{"id":5102,"date":"2014-03-21T11:14:41","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T11:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=5102"},"modified":"2014-03-21T13:53:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T13:53:17","slug":"bible-contradictions-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/bible-contradictions-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Contradictions: Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bible<\/a><\/p>\n

Here we are then, with another exciting instalment of supposed Bible inaccuracies. This week we\u2019re looking at some of the questions posed in the book of Mark. Woohoo!<\/p>\n

Mark 6:5 \u2013 Why couldn\u2019t Jesus do mighty works?<\/h2>\n

Problem<\/b>: If Jesus is God, \u2018with all authority in heaven and earth\u2019, why is it that he \u2018could do no mighty work\u2019? Surely that would mean He is not all-powerful?<\/p>\n

Solution<\/b>: Jesus is almighty as God, but not as man. For example, as God Jesus never got tired, but as man He did. Furthermore, the issue here is about principle, not metaphysics \u2013 which is to say that Jesus chose not to perform miracles because of the people\u2019s \u2018unbelief\u2019. He wasn\u2019t an entertainer or a spiritual vending machine. He deemed it a wasted effort. In modern life, too, you will find people who say \u2018If God wrote his name across the sky, I\u2019d believe.\u2019 \u00a0But when you talk to them about the odds of the universe existing by chance (link to first Ethos video) and suggest that God has, in fact, done just that, they fob you off with phrases like \u2018someone had to win the lottery!\u2019 God responds to our need for Him, not our need for tricks and wonders!<\/p>\n

Mark 10: 17-31 \u2013 Did Jesus deny He was God to the rich, young ruler?<\/h2>\n

Problem<\/b>: Jesus is called \u2018Good Teacher\u2019, which He rebukes, saying, \u2018Why do you call me Good? No-one is Good but One, that is, God\u2019. Is he here conceding His lack of full divinity?<\/p>\n

Solution<\/b>: No, He isn\u2019t. Jesus did not deny He was God; He simply asked the man to examine the implications of what he was saying \u2013 essentially, \u2018Do you understand what it means to call me Good?\u2019 Jesus was forcing the rich young ruler into an uncomfortable dilemma \u2013 either He is Good and therefore God, or He is simply a man and therefore flawed. In today\u2019s western culture, we have a very arbitrary idea of what \u2018Good\u2019 is. We really use it to mean \u2018Nice\u2019, but Nice does not have the same moral implications as Good. Have a think about how you personally might define good, and what reason you have to think that definition is the right one<\/i>. Going back to the text, Jesus is asking this very question, getting the man to think about what he means by \u2018Good\u2019. Realistically, no Good man would deceive people by claiming to be God. The liberal Christ \u2013 a good moral teacher but not God \u2013 is a flight of fancy, and a figment of our post-modern imagination.<\/p>\n

Mark 11: 23-24 \u2013 Did Jesus promise to give literally anything we ask for in faith?<\/h2>\n

Problem<\/b>: Superficially, this verse does seem to suggest that God will grant any request we make of Him as long as we just believe hard enough. But we all know from our own lives that this isn\u2019t wholly true \u2013 in the words of the Rolling Stones, you can\u2019t always get what you want.<\/p>\n

Solution<\/b>: First of all, God cannot literally give us anything. <\/i>Some things are actually impossible. For example, God could not grant out request to be God, or, much to my own annoyance, the real Batman. He can\u2019t make a square circle or a married bachelor. He can\u2019t go against His own nature and approve of our sin.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the context in the passage indicates that it was not an unconditional offer, when the very next verse says \u2018If you….\u2019 This is the conditional tense, and so is concerned with conditions.<\/p>\n

All difficult passages should be interpreted in harmony with other clear statements of Scripture. <\/i>Paul wasn\u2019t healed of the thorn in his flesh, though he prayed faithfully and earnestly. Jesus taught that it was not the blind man\u2019s lack of faith that made him blind, rather he was born blind \u2018that the works of God should be revealed in him\u2019. (John 9:3) The reality \u2013 of which we all sometimes need to be reminded \u2013 is that God is not here to do our bidding. We are not cosmic wizards calling down storms like Saruman. Prayer is a means by which we serve God, not the reverse. It is not about getting our will done in heaven, but God getting His will done on earth.<\/p>\n

Prayers do get answered, and people do get healed, but God\u2019s greatest promise to us is himself, not signs and wonders. We must \u2018abide in Him\u2019 and ask \u2018according to His will.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tune in next time for some more stimulating Bible-ly difficulty. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.<\/p>\n

[For more ‘Bible Contradictions’ – see part I<\/a>]<\/p>\n

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