Bible Contradiction? Were the men or angels inside or outside the tomb when the women arrived?

 

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked:  Were the men or angels inside or outside the tomb when the women arrived?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Outside.

“And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” (Matthew 28:2)

Inside.

“Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.” (Mark 16:5)

“but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing” (Luke 24:3-4)

“But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.” (John 20:11-12)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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Review: Finding God in My Loneliness

 

Lydia Brownback. Finding God in My Loneliness.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, February 28th 2017.  174 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster |Amazon

Do you struggle with loneliness?  If so how do you handle loneliness biblically?  This book is a great resources for anyone going through the trial of being lonely.  I have not heard of the author Lydia Brownback before I read this book so I did not had any expectation in the beginning but when I finished the book I realized I was quite impressed and edified by the content of this book.  The work was refreshingly biblical and I am glad that the author is one of the senior editors at Crossway

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This Sunday at Church: Pray for those at Risk with Corona Virus

More and more churches are doing service online in light of the virus.  Our “This Sunday” series will be going over a Corona Virus edition.  Last week we posted “Helpful Considerations in using Zoom for the Glory of God.”  If you are experiencing Church online here’s something you can do this Sunday: Pray for those at Risk with Corona Virus.

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Review: Tong Wars: The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown

A weekend reading review…because Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  And also for your stay at home, “shelter in place,” etc, with the virus.

 

Scott D. Seligman.  Tong Wars: The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown. New York, NY: Viking, July 12th 2016.  368 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

What comes up in your mind when you hear “Chinatown?”  For those in New York City from the 1890s through the 1930s many people associated Chinatown with organized crime.  It was seen as a hotbed for betting parlors, opium dens, prostitution and violence. Sadly most people during that time associated Chinese people with vice and were seen by the elites in New York and the Newspaper as a bigger problem than other immigrant groups such as the Irish, Italians, etc.  As the book agues this picture wasn’t accurate and Chinese and Chinatown was not statistically more criminal than the rest of the population in New York though their different lifestyles and ways did invite racism and prejudicial serotyping.  In fact during this was Tammany-era New York City and corruption and depravity was all over the city and among politicians and the police.  Situating things in this context the book focuses largely on Chinese organize crime.  The author look at secret societies called “Tongs,” which are the Chinese equivalent to the Italian Mafia.  It is well researched, heavily source documented and narrated well; I can’t put it down!

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Quick Devotional from Matthew 5:10 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading some time ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of Matthew 5:10.  Here is my translation:

“μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης,
Blessed are those who are persecuted on account of righteousness 

ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. ”
because the kingdom of heaven is theirs

Here are some observations:

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Review: The Death of Caesar

A weekend reading review…because Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  And also for your stay at home, “shelter in place,” etc, with the virus.

Barry S. Strauss. The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination.  New York, NY: Simon Schuster, March 3rd 2015. 352 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Most people know about the assassination of Julius Caesar through William Shakespeare’s play.  But what was the actual history of this event?  Barry Strauss a Cornell University professor of classical history gives us a well-researched book about the actual events before and after one of history’s most infamous assassination.

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Reading while journeying through life

I like this picture by artist Edward Hopper.  Its titled “Compartment C Car.” Its symbolic of the Christian life.  What do I mean?

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Trinity and the Christian Life: 4 Audio Messages

Does the Trinity have practical impact on the Christian life?  It sure does!

How?  This series of four audio sessions is worth downloading and listening.

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Bible Contradiction? Was the tomb opened or closed when the women arrived?

 

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Was the tomb opened or closed when the women arrived?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

The tomb was open.

“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,” (Luke 24:2)

“They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.” (Mark 16:3-4)

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” (John 20:1)

The tomb was closed.

“And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” (Matthew 28:2)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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Reducing Unnecessary Heated Discussion Online with Corona Virus

Obviously if you have been on social media and blogs since the Corona Virus led to the slowing down of things in our county you probably have seen a lot of debates.  Some of these can be pretty heated and sometimes unnecessary.

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Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links: Third Week of March 2020

Here are links related to Presuppositional apologetics’ gathered from March 15th-21st, 2020.  Enjoy!

1.) Cave to the Cross Ep. 63 – Finding Truth – How Nietzsche Wins – Part 3

2.) Bible Contradiction? When did Jesus ascend into heaven?

3.) Review – A Matter of Days – Chapter 12

4.) Adopting classical/evidentialist arguments

5.) Refuting the Friendly Atheist Questions 8-9 Do Babies Go To Heaven?

6.) A Meme Confirming Why I’m doing Apologetics on Veritas Domain

7.) Video Lesson: What About Those Who’ve Never Heard?

8.) The Use of Evidence in Defending the Faith–A Comparison

9.) Evolution — A Substitute Religion

10.) Boomerang

11.) A Critique That Destroys Postmodernism With Postmodernism 

12.) Review – A Matter of Days – Chapter 13

13.) How Has John Frame’s Apologetic Changed Over Time?

14.) Babylon Bee: John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ Rereleased With More Realistic Description Of Communism

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend OR that of Another REBLOG HERE

 

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This Sunday at Church: Helpful Considerations in using Zoom for the Glory of God

More and more churches are doing service online.  If you are using zoom this Sunday at Church I want to encourage you to do the following: Use Zoom for the Glory of God.

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Review: Rising in Flames: Sherman’s March and the Fight for a New Nation

A weekend reading review…because Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  And also for your stay at home, “shelter in place,” etc, with the virus.

 

Jeff D. Dickey. Rising in Flames.  New York, NY: Pegasus Books, June 5th 2018. 400 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

When I say “Sherman’s March to Sea,” what do you think of?  I know many images and connotation is stirred up when General Sherman is brought up.  This is a rather infamous military campaign led by General William Sherman going into the Confederate South for the purpose of sabotaging the economic capabilities of the South to feed and equip their Confederate Army.  This was quite a controversy then and also controversial even for our day and age for non-Southerners given the kind of tactics Sherman pursued in the war.  Most of what I have heard has largely been from the perspective of the South and also popular imagination from the movie Gone with the Wind.  The author argues that there’s a need to understand what happened from the perspective of also those in the North and Sherman’s army.

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Spiritual Distancing from Anxiety

I think it was providential that three weeks ago we started a mini-series on worrying. Who would have thought this became so relevant.  During a time when many are practicing social distancing, believers must practice spiritual Distancing from Anxiety.

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Quick Devotional on Worry 3

Quick Devotional on Worry 3

Selected Scriptures

<Establish the Need> We have looked at bad worries but is there such thing as a good worry?

Purpose: We will answer three questions to help us with worrying.

• Is there a godly kind of “worry?”
• How do you tell you have ungodly worries?
• How do you tell you have godly worries?

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