To see the question and supposed contradictions, go to http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110213103101AA1iu3U
1. Before sin entered the world, God was pleased with it. Sin changed the world and wreaked havoc on it, displeasing God.
2. In 2 Chronicles, God spoke of the temple as His house. It was a place for Him, for His worship. It belonged to Him. He sometimes revealed His presence there. However, as Acts points out, that is not His dwelling place.
3. God is His own light, and dwells in light. In the other three verses, God was covering Himself with darkness, not dwelling in it. Imagine standing in the center of a brightly lit area while having dark clouds surrounding the perimeter of the area.
4. I've seen this "contradiction" before. I'll break it down:
-God is a spirit, and thus has no true physical form.
-We do not know the exact details of God's conversations with Moses, but considering it was only verses away that Moses could not see the face of God, it is reasonable to assume it did not mean visibly face to face.
-With Moses on Mt. Sinai, God translated some of His glory (backside v. face almost a symbolic description) to a visible form.
-The other two "God-sightings" in the OT were visions.
-Jesus said, "YE have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape." In context, He was speaking specifically to the Jews with Him.
5. After Creation, God did not rest because He was tired, but because He was done. In fact, neither Hebrew word in that verse in Exodus implies weariness. In the Isaiah verse, it did not say God did not rest, but that He did not get tired or grow weary.
6. Really? The first two of God "not knowing" or "not being" in a place were just speaking of His attention. It was what He was focusing on at the moment, acting on and pondering (from our temporal perspective, for God is atemporal). As the last one, where God came to the Garden, He manifested Himself (possibly just God the Son) and visited with them. Usually, when the Bible refers to God being everywhere, it is speaking of His awareness, knowledge, and capacity to act at every place and time, even if He is not _personally_ present in every place and time. God was personally present in the Garden, although His awareness, knowledge, and capacity to act still existed everywhere and at every time.
7. When God is trying men to determine their heart, it is not meaning He didn't already know. It serves a two-fold purpose: 1) to reveal men's hearts to themselves, and 2) to allow the content of their heart to be manifested in action.
8. Judah could not drive out the chariots. God wasn't the One lacking power there. Although God was with Judah, He did not give him the supernatural aid needed to drive out the iron chariots.
9. There are two types of issues in these verses: 1) God has feelings. He can have mutable feelings, even if who He is doesn't change. 2) God made an two-sided agreement. When the others broke their side, God was released from His.
10. Seriously? In most the instances of "injustice" and "partiality" you reference, God paid people their due. They sinned, and He treated them likewise. As for predestination, God predestines in accordance with His foreknowledge of our choices, thus choosing justly. Finally, as for the punishing descendants, that is the natural consequences. God allows _natural consequences_ to take place upon later generations; He does not remove them, which would be unjust. He does not hold the sin against the later generations.
11. All of your "God is the author of evil" verses used a Hebrew word which, when translated more modernly and accurately, refers more to disaster and calamity than pure evil. These disasters were always meant as punishments or discipline.
12. When God hardens men's hearts, He is turning them over to their evil desires. Basically, they so much want to reject God that He says, "Okay, but if you so choose now you can never change your mind." They usually say "yes" to the offer anyway.
13. This, like the preceding point, is speaking of after it is too late. When the time is passed for people to choose God, they will not be able to.
14. "Speak softly and carry a big stick." - Theodore Roosevelt.
"Peace through strength." - Ronald Reagan.
God loves peace, but will fight for what is right.
15. Like 12 and 13, God only unleashes His wrath if people reject Him up until it is too late. His mercy and grace is available only as long as you are still able to accept Him (before death or being turned over to evil desires).
16. Only one of those seemed to say God's wrath endures long (forty years was punishment established in a short time of wrath). The other refers to His eternal wrath that is Hell. The anger the Psalmist spoke of was His anger against specific sins in the lives of those who love Him and will repent.
17. Different answer for each verse in the "not accepting" section:
* Jeremiah 7:22 - What does this have to say about not accepting sacrifices? It merely says He did not instruct them when they left Egypt.
* Jeremiah 6:20 - These are specific sacrifices from specific people. God was pleased with sacrifices in general, but if people had wrong hearts or anything else to taint their sacrifices, they did not please Him.
* Psalm 50:13 - This is talking about how God does not need to eat. It has nothing to do with sacrifice. As for verse 4 (Did you mean 14? Same story, either way), it says nothing that even sounds like it has to do with sacrifices.
* Isaiah 1:11-13 - Basically the same story as Jeremiah 6:20. The key word is "vain" in verse 13. God did not approve of people honoring His religious provisions when their hearts were not right.
18. Different for each "accepts human sacrifice" account:
* 2 Samuel 21:8 - No human sacrifice there. The people hung the sons of Saul as justice, a punishment, the death penalty.
* Genesis 22:2 - Come on, this one? God was testing (point 7) Abraham's love for Him over Isaac, which God specifically stated when He told Abraham to stop with the sacrifice.
* Judges 11:30-39 - God did not command Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter. Jephthah made a foolish vow to God. A vow to God is serious, and breaking it is a terrible sin. By killing his daughter or breaking the vow, he would be sinning. God did not respect either.
19. The usage of tempt varies. In the time of King James language, it could equally refer to testing/trying and tempting to sin. God tempts no man to sin, but does test and try them (point 7).
20. It is understood that demons, although not loyal to God, are under His authority. God sends deceiving spirits to satisfy the evil hearts of the people who receive them. If such people were right with God, they could not receive the evil spirits. Also notice that God does not tell the deceiving spirits what to say. This situation is similar to points 12 and 13.
21. You're being ridiculous now. God destroyed man and the earth because of their wickedness. After the Flood, He said that He would not do it _again_ (until, as the next verse clarifies, it is time to destroy the earth at the end of time), and He hasn't (to the whole earth, as He specified). I do not see your point.
22. Did you read these verses? The verses say that you cannot find God (physically), and you cannot comprehend the full of His mind, but that does not mean you cannot know His attributes.
23. Besides the verse that talks about God visiting Abraham (just because Abraham saw multiple people doesn't mean anything; more than likely some angels accompanied God), the others speak of the Trinity. I will not fully explain the Trinity here, instead go to carm.org. There is one God in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (which your 1 John verse stated). The Bible teaches the Trinity.
24. God did not command the Israelites to rob from the Egyptians. God wanted them to ask the Egyptians to give them stuff. Since God had just released twelve plagues, that wouldn't be hard.
25. God did not approve of the lying itself. He blessed them in spite of lying because they attempted to do God's will. They made mistakes, but they loved.
26. God did not approve hating the Edomites. Sometimes God had to place the Israelites at war with people, because He cares more for souls than lives. The Israelites would follow God, while no other nation would. The other nations would lead Israel astray, though, so sometimes He had to kill them. War for souls does not equate to hate.
27. The commandment was against murder. The Hebrew word translated "kill" is "ratsach," which mainly referred to murder. There is a difference between killing and murder (murder is usually out of anger, hate, envy, and it is intentional). In this case, the killing was capital punishment for those who had worshiped the Golden Calf.
28. In general, the blood-shedder was to be killed under capital punishment. Cain was a _specific_ exception.
29. The images commanded to be made in Exodus 25 were cherubim, angels. They were not for worship, but symbolism and decoration. The making of images as idols or gods. was forbidden.