I haven't had any religious inclinations since I was a small child, but I don't think we would be humans without narratives written to guide us. If it wasn't bibles, it would have been other stories and fables people would have used to both guide people's morality as well as justify every bad thing people are gonna do anyway.

Nothing is black and white, and I still think faith is worth respecting in others, I sometimes wish my mind was that "clean" that I could get anything from reading mythology.

Believing in things that are so blatantly false does not make anyone a "better person".

So, this is an interesting tidbit. Although they are two distinct collections, in the Christian mythos they are, generally, taken equally. Or at least, they are supposed to be. Different sects in the church have varying degrees of equality, so to speak. However, they are both part of the doctrine. To say that new replaces old is a sweeping generalization that cannot, and should not, be made, when discussing the Christian mythos.

Yeah, if I had more time, I'd do it. But even still, I think memes eliminate a large portion of the discussion and nuance that these contradictions require. It's not as white or black, as I've seen folks make it out to be. I'm sorry you had a bumpy upbringing, in that regard. I did as well and went the complete opposite way. I delved into every religion and I love them all! Cheers!

Not an expert, but I love the field of blood

In the book of Matthew, Judas goes to return the money that he got for turning in Jesus to the priests. They refuse to take the money back, so he throws it into the temple and walks away. He then goes out and hangs himself. The chief priest doesn't feel that he can accept the money, so he uses it to buy a field with the "blood money" and it is called the field of blood, which is used to bury foreigners.

In the book of Acts, Judas uses the money he received to pay for a field for himself, and when he walks onto the land, his body bursts open and all of his blood and entrails fall into the field. And that's how it became the field of blood.

The only way to try to marry these two together is to completely step outside of what the scripture says. That doesn't stop people from trying, but there are two very separate accounts.

Edit; to clarify, I don't mean literary contradiction like this thing says it's ok to do X and this says X is forbidden. I was just pointing out stories with very different resolutions.

Haha, thanks for saying expertise! I would decline the compliment though. I minored in religious histories and actually was one credit away, but didn't finish. Mostly because I was ready to be done with Electrical Engineering, my major. I regret that, now. So, in my humble opinion, the contradiction/discussion on whether G-d does evil is the most fascinating. Isaiah 45:7 depicts G-d as the creator of all, peace, chaos, light, and darkness. But multiple times, especially in the new testament which generally switches over to G-d being a god of mercy, depicts G-d as someone who does not do evil. Some theologians blame the council of Rome for the inaccuracies, but I think it's more complicated than that, as the old testament is not without a merciful G-d.

I think it might come from that, and I do feel like there's something missing in the canon. There's honestly so many missing texts, that it's a shame. But I think G-d is in a superposition, almost. He is all, at the same time. However, this is just my personal explanation that comes with my own personal biases. This is just the example that came to mind, because it's one that can't be brushed off. Looking into the definition of the Hebrew words for light, darkness, chaos, peace, leads to discussion as to the actual meaning behind it. Is it allegorical? Is it definitionally exact? Who knows!

But yeah, in a nutshell, that's my favorite one and I like all the discussion by folks, much much smarter than me with Doctorates in the subject. I'm actually friends with a Doctor whose focus is on whether G-d does evil, so that might bias me again lol. But it really is so fascinating. As society, especially in the western Christian Church, G-d is thought of as this one dimensional character. But in reality, He is multidimensional, varied, and extremely complex. I hope this dump wasn't too much. I highly recommend reading through some dissertations on any subject/contradictions you find, as it is incredibly complex and fascinating to read through.

that story isn't in the earliest copies we've found