hope of eternal life in Scripture. All you have found is confusing contradictions.

I'm not sure why some people find the Bible useless and others find it a treasure.
I do belive God loves you and has a plan for your life. I recall the words of the song, "I wish for you my friend this happiness that I've found. You can depend on Him, it matters not where you're bound." My life hasn't always been happy but I've never doubted God's care.

Why not tell God in prayer about your doubts? Faith comes form him.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,thanks for your reply.
So,is there scientific proofs or verses in the Bible?. I'll be really interested to know more about those.I mean if Quran was man-made, it couldn't have contained all those scientific details..And could Muhammad actually have written those stuffs on his own?. I heard that he wasn't literate. He just memorized the verses and his scribes wrote them down: I was thinking I would show you this, a friend gave me these a few weeks ago, I'll paste it here. I thought it matched with the Koran:Revelation to Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]

Revelation to Muhammad: The 1st revelation of Allah through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad was the word (Iqra) "read" in Surah 96:1-5: As he was unlettered he replied "I cannot read". This 1st revelation was prophesized in Isaiah 29:12 "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned saying, Read this, I pray thee, and he saith ,I am not learned.”These revelation came in installments, and inserted in certain order in the Quran as ordained by Allah, was also mentions in Isaiah 28:10-11 "For precept must be upon precept , precept upon precept,line upon line, line upon line, here a little ,there a little, for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to his people."Another tongue means another language, not Hebrew or Aramaic , but Arabic. Muslims all over the world are using one language, which is Arabic,in calling their God, in their prayers, pilgrimage and in their greetings to each other.Also this unity of language had been prophesied in Zephaniah 3:9:“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.” the truth has come in Arabic.--
How come The other Holy books foretold Muhammad's coming?
Please help me out with these.  Because the science part in this video hit me the most http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcD6v0WuTA , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BdbtDwcudA&feature=related .You can see if it matches with science if you watch all the 16 series. Several of my friends who turned atheist, are now interested in Islam(and they keep asking if Bible is scientific), and I also was thinking Islam is a sensible religion. Could you please give me some scientific theory from the Bible.i’ll be extremely grateful.
Thanks again,
Sara

Answer
Sara, If you want to preach Islam, why not become an expert yourself? Then people who are interested in Islam can ask you questions about it. For you to come into an area about Christianity and pretend you are looking for information but actually wanting to preach Islam, seems rather devious. Is that what Islam teaches, deviousness?  If I were to look at what you are doing, I would think so.

I would hope that, whatever your religion is, it would teach you basic morality such as honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, and so forth. The Bible is not a book of science. It is a book which reveals God's plan for the  forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Christ.