Tag Archives: 1 Corinthians 14:33

To Confuse or Not to Confuse?

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1 Corinthians is an epistle when read carefully, offers quite a few interesting arguments about the guidance of God. Today we’ll be looking at one such argument. We read as follows:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound (καταισχυνη) the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; – 1 Corinthians 1:27.

We then read as follows:

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. – 1 Corinthians 14:33.

These two statements are plainly contradictory. On the first hand, we have the argument that God intentionally chose the absurd and foolish things of this world to confound (confuse) the wise. On the other hand, we have the argument that God is not the author of confusion.

Looking at 1 Corinthians 1:27, we note several things. Firstly, that the Christian (concept of) God cannot blame anyone for being guilty of rejecting the belief that God can be both man and God, that God can be both capable of suffering and all powerful, ignorant and all knowing. This is because, as the scripture says, God intentionally chose the foolish things to confuse the wise, if the wise are confused because of the foolish things, then who bears responsibility for the confusing in the first place? In this case, it would be the Christian (concept of) God. We also note that the word here for confounding or confusing is not a translational error. Many translations including the KJV, AKJV, Jubilee Bible 2000, Douay-Rheims Bible and the Webster Bible Translation all use the word “confound” in their editions for this verse. Additionally, the Greek word used here is καταισχυνη which according to Strong’s Lexicon (#2617), means:

Short Definition: I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Definition: I shame, disgrace, bring to shame, put to utter confusion, frustrate.

Therefore, to appeal to claim it is a word equivocation between the words in the two passages would be incorrect, to appeal to a different translation is also incorrect and to also claim that the word does not mean confusion is also wrong.

Looking at 1 Corinthians 14:33, we see the argument that the Christian (concept of) God is not the author of confusion. To understand the context the verse is being used, we read from Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:

God is not the author of confusion – Margin, “Tumult,” or “unquietness.” His religion cannot tend to produce disorder. He is the God of peace; and his religion will tend to promote order. It is calm, peaceful, thoughtful. It is not boisterous and disorderly.

Some may argue that other interpretations refer to the confusion as women (as we find in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible commentary) or that the confusion refers to a conflict in prophecy. If the confusion is to be understood as women, it makes the verse much worse, if it refers to prophecy and the words of prophets (or those inspired by God), then the issue is not removed as Christians consider both passages above to be from inspiration and they plainly conflict which does not remove the problem but compounds it. Other commentaries have combined the two and indicated that the confusion is both moral and spiritual, as we find in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:

for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace] Confusion; literally, unsettlement. Cf. St James 3:16. Also St Luke 21:9, where the word is rendered commotion. As in the natural, so in the moral and spiritual world, God is a God of order.

Both of these interpretations do not remove the contradiction between the passages, but affirms them, and therefore to appeal to other commentaries would not remove the issue. The contradiction stands as is.

In conclusion, if the Christian (concept of) God is not the author of moral or spiritual confusion, why would the Christian (concept of) God intentionally make the religion of Christianity both difficult and confusing?

and God knows best.

The Problem of Psalm 8:5 (or Psalm 8:6 – Hebrew Bible)

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Let’s begin with quoting the verse:

New International Version (©1984)
You made him a little lower thanthe heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.

English Standard Version (©2001)
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!

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The Problem of Colossians 4:16

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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

In the following quote, we read that the alleged Apostle Paul, commands his followers to read one of his epistles that he sent to another town:

And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. – Colossians 4:16.

The problem with this verse is that the Epistle to Laodicea no longer exists, therefore the scripture (according to Christians) of Colossians 4:16 is commanding the impossible. This raises a bigger issue, and to explain it we need another quote from New Testament:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God  may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

According to Sham Shamoun, this verse refers to Paul’s letters in general as scripture:

“Since all the letters where Paul claimed inspiration preceded the writing of 1 and 2 Timothy, we can safely infer that these epistles would have also been included among the Scriptures that Paul said were breathed out by God; an inference which the apostle Peter himself makes:

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:15-16″

This reasoning therefore exacerbates the problem of scriptural self contradiction, emendation and rejection. How so? To be quite honest, if Paul’s words are inspired by God and are therefore scripture and as scripture it is commanding Christians to read a certain letter, yet that letter does not exist, we’re in a bit of a conundrum here. If we consider the letter of Laodicea to be scripture according to Sam’s interpretation of 2 Timothy and in light of 2 Timothy itself, then the Christian faith has dug itself into a ditch. Allow me explain:

  1. Paul’s words are seen as scripture.
  2. All scripture is profitable and useful for teaching and guidance, according to 2 Timothy.
  3. If #2 is true, then Colossians 4:16 is false as it is not profitable as the Epistle to Laodicea does not exist.
  4. Since Colossians 4:16 is false, then #1 cannot be true since it does not fulfil the condition of #2.
  5. Since #1 and #2 are false, then the New Testament thus far cannot be seen as scripture.
  6. Since #3 is true, then why do Christians continue to believe it to be scripture?

Considering that logic is not the best friend of our friends at Answering Islam or Answering Muslims, I need to establish my point a bit more simply. In context of 2 Tim. 3:16, Paul’s letters are scripture and are therefore useful for teaching. Paul’s letter commands the impossible and thus is useless. Since it is useless than 2 Tim. 3:16 is false. Since 2 Tim. 3:16 is false, then as a whole, the New Testament is not trustworthy as it contradicts the very criteria under which it exists. Now, I’m assuming that I’m dealing with some thick headed people, so I’m going to bring to the forefront an even simpler argument. Colossians 4:16 commands us to read a scripture known as the Epistle to Laodicea, since Colossians 4:16 made it into the canon by YHWH’s will, then we have some bigger issues:

  1. YHWH was ignorant of what would happen to the Epistle to Laodicea.
  2. YHWH knew what would happen and chose to have 2 Tim. 3:16 contradict Paul.
  3. If #2 is true, then YHWH is deceitful as he is not the author of confusion see 1 Cor. 14:33.
  4. Since #3 is true, then the YHWH of the New Testament is not a true God by his own criteria/ Paul’s inspired writings.

So where does this leave the Christian religion? Either they have to forego Paul’s letters as worthless garbage in order to protect the dignity of YHWH, or they reject both YHWH as he contradicts the criteria of not being a God of confusion. If not, then rejecting both YHWH and Paul is the best solution as both contradict each other and themselves, as demonstrated above. Therefore due to simple logic, according to the Bible, Christians must reject the Bible, YHWH and Paul.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.