Evidence for God from Science

Hello everyone, this is my first post.

I've been talking to a couple of people on a board on another website and offering an apologetic for the faith. It has actually been going pretty well, as no one has "flamed," or done anything to that extent.

Anyway, this one person made a point about the Bible being "wrought with contradictions." I have been busy writing up an answer during my free time to their argument and I am stumped by one of their questions.

"example #3

MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

LUK 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.

Who is Josephs father again? I didn't quite catch that."

I looked up those verses and I also noticed that many more of the names are different. Are these just lists of Joseph's father's and mother's sides or what? I just can't seem to find an answer.

Thanks in advance,
dmr

These are the liner notes in my Bible - "As reckoned by the law the son of Joseph, but in reality He was the Son of God and Mary. Joseph was begotten by Jacob and was his natural son (Mt 1:16). He was the legal son or son-in-law of Heli, having married Mary the daughter of Heli. It does not say Joseph was begotten of Heli, as it does in the case of jacob (Mt 1:16)"

Ray

Hi DMR, welcome to the forums.

The "contradictions" in the Bible is something you will hear a lot when you debate non-believers. These so-called contradictions are of course nothing of the sort, and all they prove is the lack of knowledge on the part of those who level the criticism.

In this specific case, Matthew did not quote direct ancestors, but named those that would legally have been in line for the throne of David. Luke showed the actual physical geneaology of Jesus. Both Joseph and Mary were from avdic descent, so this ties in nicely with Ray's note above.

For future reference on this topic: http://www.christian-thinktank.com/fabprof4.html

OHH OHH I got another one!!!