Bible Inconsistencies
Posted by Pastoral Musings on January 13th, 2009
From the list here
GE 4:9 God asks Cain where his brother Able is.
PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.
It is indeed true that God asked Cain where Abel was. It is also true that God is both omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (present everywhere at all times). There is no inconsistency, however.
One wonders if the person digging up these supposed inconsistencies knows what a rhetorical question is.
One also wonders if they realize that one can ask a question while already knowing the answer? Parents do that quite often with their children. “Who broke this vase?” Which, being interpreted means, “Johnny, here is your chance to ‘fess up. If you lie and deny doing it, things will be much worse.”
This is not an issue of God not knowing what had happened to Abel. It is simly a rhetorical question that was calculated to bring Cain to confession and repentance. The context demands this interpretation.
“And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Gen 4:9-10) KJV
January 15th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Good points! Ironically, those who level criticisms like that about the Bible are the real “literalists.” We read the passages in context, the way they were meant to be read.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Neil,
Thanks for stopping by.
Your are indeed right.
Jason (The Pastor)