The Bible is right.

Thanks for the debate Scotty. == Burden of proof == My opponent has consistently agreed that if I can prove that a single passage, anywhere in the Bible, is either a) immoral, b) factually incorrect, or c) contradictory to another passage, then I win. In addition, the Bible claims to be the word of God, and thus infallible. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah 1:9 says, "Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.'" The New Testament says the same thing; in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says, "When you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God." So there should not be a single mistake or contradiction in the Bible if it is the word of God. Since God is omniscient ("all knowing"), it shouldn't matter if science wasn't advanced enough at the time for people to know, for example, that snails don't leave part of their body behind in their mucus trail. == Voting Issues == Conduct – see my opponent's arrogant comments in the Comments section Grammar – in Round 4, my opponent uses multiple (incorrect) double negations and in Round 5, he is missing a number of semi-colons. Sources – I directly footnoted each of my claims, whereas my opponent did not (see his first Round). Convincing Argument – see below == Things in the Bible that are wrong or contradictory == 1) The Genealogies of Luke and Matthew My opponent, in this round, merely refers you to a new source. His new source explains that Luke and Matthew's genealogies differ because Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience and Luke was writing for a non-Jewish one. This DOES explain why the genealogies differ – because each author had different concerns while fabricating the genealogy. Ultimately, Luke and Matthew's genealogies both trace Jesus' lineage through Joseph, but mention entirely different people and have vastly different numbers of generations between Abraham and Jesus. This is a blaring contradiction. 2) Is Jesus descended from David? In Acts 2:30, God promised David that one of his descendents will be the Messiah. However, Deuteronomy 23:2 makes clear that only blood-related, legitimate children could be considered true descendants. If Jesus is not of Joseph's bloodline, he is illegitimate. The genealogies trace Jesus' bloodline through Joseph. Thus, Jesus is not a true descendant of David. He is not even related to Mary, according to my opponent. He is 100% God. No genes from Mary were used in his creation. 3) Is Jesus Equal to or lesser than God? My opponent claims, "Jesus made this world and mankind not God the Father." This DIRECTLY contradicts John 14:28, where Jesus said, "I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." This ALSO contradicts the First and Second Commandments, which state that you cannot elevate another god above Yahweh. My opponent is saying Jesus is greater than God himself. This is a glaring contradiction, and my opponent is probably going to Hell for saying it. 4) Which was created first, beasts or man? My opponent claims Moses wrote both books of Genesis. However, most scholars agree that these books were written by multiple different authors in the 5th and 6th century, B.C., which is long after Moses' time. [1] Having multiple authors explains why the creation story in 1 Genesis differs in chronology from the creation story in 2 Genesis. In 1 Genesis, God creates the beasts, then Adam, then Eve. In 2 Genesis, God creates Adam, then the beasts, then Eve. In 2 Genesis, Adam was "alone" until God created the beasts. This is a clear contradiction. 5) Should we punish the son for the sins of the father? Deuteronomy 24:16 has a direct instruction NOT to kill sons for the sins of their fathers because it's immoral; Deuteronomy says each man is responsible only for his own sins. However, Isaiah 14:21 instructs the Israelites to prepare for slaughter sons for "the iniquity of their fathers." The 2nd Commandment, in Genesis 20:1-17, says God will punish the children, down to the 3rd and 4th generation, of idolaters. This is a clear contradiction, in addition to being unethical. Most people would agree with Deuteronomy; one should only be punished for one's own crimes. 6) Why don't Christians keep kosher? Leviticus 11:8-10 says you cannot eat pigs or shellfish. Jesus never specifically said it was suddenly okay to do so. Regardless, if Jesus is the same Lord as in Leviticus and he's omniscient, it makes no sense for him to take two different advocacy positions in regards to pork and shrimp. My opponent merely cites Paul's weak justification: that Jesus, by existing, created a new "covenant," thereby exempting Christians from keeping kosher or being circumcised. 7) Can God be seen? My opponent really stretches the Trinity to the breaking point when he argues that Jacob and Moses actually saw Jesus. Not only was Moses alive centuries before Jesus' time, but also my opponent's argument would mean Jesus isn't God because the passages say that Moses and Jacob saw "God." 8) Snakes don't eat dirt They don't. Eat means "consume for nourishment." They don't even put dirt on their tongues – their tongues sample chemical tracers in the AIR. If you ever see a snake's tongue flicking in and out, it's NOT licking the ground; it's sampling the AIR. 9) Snails don't melt My opponent's argument is essentially that it's not God's fault for not understanding modern science. But God is supposed to be omniscient. The passage says that snails melt; it doesn't say they APPEAR to melt. This is just factually incorrect. Snails don't even appear to melt, in the sense that their body does not get smaller as they crawl. 10) The mustard seed is the smallest on Earth Mark literally says "smallest of all seeds on Earth." My opponent agrees there are smaller seeds on Earth, like the orchid seed. Game over. 11) Adam is 6000 years old Genesis clearly states this, based on the number of generations it lists. Yet the oldest human fossils are 195,000 years old. My opponent fails to show why dating techniques that use radioactive isotopes are wrong. He also fails to show how Adam could be the first man, according to Genesis, but there could also be humans from before Adam's time. 12) The New Jerusalem My opponent claims that the passages about perpetual peace and the uncircumcised refer to a future New Jerusalem. Scotty even says, "I will be there." This contradicts, however. If all "good" Christians will be there, then some uncircumcised people will be there. 13) The Book of Exodus is a lie I provided evidence from William Dever, who the LA Times describes as "one of America's preeminent archaeologists," to show that the consensus among archeologists is that the Jews were never in Egypt and that the battles in the Old Testament never happened. The cities that were listed in the OT as burned should have left traces of ash. However, there are no traces of ash at these sites. My opponent never refutes this, except by saying that all of science is merely opinion. 14) Genocide is not okay My opponent says it is okay because the people had "long necks." I disagree. He says the children that were killed were "unpure." Nearly every genocide movement, such as the Holocaust, used similar rhetoric. 15) Rape is not okay Deuteronomy 22:28-29 says you can rape a woman, but you have to marry her afterwards. Leviticus 19:20-22 says you can rape your female slaves. My opponent never answers these passages. 16) Slavery is not okay Exodus says that it is. You can beat your slaves. Just don't kill them. 1 Timothy 6:1-3 in the New Testament tells slaves to obey their masters. 17) Jews are not evil 1 Thessalonians 2:15 says all Jews are evil. 18) Don't stone your children to death Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says to do so. My opponent claims these children "killed" people, but the passage never says that. It just says that they were disobedient and some of them drank alcohol. This description fits most modern teenagers. 19) Men and women are of equal value Leviticus 27:1-7 says men are worth far more than women. 20) Don't put homosexuals to death Leviticus 20:13 says to do so. My opponent even agrees that this is morally wrong. For these 20 reasons, Vote Con. [1] Davies, G.I (1998). "Introduction to the Pentateuch", p.37