Problem: According to Exodus 25:15, “The poles shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.” But, in the Numbers passage it says that when the ark was moved by the Levites “they shall insert its poles.” This seems to be conflicting instructions.
Problem: According to Numbers 4:3, at 30 years of age a Levite would “enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.” However, Numbers 8:24 states, “this is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting,” and Ezra 3:8 says that Levites “from twenty years old and above” were appointed to oversee the work of rebuilding the house of the Lord. Is there a contradiction between these passages?
Problem: According to Exodus 40:2, Moses took the census of the people of Israel the “first day of the first month.” But in Numbers, the same census, yielding the same number of 603,550, was taken on “the first day of the second month” (Num. 1:1).
Problem: According to the census taken in chapters 1–4 of Numbers, the newly formed nation of Israel must have numbered about 2 million people. According to Numbers 1:1, this census was taken while the people were in the wilderness of Sinai at the beginning of their 40 years of wandering. However, the dry and desolate conditions of the Sinai desert would have made it impossible for such a large group to survive. So, is the census inaccurate?
Annihilationism is the doctrine that the souls of the wicked will be snuffed out of existence rather than be sent to an everlasting, conscious hell. The existence of the unrepentant will be extinguished, while the righteous will enter into everlasting bliss.
Do animals have rights, too?
For many decades the theory of evolution has been taught as fact in most secular (and religious) schools. The result has been predictable. If man is merely an animal, and there is no eternal reality, life is robbed of its meaning and sanctity. Survival of the fittest. We are no better than a mouse or a monkey! This has resulted in a dramatic increase in crime, immorality, depression, hopelessness, and suicide. Morality is meaningless to an animal.
Is drinking alcohol “safe”? Are you one of those who only drinks in ‘moderation’? Does the Bible allow Christians the liberty to drink alcohol just as long as they don’t get drunk? Is abstinance the best policy? Is abstinance the Bible’s policy?
(The following are excerpts from an article entitled ‘What is Agnosticism?’ by Robin Schumacher of CARM.org)
Agnosticism comes from two Greek words (a, “no”; gnosis, “knowledge”). It literally means “no-knowledge,” the opposite of a Gnostic. Thus, an agnostic is someone who claims not to know. As applied to knowledge of God, there are two basic kinds of agnostics, those who claim that the existence and nature of God are not known, and those who hold God to be unknowable. Since the first type does not eliminate all religious knowledge, attention here will center on the second. Over 100 years before Huxley (1825-1895), the writings of David Hume (1711-1776) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) laid down the philosophical basis of agnosticism. Much of modern philosophy takes for granted the general validity of the types of arguments they set forth. [Huxley, Hume, and Kant were famous philosophers that popularized ‘agnosticism’.] (Norman Geisler)
3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
(The following are excerpts from an article by James K. Walker entitled “Acupuncture”)
By most estimates the practice of some forms of acupuncture can be dated over 5,000 years ago.
Problem: Time and time again God reminded Israel that they were the “apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8), the object of His special blessing (Gen. 12:1–3). Yet here God says, “My soul shall abhor you.” Continue reading →
Problem: Here the people of Israel are told to “dwell in booths.” But earlier in Exodus 16:16, it speaks of everyone being “in his tent.”
Problem: According to this verse the fast associated with the Day of Atonement was to begin on the “ninth day of the month.” But earlier in Leviticus 16:29 they were to begin fasting on the “tenth day of the month.”
Problem: According to Jewish belief, barrenness was a curse (Gen. 16:1; 1 Sam. 1:3–7). Children were considered a blessing from the Lord (Ps. 127:3). The blessing of God in the land was dependent on having children (Gen. 15:5). In view of the stress laid on having children, some have argued that it is not surprising that the OT Law would frown on homosexual activity from which no children come. Thus, they conclude that the Bible is not condemning homosexual activity as such, but only the refusal to have children.