New Video and Transcript!

INQOINF's Challenge to Christians!

Can you prove the veracity of the Bible?

There have been many gods, many saviors, and many holy books that all claim to be true, so, How would you know, with the Bible as your only authoritative source, if it is true?

How do you know that people didn't just "make up" Christianity? L. Ron Hubbard made up Scientology and today has millions of followers and even famous people like Tom Cruise are among their members. People have made up religions all throughout history and still do so today. How do you know this wasn't the case with Christianity?

If the Bible has been accurately translated and the information devoid of errors then why are there hundreds of English translations and why are they disputed between Christians. Which, in your opinion, is the best Bible translation and why?

The Dead Sea Scrolls are used to prove the reliability of scripture and Enoch is amongst the texts that were found. Enoch is quoted several times throughout the Bible. Can Enoch be considered Biblical? Why or why not? Keep in mind this is a text that was used by the writers of the New Testament and many early church fathers, such as, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria. The Gospel of St. Peter was also a favorite among early church fathers but was lost before the Bible was canonized and, therefore, was never up for consideration. Today we have found copies of this text, Can it be trusted scripturally? The early Christian fathers thought it could.

Who really wrote the gospels? With out the gospels is there really any eye-witness evidence? Luke in the first chapter and verse admit that he is not an eye-witness and John cites in text that he did not "bare witness," so if the authorship of the gospels is ambiguous then how would you know that it's true? Keep in mind that Paul never met Jesus and never mentions most of the events from the gospels, including the virgin birth.

Please avoid using the Bible to prove the Bible because this is circular reasoning. This would be like me saying "I know Gandalf really lived because "The Lord of the Rings" details his life. It is just dumb. Muslims use the Koran to prove the Koran but you quickly dismiss them as being wrong. So, lets avoid this type of argument because you must first prove the veracity of the Bible.

Consider the fact that no original manuscript of any Biblical book has survived and that some Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek words occur only once in the Bible, but are found no where else in literature, so their exact meanings are unknown, and some Biblical phrases are ambiguous, with more than one possible meaning. For example in Genesis 21:9, the Hebrew word for mocking. can also be translated as; fondling, or making sport. All of which have very different meanings. Again, How do you know that your translation is the correct translation?

Early Christian writers scoured the Hebrew scriptures for references to and prophecies of Jesus. It would seem they even turned Psalms into prophetic literature, Psalms is not prophecy it's poetry. How would you know if the prophecies were really fulfilled? How would you know that these authors didn't lie and say Jesus fulfilled these prophecies?

How do you explain blatant contradictions and errors in the Bible? The genealogy of Jesus is different in Matthew and Luke and even if you attribute one to Mary this still makes Mary over 200 years older than Joseph. None of the Gospels agree on what happened before Jesus was born in Bethlehem nor what happened afterwards and Mark fails to mention the Nativity Story. Matthew dates the birth of Jesus around 4 B.C.E. and Luke dates his birth around 6 C.E. This is at least a 10 year difference. They also do not agree on what happened at Jesus Baptism. After Judas betrayal one story states that Judas purchased land with the money he had been payed for betraying Jesus and in another story it says that he returns the money to the high priests. Why does each gospel confuse how many times the cock crows in relation to Peter's denials of Christ? In one gospel before Jesus crucifixion he is put on trial before Pilate and then Herod but does not speak. In another he is anything but mute. Why is John's account of the crucifixion so different than the other gospels? Why do they each claim Jesus said something different before he died? Why are the stories at the tomb so different? The number of angels, women, appearances, and much more is completely different from one gospel to the next. If these texts were divinely inspired or if these authors were actually eye-witnesses then these stories would not be as different as they are. This is just a quick and simple but critical analysis of 4 books in the Bible. Imagine a critique of the whole Bible.

How do you know that the Bible's story of a savior who triumphed over death is any different than the claims made by the followers of; Osiris, Horus, Attis, Mythra, Sol Invictus, and many others? How can we know your savior is the true savior, with the Bible as your only evidence, and these are fake?

The extra-biblical sources are just as vague as the Gospels when concerning the historicity of Jesus. Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, and Suetonius all mention people who follow Jesus but none actually mention Jesus as a living breathing, miracle working man. Even if we did accept their references as being true it still only counts as hearsay.

Some people claim that Early Christians were never refuted. If this were so then why did Justin Martyr say this to early skeptics. "when we say that Jesus Christ was produced without sexual union, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended to heaven, we propound nothing new or different from what you believe regarding those whom you call the sons of Jupiter. "

Remember that the number of people who follow a religion has no bearing on it's verisimilitude and just because someone would die for what they consider truth does not make it true. For example, There are almost as many believers in Islam as there are Christians. There are Muslim extremists that blow themselves up because they believe so fervently in the Koran, but does that make it true?

Is the Holy Bible the Word of God? All of us need to know. A person’s very salvation can depend upon it.


These video's are not my sources for this video but they do contain a lot of the same information and may elaborate more on some of my points. I highly recommend watching these video's before making a video response to my video. This will allow you to see what other kinds of opinions are out there and if your point has already been completely refuted by someone else.


General
azsuperman - Tough Questions for Christians

Paul Harrison - Anathema

God Is Imaginary - Why won't god heal Amputees? - GIIVideo Channel

Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct28heTUKvM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ji2Y8DddaU

Errors and Contradictions
Danmill23
More Errors and Contradictions

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/