The tension: Genesis 1:1 places the creation of heaven at the very beginning, before anything else, while Genesis 1:6-8 has God making a firmament on the second day and nam…
The tension: Genesis 1:27 and Jesus' citation of it in Matthew 19:4 state that God made humans 'male and female' from the beginning, as a simultaneous creation.
The tension: Genesis 9:25-27 has Noah — explicitly called a just and righteous man — pronouncing a divine curse condemning Canaan to be 'a servant of servants,' and the Tor…
The tension: Job 15:14, Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:10 deny anyone is righteous — all our righteousness is as filthy rags, there is none righteous, no, not one.
The tension: The Hebrew Bible repeatedly narrates theophanies in which God is seen face-to-face — by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, seventy elders, Manoah, Micaiah, Job, Isa…
The tension: A wide set of passages (Gen 14:19, 22; Exod 9:29; 19:5; Deut 10:14; Ps 24:1; 50:12; 89:11; 1 Cor 10:26) affirm that God owns the earth absolutely.
The tension: The Decalogue and its echoes across the Torah, Gospels, and Epistles absolutize the prohibition on stealing, yet Genesis 31:19 reports without condemnation tha…
The tension: Jesus in Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37 commands his followers not to judge, and Paul echoes that in Romans 2:1 and 14:10 along with James 4:12.
The tension: The Torah, prophets, and Wisdom literature relentlessly command fear of YHWH — Deuteronomy 6:13, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Proverbs 9:10, Matthew 10:28, and Hebrews…
The tension: Deuteronomy 4:40, Psalm 37:29, Psalm 78:69, Psalm 104:5, and Ecclesiastes 1:4 all assert that the earth abides forever — Psalm 104:5 specifically says it 'shou…
The tension: Deuteronomy 7:9, 11:1, 12:1, and Psalm 119:151-160 declare the commandments and statutes binding 'forever,' 'always,' and 'to a thousand generations.' Jesus in…
The tension: Deuteronomy 14:1 calls all Israel 'the children of the LORD your God.' Psalm 82:6 declares 'all of you are children of the most High.' Hosea 1:10, Acts 17:29,…
The tension: Deuteronomy 23:2 bars the offspring of an illegitimate union from the assembly of YHWH for ten generations, but the genealogies of David in Matthew 1 and Luke…
The tension: Matthew 8:5-8 has the centurion personally approach Jesus and dialogue with him directly, while Luke 7:1-7 has the centurion send Jewish elders and then friend…
