outhouse

excellent point most dont know.


only a select few were allowed to even teach/preach this, most were followers just trying to survive

Duvduv

In that case who were the apologists writing for and why did some actually bother to try reconciling contradictions even if unsuccessfully?! In any case I can't imagine any believer claiming error in texts they believed to be sacred and divine, whether literal or not.

jgreen44

Why did the Pauline author want to contradict Acts of the Apostles re: these two particular subjects?

Toto

Other committed Christians in their inner circle. And the point, as now, is not to actually reconcile contradictions. It is to let the committed Christian think that some resolution is possible.

Duvduv

Then it sounds like those literati couldn't see the contradictions and inconsistencies.
It would be hard to take flagrant contradictions in a non-literal fashion.

aa5874

I really do not deal with speculation. I can tell what I found WRITTEN in the NT.

The birth narratives in gMatthew and gLuke have many differences so we can say that one or both were lying or wrote KNOWN fiction but why they Documented those differences is another matter.

For some unknown reason, the Pauline writer decided to change the story in Acts 9.

jgreen44

OK. I just thought there might be some obscure theological reason for the contradiction.

Toto

There's no "obscure" theological reason - it's blatant. In Paul's letters, he is slipping from King Aretas' henchmen in a dramatic escape. The author of Acts changes this to cast "the Jews" as the villains, chasing after Paul to prevent him from preaching the true gospel. It's part of the theme of Acts.

In Paul's letters, he meets the so-called pillars of the Jerusalem Church and sneers at their authority. In Acts, he is in concert with all the early church leaders, and it's a big love fest (except for "the Jews.")

This has all the subtlety of a political cartoon in modern newspapers.

outhouse

there were many different movements and beliefs in a evolutionary cycle before canonization.


paul had his two cents, and was trying to be effective as possible with his messages. It didnt really mirror common belief or theology, it was just his version and because he could write, were stuck with it.

Bernard Muller

IN my experience, somebody who says "I am not lying" knows that his audience believes he/she had been lying at least occasionally.
It is like Nixon on TV saying "I am not a crook": he knew many in the audience thought he had been a crook.