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Problem: In the passage of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus paints a vivid word picture using Abraham as his speaker. Abraham tells the rich man who is in Hades (Luke 16:29–31)1 that his brothers would not accept a forewarning about the torments in Hades and repent and believe, even if someone returned from the dead and told them. But in John 11:15 and 41–42, Jesus specifically tells the disciples and the people gathered together at the tomb of his friend Lazarus (not the same person as in the Luke 16 passage) that upon seeing Lazarus’ resurrection, they will believe that Jesus was sent from God. Once we dig deeper into the two texts, we will see that this apparent contradiction is not one at all. The two passages are speaking about different types of people.
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Problem: Jesus said, “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (Jn. 10:35-36) Was Jesus arguing that there were many gods? Mormon theologians claim that this gives warrant for polytheism. Is this the case?
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Problem: 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:33-36 KJV) Continue reading →

Problem: According to the apostle John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1,14, emp. added). Unquestionably, this Word (God), Whom John claims became flesh, was Jesus Christ (1:17). This same apostle recorded other statements in his account of the Gospel that convey the same basic truth. He wrote how, on one occasion, Jesus told a group of hostile Jews, “I and My Father are one” (10:30). Later, he recorded how Jesus responded to Philip’s request to see God by saying, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9). He even told about how Jesus accepted worship from a blind man whom He had healed (9:38; cf. Matthew 8:2). And, since only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 4:10), the implication is that Jesus believed He was God (cf. John 1:29,41,49; 20:28; Mark 14:62).
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Problem: John 8:56-59—“Your father Abraham exulted in that he should see my day, and he saw and
rejoiced. The Jews therefore said to him, Thou hast not yet fifty years, and hast thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. They took
up therefore stones that they might cast them at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the
temple.”
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Problem: They sound exactly the opposite. On the surface, they appear to be completely contradictory statements. “We won the game.” “We lost the game.” How could both of these declarations be true? If a person is indeed talking about the same game, how could a team have both won the game and lost the game at the same time?
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Problem: Was it right for Jesus to bear witness of Himself? Does that invalidate His testimony? The gospel of John seems to say both yes and no. Does it contradict itself on this matter? Let’s take a look:

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Problem: One of the most powerful punches of the New Atheism is their rhetorical jab at the so-called “God of the Old Testament.” Repeatedly, the New Atheists attack the moral atrocities of the Old Testament, as evidence that God cannot be worthy of directing and leading our lives –let alone our universe. For instance, in his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins writes,
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Problem: Doesn’t Jesus contradict Old Testament teachings by not stoning the adulteress, which was commanded?

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Problem: Does their silence equate to a Bible contradiction?

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Problem: One common misconception regarding the behavior of Jesus is that, on occasion, in healing the sick and performing other benevolent actions, He broke the Sabbath in order to accommodate the higher law of love. This viewpoint leaves the impression that law is sometimes, if not frequently, antithetical to being loving. It implies that sometimes breaking God’s laws is necessary in order to be loving. This notion, of course, is flawed and contrary to Bible teaching. As Paul explained to the Romans: “he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments…are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). Paul meant that when you obey the law’s directives concerning how to conduct yourself toward your neighbor, you will be engaging in loving behavior. To love, one must enact God’s laws.
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Problem: Scripture repeatedly testifies that Jesus never sinned. The prophet Isaiah, speaking as if Jesus had already lived and died, said that the Savior “had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth” (53:9). The apostle Peter quoted from Isaiah in his first epistle (2:22), and added that Jesus was “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Paul wrote to the Corinthians how Jesus “knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). What’s more, according to Hebrews 4:15, Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He was “pure” and “righteous” in the supreme sense (1 John 3:3; 2:1). Simply put, Jesus was perfect; He never transgressed God’s law.
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Problem: Did Jesus lie when he said he would not go to the Feast and then later he went?  No, he did not lie.  Let’s take a look at the verses and then examined their contexts.

1. No, Jesus did not go to the feast
   1. John 7:8, “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
2. Yes, Jesus did go to the feast.
   1. John 7:10, “But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.”

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Problem: Roman Catholic theologians argue that the bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper literally become Jesus’ body and blood. They use the term transubstantiation to describe this event (trans means “to change” and substantiate means “substance”). Jesus himself said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (Jn. 6:53). At the last supper, Jesus offered the bread and said, “Take, eat; this is My body” (Mt. 26:26). In its 13th session in 1551, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent declared:
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