Problem: According to certain Bible critics, 2 Peter 3:10 contradicts Ecclesiastes 1:4. Whereas Peter wrote, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (emp. added), Solomon declared in the book of Ecclesiastes, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever” (emp. added). Is one of these two declarations an “erroneous statement” as skeptic David Miles contends (2007), or is there a logical explanation regarding why the “burned up” Earth is said to “abide forever”?
Earth
Col 1:23 – To Every Creature Under Heaven?
Problem: Only about 30 years after the Lord’s church was established on Pentecost (Acts 2), the apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Colosse about their reconciliation in Christ. He then mentioned to them how the Gospel had been “preached to every creature under heaven” (Colossians 1:23). However, according to skeptics who have commented on Colossians 1:23, “Never at any time has every living person heard the gospel. Millions of people have come and gone without having had any contact whatever with Christianity or the Bible” (McKinsey, 2000, p. 569). Thus, Paul allegedly was mistaken and therefore not inspired by God to write to the Colossians or anyone else in the first century. Are we really to believe, as skeptic Tony Kuphaldt asked, “that the entire world had heard about Jesus at this time (about 60 A.D.)?!” (2002).
