The biggest
contradiction in the
bible that I was able to find, and that is the question of
freedom versus
predestination. Most of the other ones are explained away by
translator bias and such, but this one still remains, and I may have figgured out a possible solution to it.
Now, one can
argue untill blue in the face about the existence of a
deity, but it all comes down to be
lief. Sure, modern
science seems to indicate the lack of a
god but take into account
Hume's problem of induction, that is to say science itself is a
religion.
Science is the be
lief that
everything can be explained and predicted with
mathematics. This
may not be the case. We are
assuming the future will continue to act as the past has. It's all
faith.
But I digress...
Now, the bible states that God is
omnipotent and
omnicient. Also, it states that God is the "supreme", that it isn't at the mercy of any force. The problem arises when it states that God gave mankind
free will. Even if one choses to chalk this up to translator
bias, a merciful god (which the
Christian deity is supposed to be) would only condemn to
hell, or deny from
heaven, those who chose an "
evil" or "
impure" life.
Now, to know the future implies that the future is pre-determined, or "know-able". Now, either the future is knowable, and man does not have free will (implicitly stating that God is not merciful), or the future is un-knowable, and God is not
omnipotent (being at the mercy of time, and all).
But, I may have figgured this out.
Picture a
river. It goes along, splits into different rivers and
tributaries, and just basically
branches out all over the place. God is a
sattelite in space. It can see the whole system, what all the choices will be, what the outcome of those choices are,
etcetera. We are a swimmer in the lake, on a foggy day. We remember our past, we have an extremely limited view into the future, and we make choices.
This is how I found
religion, despite science.