All That's Wrong with the Bible: Contradictions, Absurdities, and More

Written by Jonah David Conner

Narrated by James R. Cheatham

Can we prove that the Bible makes false claims?

Do its moral teachings justify it being called "The Good Book?"

Has the text been modified throughout the centuries?

What about all those prophecies?

Written by a linguist, ex-fundamentalist graduate of Liberty University, this book goes straight to the evidence and presents a concise case-by-case analysis of the most salient problems in the Christian Scriptures. With insightful commentary concerning frequent rebuttals used by apologists, it makes a solid case against evangelical claims to inerrancy.

This second edition has a much improved third chapter, providing several more examples of scribal changes to the New Testament, as well as a completely new section on textual differences in Greek manuscripts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765058367

Reviews for All That's Wrong with the Bible

[Cristian Diaz Basualto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

it´s very interesting, i like the part where he explains the multiple inconsistencies in the book, I would definitely read it again.

[JohnMartindale · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interestingly, the author went through the YWAM base that I currently am staffed with. I’d be curious what year he did his schools. Anyhow, I too came to the place of seeing the doctrine of inerrancy to be overwhelmingly false, and yet I didn’t become an atheist and remained working with a Christian missionary organization.

The author demonstrates the problem with how evangelicals presented us with the dilemma that either the Bible is inerrant and Christianity is true, or it’s not and Christianity is false. Christians who buy into this dilemma initially have psychological defense mechanisms that can provide armor for a time, allowing them to persist in believing as obviously true what is in fact objectively false, but eventually (for many of us) a chink in the armor appears and a single doubt wiggles its way in and the house of cards topples, confidence withers and the glorious certainties evaluate. But is it really either/or? Perhaps the author bought into a false dilemma?

I get it, it really does seem a God worth believing in would have taken a more active role in what Christians believe is a major source of revelation. It sucks that we don’t have that and it does seem strong evidence against the truth of Christianity. And yet, I’d agree with C.S Lewis who suggested that rather than deciding beforehand what God did (inspiring an inerrant text) and forcing a square peg and a triangular hole (what most evangelicals have done), instead, we should see what the bible actually is and make our peace with this. Lewis acknowledged the fact that it includes errors, false prophesies, contradictions, and moral absurdities and yet still he believed God’s life flowed through this leaky vessel. Peter Enns also would recognize the humanness that permeates the text, suggesting how the biblical authors invite us to also enter into this process of trying to make sense of God and what is wise in light of our present context. Scripture being written over such an extended period shows us their struggle and evolution and history shows it continues to this day.

There is the possibility that God somehow and in some way acted in history (before the text was written), and that God indeed inspires individuals. Still, it’s clear that humans interpreted God’s actions and nudgings in light of their cultural context and when they put pen to paper error and folly mixed into whatever hint of truth they gleaned.

If there is indeed a God, it would seem his preference (whether by choice or necessity) is the backseat—designating authority to humanity and possibly to spiritual agents and not intervening when they screw it all up. God can be understood as the ground of being, the good and the beautiful who wants nature and humanity to be free. How he works in our lives and throughout history isn’t different than how works throughout scripture—the bible isn’t the significant exception to the rule.

If we embrace the Christian narrative, this God became man to entire into solidarity with people, to show us how not to be crushed by suffering, but to move through it; experiencing resurrection. Christians hope that God will at last step in, set the world to right, restore all things and reconcile all to Himself. That at last, Goodness and Love would be fully known and we’d enter into the fulness of joy. We will then get it, seeing that God's temporary hands-off approach was for the best.