101 of the craziest, strangest, most ridiculous Bible absurdities
In my last article I took a critical look at the teachings of 
Jesus, in this article I'll extend that to the Bible itself.

As a reference guide I've used The Skeptics Annotated Bible 
which I highly recommend you check out.

The Bible is a book of claims, not a book of facts. It is not 
the "word of God" because "God" didn't write it, men 
did.

In this article 101 of my favorite absurdities in the supposedly 
inerrant "word of God" the Bible...

101. God creates light before the sun and stars
God spends a day making light before making trillions of stars. 
"He made the stars also.", and almost as an afterthought, he 
makes the trillions of stars. Genesis 1:14-19

100. God gets tired and rested
God got tired and rested. Even God gets tired sometimes.

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; 
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had 
made" Genesis 2:2

99. Adam names every animal on earth
Adam names every animal on earth. God makes the animals and 
parades them before Adam to see if any would strike his fancy. 
But none seem to have what it takes to please him. (Although he 
was tempted to go for the sheep.) After making the animals, God 
has Adam name them all. The naming of several million species 
must have kept Adam busy for a while.

"and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was 
the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the 
fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field" Genesis 
2:18-20 

98. Cain gets a wife from outta nowhere
Cain is worried after killing Abel and says, "Every one who 
finds me shall slay me." This is a strange concern since there 
were only two other humans alive at the time - his parents! 
4:14

"And Cain knew his wife." Except the only woman on earth was 
Eve his mother. Genesis 4:17

97. Noah had three sons when he was 500 years old
When Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons. Genesis 5:32

96. God kills all living things because human imagination is evil
God decides to kill all living things because the human 
imagination is evil. Later (8:21), after he kills everything, he 
promises never to do it again because the human imagination is 
evil. Go figure. 6:5

95. God repents that he made man
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the 
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart 
was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had 
made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" 
Genesis 6:5

94. God kills everything to make the world less violent
God was angry because "the earth was filled with violence." 
So he killed every living thing to make the world less violent. 
Genesis 6:11-13

93. 50, 000-millions of animals boarded Noah's ark on the same 
day
All of the animals boarded the ark "in the selfsame day." 
Genesis: 7:13-14

Noah, a 500 year old man told millions of animals onto the ark, 
or according to Christian apologists only 20, 000-50, 000

"However, this response requires creationists to believe that 
just 16,000 animals developed into billions of species in less 
than 4000 years" - RationalWiki

A good article on Noah's ark

92. God enslaves the Jews (his chosen people) for 400 years
Why would God enslave the jews (his chosen people) for 400 
years? Genesis 15:13

91. The Sodomites want to have sex with angels
The two angels that visit Lot wash their feet, eat, and are 
sexually irresistible to Sodomites. Genesis 19:1-5

90. Lot offers his virgin daughters to the mob to do what you 
like with them (instead of having sex with the angels)
Lot offers his two virgin daughters to the perverted mob, so 
they won't rape the angels.

"Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. 
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with 
them" Genesis 19:8

89. Lots wife is turned into a pillar of salt for looking back
Lot's wife looks back, and God turns her into a pillar of 
salt. Genesis 19:26

88. Lots daughters get him drunk and then have sex with him, and 
get impregnated by him
Lot's daughters get him drunk and then have sex with him and 
get impregnated so that they will preserve the family line 
Genesis 19:30-38

87. Jacob wrestles with God and wins
God must not be very strong... Jacob wrestles with god and wins 
Genesis 32:24-30

86. The whole world came to Egypt to buy corn from Joseph
"All countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn."
The Aztecs, the Chinese, and the Indigenous Australians all came 
to Joseph to buy grain. Genesis: 41:57

85. The Israelite population went from 70 to several million in 
a few hundred years
The Israelite population went from 70 to several million in a 
few hundred years. Exodus 1:5, 7, 12:37, 38:26

84. God has a heart to heart with Moses through a burning bush
God has a long heart-to-heart talk with Moses through a burning 
bush. Exodus 3:4-16

83. God shows Moses magic tricks
God tells moses to throw his rod on the ground, it then becomes 
a snake. Then grab the snake by the tail and it will become a 
rod again. Next, make your hand appear leprous, and then cure 
it. And finally, pour water on the ground and it will turn into 
blood. Exodus 4:2-9

82. God decides to kill Moses because his son wasn't 
circumcised
Lucky his Egyptian wife took a sharp stone and cut off the 
foreskin of her son Exodus 4:24-26

81. Moses and Aaron turn the Nile river into blood
"The fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and 
the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and 
there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt" Exodus 
7:17-24

80. God sends plagues so people can get to know him better
"I will send the full force of my plagues against you and 
against your officials and your people, so you may know that 
there is no one like me in all the earth" Exodus 9:14

Why does God send plagues? So that people can get to know him 
better.

79. The plague of Locusts are so thick that they cover the whole 
face of the earth
"They shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be 
able to see the earth" Exodus 10:4-5 (Even over Antarctica?)

78. God travels in a cloud by day and a fire by night
"The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to 
lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give 
them light; to go by day and night" Exodus 13:21

77. God divides the sea with a blast of his nostrils
That's one powerful sneeze... Exodus 15:8

76. Moses, Aaron, and seventy of their companions see God
Moses, Aaron, and seventy of their companions saw God. (They 
even got a peek at his feet!) Exodus 24:9-11

75. Whoever uses God's favorite perfume will be exiled
Don't use God's favorite perfume Exodus 30:37-38

74. God repents of the evil he thought of doing to his people
"And the Lord repented of the evil which he though to do unto 
his people." Exodus 32:14

73. Moses doesn't eat food or drink water for 40 days and 40 
nights
"He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he 
did neither eat bread, nor drink water" Exodus 34:28

72. 70 people became several million in less than 40 years 
during the Exodus
Seventy people (Genesis 46:27, Exodus 1:5) became several 
million in less than forty years during the Exodus. Exodus 38:26

The Israelite population went from seventy (Exodus 1:5) to 
several million (over 600,000 adult males) in 400 years. Numbers 
1:45-46, 26:51

71. What to do if you sin without knowing it
If you sin without knowing that you've done anything wrong, 
kill an unblemished ram for God Leviticus 5:14-15

70. Balaam talks to a Donkey and an Angel
The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which 
you have always ridden, to this day?" Numbers 22:28-35

69. God has the strength of a Unicorn
"God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the 
strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, 
and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his 
arrows" Numbers 24:8

68. God's advice: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart"
Here is some good advice from God: "Circumcise the foreskin of 
your heart." Deuteronomy 10:16

67. You can't go to church if your testicles are damaged, or 
if your penis has been cut off
"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member 
cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord" 
Deuteronomy 23:1

59. God doesn't want to step in your shit
God gives us instructions for defecating. He says to carefully 
cover up all feces "for the Lord walketh in the midst of thy 
camp." (You wouldn't want the divine foot to step in your 
shit, would you?) Deuteronomy 23:12-14

58. God can't defeat chariots of iron
"The Lord ... could not drive out the inhabitants of the 
valley, because they had chariots of iron."  Judges 1:19

57. Talking trees
"The trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over 
us" Judges 9:8-15

56. Samson catches 300 foxes, ties their tails together, and 
sets them on fire
Samson catches 300 foxes, ties their tails together, and sets 
them on fire; the Philistines burn Samson's ex-wife and 
father-in-law; and Samson smites them "hip and thigh with a 
great slaughter." Judges 15:4-8

55. Samson kills 1, 000 men
"The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon" Samson and "he 
found a new jawbone of an ass ... and took it, and slew 1000 men 
therewith." Judges 15:14-15

54. An abused prostitute gets gang raped by a gang of perverts, 
then dies, then gets cut up into twelve pieces
After taking in a traveling Levite, the host offers his virgin 
daughter and his guest's concubine to a mob of perverts (who 
want to have sex with his guest). The mob refuses the daughter, 
but accepts the concubine and they "abuse her all night." 
The next morning she crawls back to the doorstep and dies. The 
Levite puts her dead body on an ass and takes her home. Then he 
chops her body up into twelve pieces and sends them to each of 
the twelve tribes of Israel. Judges 19:22-30

"I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her 
throughout all the country." Judges 20:4-6

53. God gives bad advice leading to the deaths of 18, 000 
Israelites (after 22, 000 had just been killed)
After 22,000 Israelites were killed by the Benjamites, they cry 
all day before the Lord. Then they ask God (again) if they 
should go to war against Benjamin. God said yes, so they try it 
again, and another 18,000 Israelites are killed. Judges 20:23-25

52. God smites the people of Ashdod with hemorrhoids "in their 
secret parts"
God smites the people of Ashdod with hemorrhoids "in their 
secret parts." 1 Samuel 5:6-12

To see if it was God who killed the Philistine people, the ark 
of the Lord and the five golden hemorrhoids were put into a cart 
pulled by two cows. Then the cows were let go. If the cows went 
directly to Bethshemesh, then God killed the people. And that is 
the way the cows went. So by this superstitious method we know 
that it was God who killed the Philistines by giving them 
hemorrhoids "in their secret parts." 1 Samuel 6:7-12

51. God demands five golden hemorrhoids as a "trespass 
offering"
After striking the Philistines with hemorrhoids "in their 
secret parts," he demands that they send him five golden 
hemorrhoids as a "trespass offering." 1 Samuel 6:4-5

50. Goliath was ten feet tall
Goliath was ten feet tall ("six cubits and a span"). 1 
Samuel 17:4

49. David kills a lion and a bear
David caught a lion (and a bear?) "by his beard" and then 
killed him. 1 Samuel 17:34-35

48. God and Soloman have a long face to face talk
The LORD appeared to Solomon the second time ... and the LORD 
said unto him...."
God and Solomon have a long face to face talk. 1 Kings 9:2-3

47. Ravens bring Elijah bread and flesh for breakfast and dinner
"The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and 
bread and meat in the evening" 1 Kings 17:6

46. Elijah shows that he is "a man of God" by burning 102 
men to death
Elijah shows that he is "a man of God" by calling down fire 
from Heaven to burn 102 men to death. 2 Kings 1:9-12

45. Elijah is pulled into heaven by a whirlwind
"As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a 
chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the 
two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind" 2 
Kings 2:11

44. God sends two bears to rip up 42 little children for making 
fun of Elisha's bald head
God sends two bears to rip up 42 little children for making fun 
of Elisha's bald head. 2 Kings 2:23-24

43. An "angel of the Lord" kills 185,000 men while they sleep
"That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a 
hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp" 2 Kings 
19:35

42. The chief of David's captains killed 300 men with his 
spear at one time
"Jashobeam was chief of the officers, he raised his spear 
against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter" 1 
Chronicles 11:11

So did Abishai who killed 300 men with his spear. 1 Chronicles 
11:20

41. Abijah spoke to 1,200,000 soldiers at one time
Abijah spoke to 1,200,000 soldiers at one time. (He had a really 
loud voice.) 2 Chronicles 13:3-4

40. A spirit gets permission from God to be a lying spirit in 
the mouths of prophets
God puts lies into the mouths of his prophets and speaks evil 
about people. 2 Chronicles 18:20-22

39. Ahaziah is 2 years older than his father!
Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 
for eight years and then died (a 40 years old). After his death, 
his youngest son Ahaziah began to reign at the age of 42 (2 
Chronicles 22:1-2). So the son (Ahaziah) was two years older 
than his father! 2 Chronicles 21:20, 2 Chronicles 22:1-2

38. God allows Satan to torment Job, just to see how he will 
react
God allows Satan to torment Job, just to see how he will react, 
and if he will curse God to his face Job 2:3-7

37. God is in hell
"If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed 
in hell, behold, thou art there" Psalm 139:8

36. Even Dragon's praise the Lord
"Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons" Psalm 148:7

35. Bad things only happen to bad people
"There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall 
be filled with mischief" Proverbs 12:21

34. An angel of God kills 185,000 men
The angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and 
eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got 
up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies!" Isaiah 
37:36

33. God swears by himself
"I have sworn by myself... Before me every knee will bow... by 
me every tongue will swear." Isaiah 45:23

32. God makes Ezekiel lay on his right side for 390 days, and 
then on his left side for another 40 days
"Lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel 
upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days 
you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of 
days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear 
the sin of the people of Israel.

After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your 
right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have 
assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. I will tie you up 
with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other 
until you have finished the days of your siege." Ezekiel 4:4-8

31. Jonah stays in the belly of a great fish for three days and 
three nights
"The Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was 
in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" Jonah 
1:17

30. Jonah was angry when his preaching converted a city
"But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry" 
Jonah 4:1

29. Jesus forbids the taking of any kind of oath
Jesus forbids the taking of any kind of oath. Yet Christians in 
courtrooms throughout the United States place their right hand 
on the Bible swear to tell the truth. 5:34-37

"I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, 
for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his 
footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great 
King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even 
one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply 'Yes' 
or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" 
Matthew 5:34-37

28. A whole city asks Jesus to leave
After Jesus kills the herd of pigs by sending devils into them, 
the "whole city" asks him to leave. I don't blame them. 
Matthew 8:34

27. John the Baptist isn't sure about Jesus
John the Baptist is still not sure about Jesus (he's in prison 
and is soon to die). He sends his disciples to ask, "Are you 
the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" 
Matthew 11:2-3

26. Jesus heals a withered hand
Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he 
stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound 
as the other. Matthew 12:10-13

25. Jesus believed that Jonah spent three days and three nights 
in the belly of a whale
Jesus believed in the literal truth of the fish story in Jonah. 
Matthew 12:40

24. What happens when a demon leaves a person's body?
"When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through 
arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 
I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it 
finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then 
it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than 
itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition 
of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be 
with this wicked generation." Matthew 12:43-45

23. Jesus fed 5000 men (plus women and children) with five 
loaves and two fishes
Jesus fed 5000 men (plus women and children) with five loaves 
and two fishes (with 12 baskets left over) Matthew 14:17-21

22. Jesus walks on water
Jesus and Peter walk on water Matthew 14:25-31

21. Jesus went up on a mountain and healed "a great 
multitude" of lame, blind, dumb, and maimed people
Jesus went up on a mountain and heals the lame, the blind, the 
crippled, the mute and many others Matthew 15:29-30

20. Jesus calls Peter "Satan"!
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" 
Matthew 16:23

19. Jesus says you can move mountains
"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard 
seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to 
there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for 
you." Matthew 17:20

18. Jesus recommends cutting off body parts if they cause you to 
sin
"If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off 
and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or 
crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into 
eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it 
out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with 
one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of 
hell" Matthew 18:8-9

17. Rich people don't go to heaven
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, 
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God " Matthew 
19:23-24

16. Jesus tells his disciples to eat his body and drink his blood
"Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat 
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no 
life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has 
eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my 
flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my 
flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." John 
6:53-56

15. The devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain and shows him 
"all the kingdoms of the world."
The devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain and shows him 
"all the kingdoms of the world." I guess the world was flat 
in those days. Luke 4:5

14. God swears by himself to himself
"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one 
greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself" Hebrews 6:13

13. Jesus says the abilities of believers include: 1) driving 
out demons 2) speak in tongues 3) picking up snakes 4) drinking 
deadly poison without harm 5) curing the sick by touching them
These signs will accompany those who believe:

In my name they will drive out demons
They will speak in new tongues
They will pick up snakes with their hands
When they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all
They will place their hands on sick people, and they will get 
well Mark 16:17-18
12. Those who believe in Jesus will be able to perform even 
greater miracles than he did!
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the 
works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things 
than these" John 14:12

11. Jesus turns water into wine
Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine. John 2:9

10. Jesus speaks in parables so that people won't understand 
him
"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been 
given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

"Though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not 
understand" Luke 8:10

9. Jesus disciples didn't recognize him after the resurrection
Did Jesus look like someone else? Did someone else claim to be 
the risen Jesus? How did Jesus disciples not recognize him? Luke 
24:13-35

8. Peters shadow had miraculous healing powers
The sick were healed just by touching the shadow of Peter. Acts 
5:15-16

7. A possessed person speaks to Jewish exorcists before beating 
them up and leaving them naked and bleeding
"Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" Then 
the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered 
them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the 
house naked and bleeding." Acts 19:13-16

6. If a man has long hair, it is a shame unto him (sorry 
Rationality Rules)
"Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man 
has long hair, it is a disgrace to him" 1 Corinthians 11:14

5. People got out of their graves and walked around after Jesus 
rose from the dead
When Jesus died, "the graves were opened; and many bodies of 
the saints" arose. Matthew 27:53-54

4. Jesus went to hell
"His soul was not left in hell" Acts 2:31

3. Michael the Archangel argued with the devil about the body of 
Moses
Michael the Archangel argued with the devil about the body of 
Moses. Jude 9

2. Believers shall judge angels after they die
"Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the 
things of this life!" 1 Corinthians 6:3

1. 144,000 Jews will be going to heaven, everyone else is going 
to hell
Revelation 7, Revelation 14

There are hundreds more absurdities contained in the Bible, this 
article is just a small fraction...

Related Topics:featured
Don't Miss13x Jesus was wrong in the Bible
Trending
Life Lessons
        

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com