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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 8

Self-Contradictions of the Bible

Self-Contradictions of the Bible.

Sir,—A somewhat impertinent letter has appeared in your last number, defying Unitarians to adduce passages from the Scriptures involving self-contradictory statements. I never was moved to swear by any one: nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. Yet I will venture to quote three points from the Bible which are clearly self-contradictory in character.

The first is the following. The Christ, in many passages, claims divinity for himself. He affirms his equality with the Father, and yet we find him asserting : "My Father is greater than I."

Secondly, we get, from reading the whole Bible, a general idea of the goodness of God; of His inability to commit sin, that is, to do evil. We are told to "trust in Him and fear not." And yet, when the Christ prays he pleads: "Lead us not into temptation;" that is, he asks God not to deceive us, not to lead us astray.

Lastly, if we consider Jesus annulling the law of Divorce established before him, we are bound to think that either of the two was just, not both; that, therefore, one must have been wrong: for what is wrong at one time is the page 253 same at another. We have never been allowed to lie, to steal, to murder; and we never shall be. Even if such a society could exist, in which those things were allowed, there is an authority in man, called Conscience, which would tell him they were wrong and must not be done.

Having offered these few remarks, I further take the liberty of challenging the writer of the letter I am answering, to prove the divinity of the Christ, even from the Gospel as it stands; for I am prepared to prove, by the Gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth was not what has been made of him, namely, the son of the Everlasting Spirit.

I remain, Sir, yours respectfully,

J. Matras.