0 Dwidnling in Unbelief

Latest Posts (In 2006)

Posted: Friday 22 December 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Absalom's hair was heavy upon him

But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head [cut his hair], (for it was at every year's end that h ...

Posted: Tuesday 19 December 2006 ( 18 years ago )

42: It's not God's favorite number

(Although it is The Answer to The Ultimate Question Of Life, the Universe and Everything.) One of my favorite Bible stories for children is the Story of Elisha and the bears. He [Elisha] went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on ...

Posted: Monday 18 December 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Where does evil come from?

Behold, this evil is of the Lord. 2 Kings 6:33 As I pointed out in my last post, evil spirits (according to the Bible, anyway) usually come from God (not Satan). But what about evil itself? Where does it come from? Here is the Bible's answer. I ...

Posted: Tuesday 05 December 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Where do evil spirits come from?

Seems like silly question, doesn't it? At least it would to most Bible believers. Evil spirits come from Satan. But that's not what the Bible says. The phrase "evil spirit(s)" occurs 14 times (in 13 verses) in the Bible, in 8 of which the evil spir ...

Posted: Monday 27 November 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The seven spirits of God (including the Holy Spirit?)

I beheld ... a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. Revelation 5:6 The book of Revelation is obsessed with the number seven. God's magic number is used 52 times in 30 verses, with 19 th ...

Posted: Saturday 25 November 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Where the worms never die

Where are immortal worms mentioned in the Bible? And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring ...

Posted: Wednesday 22 November 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Do moderate Muslims believe in hell?

Christians are divided on hell. Some believe in it, some don't. And those that do aren't sure what it's like or who goes there. That's not surprising since the Bible has no clear, consistent teaching about hell (or anything else). But the Quran has ...

Posted: Saturday 11 November 2006 ( 18 years ago )

It is easy for Allah

We shall cast him into Fire, and that is ever easy for Allah. Quran 4:30 In a previous post, I mentioned the more than 200 times that the Quran threatens unbelievers (non-Muslims) with a painful (shameful, dreadful, etc.) doom. But that didn't cou ...

Posted: Wednesday 01 November 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Test your faith: Is it as great as Abraham's?

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and ... offer him there for a burnt offering.... And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. Genesis 22:2, 10 Kill the Afterlife has a great ...

Posted: Thursday 26 October 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Punishment for mishandling the Quran

In a previous post, I listed some rules for handling the Quran. But what is the punishment for mishandling it? Well, according to Ynet news, Allah turned a Muslim girl into a dog for for just such a crime. TAIBEH – Harsh punishment? A Muslim gir ...

Posted: Wednesday 25 October 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Rules for handling the Quran

This is indeed a noble Qur'an ... Which none toucheth save the purified. -- Quran 56:77-79 From this passage, Muslims have developed a set of rules about how to handle the Quran. Here are some of them. Make formal acts of cleaning yourself ...

Posted: Monday 16 October 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The Heroes of Faith

Tor the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel. -- Hebrews 11:32 The author of Hebrews provides a list of heroes of faith, which includes Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Sa ...

Posted: Monday 16 October 2006 ( 18 years ago )

And for the disbelievers, Allah has prepared a painful doom

For those of you who've never read the Quran, let me summarize it for you: And for the disbelievers, Allah has prepared a painful doom. This idea is so important that Allah (or his prophet) repeats more than 200 times in the Quran. Here are just a ...

Posted: Wednesday 27 September 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The Bible's guide to torture

Sometimes you have to beat people for their own good. The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. Proverbs 20:30 Some people should be beaten as a punishment for their crimes. And it shall be, if the ...

Posted: Sunday 24 September 2006 ( 18 years ago )

How to stone somebody (according to the Bible)

The Bible doesn't say much about how we're supposed to stone people. What size rocks to use, who can participate, etc. It does say that you need two or three witnesses (with or without sin) and that the witnesses themselves must throw the first s ...

Posted: Friday 22 September 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Death by Stoning: the Bible vs the Quran

In my last post I listed 13 biblical passages that prescribe stoning as a punishment for various crimes. (The Catholic Encyclopedia says there are 18. Did I miss some? If so let me know so I can add another verse to the Everybody must get stoned son ...

Posted: Thursday 21 September 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Biblical Justice: Everybody must get stoned

(To the tune of Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35") Well, they'll stone you if you touch the holy things. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. Exodus 19:13 They'll stone you if you take accursed things. Achan ... t ...

Posted: Friday 01 September 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Satan vs God: past and future killings

In previous posts, I've tried to total the number of people killed by God and Satan in the Bible, as well as provide some estimates of their future plans in that regard. Here's a table that summarizes the results. (Follow the links in the table for ...

Posted: Thursday 31 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Satan vs God: an updated body count

For those of you keeping score, I've made some additions to the list of people killed by God. SAB, Brick Testament Number killed God tells Joshua to stoned to death Achan (and his family) for taking the accursed thing. Joshua 7:10-12, 24-26 ...

Posted: Wednesday 30 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

God's uncounted and uncountable killings

In a previous post, I counted the number of people that were killed by God in the Bible. I came up with 2,270,365, but that didn't include the many massacres for which no body count is given. So, for the sake of completeness, I figured I ought to at ...

Posted: Friday 25 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The worth of a woman: the Bible vs. the Quran

Don't you love it when the Bible and the Quran agree (more or less) on something? I do. Because whenever they do, you can be pretty sure they're both wrong. Take the worth of a woman, for example. They go at it from slightly different angles, but co ...

Posted: Thursday 24 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Have ye saved all the women alive?

Oops! In my post, How many has God killed?, I forgot to include the Midianite massacre. But luckily David Plotz in Blogging the Bible reminded me. Plotz calls it the "most hideous war crime in a Bible filled with them." And he's right about that. ...

Posted: Friday 11 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

God's death toll in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Quran

In previous posts, I counted the number of people killed by God and Satan in the Bible: 2,821,364 and 10, respectively. That made me wonder how God's death toll in the Bible would compare with its rival holy books: the Quran and the Book of Mormon. ...

Posted: Friday 11 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

How are Jesus and Satan alike?

They are both like a lion. Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. -- Revelation 5:5 Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, s ...

Posted: Wednesday 09 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Who has killed more, Satan or God?

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. Job 1:7 In a previous post, I counted the number of people that were killed by God in ...

Posted: Wednesday 02 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

How many has God killed?

I kill ... I wound ... I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. -- Deuteronomy 32:39-42How many people did God kill in the Bible? It's impossible to say for sure, but plenty. How many did God drown in the flood or bur ...

Posted: Tuesday 01 August 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Lot, the just and righteous

Lot was one of God's special heroes. Out of all of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, God saved only Lot and his family. And why did God save Lot, you ask? Because Lot was, according to the bible, a just and righteous man. And delivered just L ...

Posted: Thursday 27 July 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Bad Books of the Bible

You'd think that "The Good Book" wouldn't have much bad stuff in it. But nearly half (27/66) of the Bible's books have nothing good in them, at least as far as I can see. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible includes some of the worst stuff in all ...

Posted: Monday 24 July 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The Ten Commandments: Paul couldn't name them all either

Last month on the Colbert Report, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (co-sponsor of a bill requiring the display of the Ten Commandments) couldn't name them. Which, as I noted in a previous post, is no big deal since Jesus couldn't name them all either. And ne ...

Posted: Wednesday 19 July 2006 ( 18 years ago )

For thy pleasure they were created

The Intelligent Design movement has its own wedge issue: natural evil. Its existence is hard to deny, but what do you do with it? If cruelty is designed into creation, then how can the creator be good? Most IDers solve this problem by shifting the ...

Posted: Friday 07 July 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Polygamy Quiz: Bible, Quran, or Book of Mormon?

Which books (Bible, Quran, and Book of Mormon) contain the following passages. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives. ...

Posted: Wednesday 05 July 2006 ( 18 years ago )

David, a man after God's own heart (WWDD?)

It would be hard to find anyone in the bible that God liked more than David. He was directly selected by God to be king, and "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. The ...

Posted: Wednesday 28 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Which hell is worse, the Bible's or the Quran's?

This would be an easy one, if only the Bible were as clearly written as the Quran. But it isn't. In fact, the Bible is so unclear about hell, that Christians disagree about whether or not there is one, and if there is, who goes there, and what it's ...

Posted: Monday 26 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

"Thine eye shall not pity her"

In a previous post I mentioned that the Quran (5:38) requires the amputation of a thief's hands. Many Christians, no doubt, would consider such a punishment cruel, yet the Bible requires the very same punishment for much different crime. What crime ...

Posted: Saturday 24 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The Ten Commandments: Jesus couldn't name them all either

Last week on the Colbert Report, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (co-sponsor of a bill requiring the display of the Ten Commandments) couldn't name the Ten Commandments. He only listed three on the show, although his office claims he got to seven, but the ot ...

Posted: Tuesday 20 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

How to punish a thief: The Bible vs. the Quran

The Bible says that poor thieves, who cannot make restitution for what they have stolen, are to be sold into slavery. If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep ...

Posted: Monday 19 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Which has more good stuff, the Bible or the Quran?

In previous post I compared the amount of cruelty in the Bible and Quran. The Bible had more than twice the number of violent verses (843 vs. 334), but the Quran was about twice as violent when size was taken into account (5.36 vs. 2.71%). But what ...

Posted: Monday 19 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

The Good Stuff in the Quran: A summary

In yesterday's post, I compared the amount of good stuff in the Bible to that in the Quran and found that about 1% of the verses in each are (at least what I would call) good. But what are the good things in the Quran? Here's a summary. Pay the ...

Posted: Monday 19 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Which has more good stuff, the Bible or the Quran?

In previous post I compared the amount of cruelty in the Bible and Quran. The Bible had more than twice the number of violent verses (843 vs. 334), but the Quran was about twice as violent when size was taken into account (5.36 vs. 2.71%). But what ...

Posted: Saturday 17 June 2006 ( 18 years ago )

Why did God hate Esau?

Okay, the answer to yesterdays bible question (Who does God hate?) is Esau. He is the only person in the Bible (so far as I know) whom God is said to hate. (Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13) But why did God hate Esau? Does God hate redheads? (Gen.25:25) Hu ...

Copyright © 1999-2024
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

Send comments to Steve Wells
at swwells(at)gmail.com