1 Thessalonians vs. 2 Thessalonians

Let's face it. There's a lot of epistles out there claiming to have been written by Paul. How do we know which ones were really written by Paul and which ones are forgeries?

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as if from us that the Day of Christ is at hand. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

OK, so if an epistle says that the Day of Christ is at hand, it isn't really from Paul.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

(1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, 5:1-2)

Whoa! 1 Thessalonians just said that the end will come suddenly during Paul's lifetime. So, if 2 Thessalonians is telling us the truth, that makes 1 Thessalonians a liar!

Do the Dead Sea Scrolls prove the Book of Mormon is true?

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain the earliest known copy of the Hebrew Bible (which Christians refer to as the Old Testament). Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest copy of the Old Testament written in Hebrew were the Masoretic texts (c. 1000 AD). The Dead Sea Scrolls predate the Masoretic texts by over a thousand years, with some of the scrolls dating to as early as 100 BC.

Although there are copies of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint dated to as early as the 4th century, this was written in Greek, not Hebrew. The King James Version of the Bible is based on the 10th century Masoretic texts since it was thought that the  Septuagint mistranslated the original language in several places.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain the entire book of Isaiah as well as parts of every canonical book in the Hebrew Bible except for Esther, along with several Apocryphal writings. While there are numerous spelling and grammatical differences, the Dead Sea Scrolls are essentially the same as the Masoretic texts for the most part. However, there are a few major differences.

For example, Psalm 145 is an acrostic poem. The first verse begins with aleph, the second verse begins with beth, and so forth all the way through the Hebrew alphabet. However, the Masoretic text is missing the verse that should begin with nun. This lost verse was found again in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Growing up as a Mormon, I heard the claim that the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible was correct and that the King James Version of the Bible was translated incorrectly. There's no question that the KJV contains numerous translation errors, however, do the Dead Sea Scrolls validate Joseph Smith's Translation?

The short answer is no. Joseph Smith's version of Psalm 145 is exactly the same as the King James Version (specifically Blayney's 1769 revision of the KJV). He didn't notice that a verse was missing.

The Dead Sea Scrolls give us an extra verse before verse 1 of 1 Samuel 11, which I will call "verse 0":

Nahash king of the Ammonites oppressed the Gadites and the Reubenites viciously. He put out the right eye of all of them and brought fear and trembling on Israel. Not one of the Israelites in the region beyond the Jordan remained whose right eye Nahash king of the Ammonites did not put out, except seven thousand men who escaped from the Ammonites and went  to Jabesh-gilea" (1 Samuel 11:0)

This verse is missing from both the King James Version and the Joseph Smith Translation. Reading the following passage in the KJV or the JST makes it seems like Samuel ripped his own mantle:

And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. (1 Samuel 15:27, KJV & JST)

However, the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal that it was actually Saul who did the ripping:

And as Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. (1 Samuel 15:27, DSS)

In 1 Samuel 17:4, the DSS give the height of Goliath as "four cubits and a span" which is over 7 feet tall. The Masoretic text, which was written a millennium later, gives his height as "six cubits and a span" which would make him over 9 feet tall. It's only natural that some stories grow with the telling. Again, the JST is exactly the same as the Masoretic-based KJV.

As an aside for fans of Antiquities of the Jews, (Go Team Josephus!), Josephus' account of first and second Samuel matches the Dead Sea Scrolls version more closely than either the Masoretic text (MT) or the Septuagint (which is commonly abbreviated as LXX for some reason). This provides some evidence that the writings of Josephus are indeed based on an earlier version of the Hebrew Bible than we currently possess.

Next, let's go back to where it all began:

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (Genesis 1:9 KJV & JST)

The Dead Sea Scrolls add an extra sentence:

And God said, let the waters underneath the heavens be gathered together in one gathering, and let the dry land appear. And it was so.  And the waters under the heavens gathered to their gatherings and the dry land appeared. (Genesis 1:9 DSS)

Joseph Smith didn't get this one right either, however the LXX does give the longer version of the verse, making it more accurate than the Masoretic in this case. Another instance where the LXX matches the DSS, but the Masoretic does not is Psalm 22:16 where the DSS has "they have pierced my hands and feet" while the Masoretic has "like a lion are my hands and feet" which is just crazy talk.

Another example of this can be found in Deuteronomy 32:8 where both the DSS and the LXX have "according to the number of the sons of God" while the Masoretic (and therefor the KJV and JST) have it as "according to the number of the sons of Israel" which actually doesn't make sense when put into context:

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8)

This verse, as the KJV and JST have it, tells us that all the nations of the world are children of Israel. The original Dead Sea Scrolls version implies the older Jewish theology that the world was divided up into different nations each with its own god who was the son of the most high God.

The paragraph where Joshua constructs an altar is located at Joshua 8:30-35 in the KJV and JST. The LXX puts the paragraph a little bit later (Joshua 9:7-8), but in the DSS, the paragraph is located at the beginning of Joshua 5. The only source that agrees with the Dead Sea Scrolls in this case is Josephus. (Go Josephus!)

Exodus 1:3 has "Joseph and Benjamin" in the DSS, but the KJV and JST both leave out Joseph. Judges 6:7-10 are not found in the DSS and are therefor a later insertion, but again the JST blindly follows the KJV.

The DSS version of Psalms is radically different from the version we have today with the psalms appearing in a different order, some psalms missing, and 15 new psalms. The JST actually differs from the KJV when it comes to Psalm 32:

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (Psalm 32:1 KJV)

Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and who have no sins to be covered. (Psalm 32:1 JST)

Unfortunately, it doesn't match with the DSS version, because Psalm 32 is missing from the DSS entirely, as are psalms 70 and 90 (Joseph Smith copies the KJV exactly for these two). Joseph Smith does completely rewrite Psalms 11, 14, and 24, unfortunately, the DSS versions of these psalms are basically the same as the KJV.

There are a few minor differences between the DSS and the Masoretic text in Psalm 138:

To David, I will praise you with all my heart, before God I will make your music. (Psalm 138:1 Masoretic text)

To David, I will praise Yahweh with all my heart, before Yahweh God I will make your music. (Psalm 138:1 DSS)

If I walk in among trouble you will revive me, over the anger of my enemies you will send your hand you will rescue me, your right hand. (Psalm 138:7 Masoretic text)

If I walk in the middle of trouble you will revive me, over the anger of my enemies you will send your hand you will rescue me, your right hand. (Psalm 138:7 DSS)

Joseph Smith didn't notice these small differences, but he does rewrite the next verse.

Yahweh will end on behalf of me, Yahweh, your mercy is for eternity, the works of your hands will not sink. (Psalm 138:8, the same in both Masoretic and DSS)

The Lord will perfect me in knowledge, concerning his kingdom. I will praise thee O Lord, for ever; for thou art merciful, and wilt not forsake the works of thine own hands. (Psalm 138:8 JST)

Perhaps the most major difference between the JST and the KJV is that the JST completely removes the Song of  Solomon. However, it is included in the DSS. The DSS lack Esther, however the JST includes it.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I'll give a few more examples from the book of Isaiah. The Book of Mormon quotes from Isaiah quite extensively so it was obviously a very important book to Joseph Smith.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 KJV & JST, also 2 Nephi 17:14)

You can't tell from the KJV, but in the Masoretic text, the final verb in this verse is "she will call" indicating that the virgin (or young woman as it's more correctly translated) is the one who names the son. In the DSS, the verb "he will call" is used instead.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 KJV & JST, also 2 Nephi 19:6)

Instead of "The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" the DSS has "Elgibor, the father of Ad, ruler of Hashalom." The reason this is so different is due to minor manuscript differences. The name Elgibor in the DSS gets changed to "mighty God" in the Masoretic text simply by inserting a space ("el gibor" means "God is a warrior"). Similar minor differences change "father of Ad" into "everlasting Father" and "ruler of Hashalom" into "ruler of peace".

The Masoretic text translates Isaiah 53:11 as "from the labor of his soul, he will see, he will be satisfied". The Dead Sea Scroll text translates to "from the labor of his soul, he will see light and he will be satisfied". The JST again follows the KJV.

Joseph Smith and Josephus

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus relates the history of the Jewish people from the creation of the world up to the intertestamental period. Josephus' version of events is mainly based on the Old Testament and Apocrypha, however he departs from them often. Interestingly, Joseph Smith seems to have borrowed from Josephus in his own version of the Bible since he differs from the Bible in many of the same ways Josephus does.


1. In Genesis 5:4, Adam and Eve don't have daughters until after the birth of Seth. However, in both Josephus and the Josephs Smith Translation of the Bible (JST), Adam and Eve have daughters at the same time Cain and Able are born.

Adam and Eve had two sons...they had also daughters. (Antiquities of the Jews 1:2:1)

And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters...and from that time forth, the sons and daughters of Adam began to divide, two and two, in the land. (Gen. 4:2-3 Joseph Smith Translation)

2. Although there's no mention of it in the Bible, both Josephus and Joseph Smith tell us that Cain became the leader of a wicked organization.

But Cain was not only very wicked in other respects, but was wholly intent upon getting...He augmented his household substance with much wealth, by rapine and violence; he excited his acquaintance to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and became a great leader of men in wicked courses. (Antiquities of the Jews 1:2:1-2)

And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness. And Cain went into the field, and Cain talked with Abel, his brother. And it came to pass that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. (Genesis 5:16 Joseph Smith Translation, also Moses 5:31-32)

As an aside, this passage of Mormon scripture is quoted in the video game Assassin's Creed II. A later passage in the Mormon scripture called The Book of Moses makes it clear that this was the founding of a secret Satanic society:

For Lamech having entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, Master of that great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan; and Irad, the son of Enoch having known their secret, began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam. Wherefore Lamech, being angry, slew him, not like unto Cain, his brother Abel, for the sake of getting gain, but slew him for the oath’s sake. For, from the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother. (Moses 5:49-51)

3. The Bible makes no mention of Noah's life being in danger, but both Josephus and Joseph do.

For the tradition is that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants. But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: and seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children. (Antiquities of the Jews 1:3:1)

And in those days there were giants in the earth, and they sought Noah to take away his life...For it repenteth Noah that I have created them; and he hath called upon me, for they have sought his life. (Genesis 8:6,15 Joseph Smith Translation)

4. The Bible doesn't tell us that Abraham had astronomical knowledge, but again, both Josephus and Joseph do.

In the tenth generation after the Flood there was among the Chaldeans a man [Abraham] righteous and great, and skillful in Celestial Science. (Antiquities of the Jews 1:7:2)

And it is given unto thee [Abraham] to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God. (Abraham 3:10)

Also, Fascimile 3 in the Pearl of Great Price depicts Abraham instructing the king of Egypt in the "principles of astronomy".


5. In Genesis, Jacob gives a blessing to his son Joseph upon his deathbed dealing with his descendants. He does not praise Joseph himself in the Bible, but he does in Josephus' version:

Now when Jacob had lived seventeen years in Egypt, he fell into a disease, and died in the presence of his sons; but not till he made his prayers for their enjoying prosperity, and till he had foretold to them prophetically how every one of them was to dwell in the land of Canaan. But this happened many years afterward. He also enlarged upon the praises of Joseph, how he had not remembered the evil doings of his brethren to their disadvantage. (Antiquities of the Jews 2:8:1)

The Joseph Smith Translation also has Jacob praise Joseph:

And Jacob said unto Joseph when the God of my fathers appeared unto me in Luz, in the land of Canaan; he sware unto me, that he would give unto me, and unto my seed, the land for an everlasting possession. Therefore, O my son, he hath blessed me in raising thee up to be a servant unto me, in saving my house from death; In delivering my people, thy brethren, from famine which was sore in the land; wherefore the God of thy fathers shall bless thee, and the fruit of thy loins, that they shall be blessed above thy brethren, and above thy father’s house; For thou hast prevailed, and thy father’s house hath bowed down unto thee, even as it was shown unto thee, before thou wast sold into Egypt by the hands of thy brethren; wherefore thy brethren shall bow down unto thee from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins forever; For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down in sin. (Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 48:5-11)

6. According to the Bible, Moses died a natural death. According to Josephus, he did not die, but was taken up to God.

As he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God. (Antiquities 4:8:48)

The Joseph Smith Translation of Deuteronmy 34 leaves the account of Moses's death as is, however, the Book of Alma tells us Moses was taken up to God. 

And when Alma had done this he departed out of the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of Melek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more; as to his death and burial we know not of. Behold this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself, therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial. (Alma 45:18-19)

7. In the Bible, Abraham's wife Sarai was his half-sister. In the writings of Josephus and Joseph Smith, Sarai is his niece.

Now Abraham had two brethren, Nahor and Haran; of these Haran left a son, Lot; as also Sarai and Milcha his daughters, and died among the Chaldeans, in a city of the Chaldeans, called Ur; and his monument is shown to this day. These married their nieces. Nahor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. (Antiquities 1:6:5)

And it came to pass that I, Abraham, took Sarai to wife, and Nahor, my brother, took Milcah to wife, who were the daughters of Haran. (Abraham 2:2, note: this scipture was changed in 1981 so current Mormon scripture does not have Abraham marry his niece.)

D. Michael Quinn tells us in Early Mormonism and the Magic World View that the Palmyra bookstore and library had copies of Josephus during Joseph Smith's time. We also know Joseph Smith read Josephus while he was in jail the night he was murdered. It's likely that Joseph Smith was influenced by the writings of Josephus, however many of the places where he diverges from the Bible could have come from other sources as well.


Main source for this post:
http://bycommonconsent.com/2010/01/06/bcc-papers-51-cranney-josephus/

Was Corinthians written with the Cerinthians in mind?

If you assume Acts is history, then you'd date the First Epistle to the Corinthians to 53 - 57 AD, however, as Dennis R MacDonald has pointed out, the Acts of the Apostles actually seems to imitate the writings of Homer. Trying to find out about the historical Paul by reading Acts is the same as trying to uncover the historical Achilles by reading the Iliad.


While there is some historical truth to the Iliad (there was a city called Troy which was destroyed in a war, some of the characters were actual historical figures) that doesn't mean the Iliad is history. Likewise, while Acts contains some historical truth (many places and people mentioned did indeed exist), that doesn't mean Acts is history. Acts is a historical romance novel and we must treat it that way.


So if we abandon the chronology of Acts, when was 1 Corinthians written? The earliest papyrus of 1 Corinthians dates to about 200 AD and we know it was included in the Apostolikon of Marcion (c. 130 AD). We have no evidence of its existence before this. Turning to the text itself, 1 Corinthians mainly deals with second century gnostic ideas, especially those of the Cerinthians.


In fact, it's more likely Corinthians was written with the Cerinthians in mind than the inhabitants of Corinth. There is no archeological or historical evidence of Jews (let alone Christians) living in the Roman city of Corinth until late in the first century. It's highly unlikely for there to have been a Christian church in Corinth for Paul to have written to during his lifetime.


1 Corinthians makes a lot more sense as a second century response to the teaching of the Cerinthians, a gnostic group that practiced baptism for the dead (according to Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 28.7). Cerinthians kept the Jewish law including the practice of circumcision and distinguishing between clean and unclean food. They believed celibacy was preferable to marriage. They denied that Jesus rose from the dead, and they had no qualms about eating meat that had been used to sacrifice to idols. 1 Corinthians addresses baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29), whether Jesus was resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:12), circumcision (1 Corinthians 7:19), celibacy (1 Corinthians 7) and eating sacrificial meat (1 Corinthians 8, 10:18-33).


In The Pre-Nicene New Testament, Robert M. Price supposes that the title of the epistle Corinthians was meant to be a pun on Cerinthians. Whoever compiled it couldn't just title it Cerinthians since it was supposedly written before Cerinthus was born, but second century readers would know to which group it was really directed. Just like the Book of Mormon which was supposedly written in ancient times, but addresses nineteenth century issues, 1 Corinthians is a wholly second century document masquerading as a letter from the first century.

Jonah vs. Nahum

The entire Book of Nahum can be summed up in a single sentence: God is going to destroy Nineveh because it's wicked. Nahum isn't satisfied with just saying that however. He wants us to know that Nineveh is a dirty whore and God is going to strip her naked and smear filth over her:

Horsemen charging,

     Swords flashing, spears gleaming,

     Many slain, a mass of corpses,

     And countless dead bodies--

     They stumble over the dead bodies! 

All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,

     The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,

     Who sells nations by her harlotries

     And families by her sorceries. 

"Behold, I am against you," declares the Lord of hosts;

     "And I will lift up your skirts over your face,

     And show to the nations your nakedness

     And to the kingdoms your disgrace. 

"I will throw filth on you

     And make you vile,

     And set you up as a spectacle. 

"And it will come about that all who see you

     Will shrink from you and say,

     'Nineveh is devastated!

     Who will grieve for her?'

     Where will I seek comforters for you?"

(Nahum 3:3-7)

I kind of get the impression that Nahum doesn't care for Nineveh very much. And really, who can blame him? Nineveh was the capital of Assyria which was oppressing the Jewish people.

Jonah is a fellow Nineveh-hater. When God commands Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh, he gets on a ship going to Tarshish which is in the opposite direction. He doesn't want Nineveh to be saved. God punishes him for his disobedience, however. Jonah gets tossed overboard and swallowed by a fish. After three days, he relents:

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. [...] And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. (Jonah 3:4-5, 10)

Naturally, this pissed Jonah off:

But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, "Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. "Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." (Jonah 4:1-3)

The Book of Jonah ends with Jonah still wishing he were dead. The point of the story is not to be prejudiced against other nations. Basically, don't be a Nahum.

According to tradition, the people of Nineveh repented in Jonah's time, but generations later, they became wicked again and were destroyed during Nahum's time. However, modern scholars consider Jonah to have been written in response to Nahum.

Nahum and Jonah both contain prophecies about the city of Nineveh and both describe the inhabitants of the city as wicked. They both quote Exodus 34:6 which describes God as slow to anger (Jonah 4:2, Nahum 1:3) and they both end with a question (Jonah 4:11, Nahum 3:19).

Nahum has no reference to Jonah, which is kind of strange if it was indeed written generations later. However, Jonah does seem to contain a reference to Nahum. In Jonah 3:10 where God repents of the evil he said he would do to Nineveh, the verb for repent that is used is the same verb from which the name Nahum is derived.

Nahum expresses a hatred of foreigners while Jonah urges his readers to be compassionate towards them. Basically, Jonah was written by a cosmopolitan and Nahum was written by a xenophobe. 

Galatians vs. Acts

In the Pre-Nicene New Testament, Robert M. Price points out that the first two chapters of Galatians seem to be a response to Acts. This would mean it was written after Acts.

When was Acts written? We know that Acts was written by the same person who wrote Luke. Since Luke-Acts is dependent on the works of Josephus, it had to be written after 100 AD. Since Luke is addressed to Theophilus (Luke 1:3) who was made Bishop of Antioch about 170 AD, this is the most likely date of composition. This is much later than the traditional dating of 80-130 AD, however as there is no solid evidence that Acts was written before this time, this later date is just as likely, if not more likely than the traditional dating.

While Galatians was likely written approximately 130 AD, the earliest existing copy of it (Papyrus 46) is from about 200 AD, so it's entirely likely the first two chapters were added on in the intervening decades.

According to Acts, after Saul (later known as Paul) received his vision, he was struck blind and had to be healed by Ananias:

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus (Acts 9:17-19)

This implies that Paul learned about Christ from the disciples. Paul disagrees:

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

According to Acts, God wasn't too pleased with Paul:

For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake. (Acts 9:16)

Galatians gives us a different view:

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15-16)

Did Paul go to Jerusalem right after he was converted? Acts and Galatians once again differ:

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:26-27)

Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) (Galatians 1:17-20)

I'll admit I actually thought Paul was lying to us until I read that last part where he said he wasn't. Note that the passage in Galatians presupposes Acts since Paul says he returned once more to Damascus, yet this is the first time Damascus is mentioned in Galatians.

According to Acts people were trying to kill Paul:

And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. (Acts 9:28-30)

Paul tells it differently:

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they were glorifying God because of me. (Galatians 1:21-24)

Acts claims that Paul went back to Jerusalem to settle a debate, while according to Galatians, it was because of a vision he had:

Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. (Acts 15:1-2)

Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. (Galatians 2:1-2)

According to Acts, Peter (also known as Cephas for some reason) was the one who received the revelation that gentiles need not get circumcised or keep kosher:

But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am just a man." As he talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled. And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. (Acts 10:26-28)

The way Paul tells it, Peter changed his tune as soon as the pro-circumcision gang showed up:

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? (Galatians 2:11-14)

Even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy? Not Barnabas! So who's lying? Galatians or Acts? You be the judge. Personally, I'm putting my money on Acts being the liar since we have evidence in  Galatians 1:20 that Paul isn't lying.

Onanism

Today, Onanism is synonymous with masturbation, but when we turn to the Bible, we find that the sin of Onan wasn't masturbation at all:

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also. (Genesis 38:6-10)

Onan wasn't struck dead by the Lord for masturbating. His sin was refusing to ejaculate into the womb of his dead brother's wife. According to the law of Moses, if your brother died without fathering a son, it was your duty to get his widow pregnant:

If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:5-6)

Onan didn't want to get his sister-in-law pregnant because the child would not be considered his, but rather his brother's. Of course, this commandment contradicts another commandment:

Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother. (Leviticus 18:16)

But hey, who ever said the Bible was consistent? So, if Onanism isn't really masturbation, does the Bible condemn masturbation anywhere? The closest the Bible comes is calling it unclean:

When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. (Levitius 15:61-18)

Okay, so if a man masturbates, he's just got to take a shower, waiting until evening, and he's clean again. What does Jesus have to say about all of this?

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (Matthew 5:28-29)

This is not technically a condemnation against masturbating. While looking at a woman lustfully can certainly lead to masturbation, it's not the masturbating that's the sin, but rather the looking.

So, in summary, masturbating is only a sin if you twist the words of the Bible. Some people consider masturbating a sin equal to abortion since you are preventing a life from being born. If this is so, masturbation is a sin only for men, not for women. But what does the Bible say about abortion?

While the Bible never specifically condemns abortion, it does use terms such as son, daughter, and baby when referring to an unborn child, so one could make the argument that a fetus was considered a person. For example, the fetus of John the Baptist leaps for joy in his mother Elizabeth's womb:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1:41-44)

However, saying that the Bible forbids abortion because it refers to fetuses as babies is reading a lot into it. Just because mothers refer to their adult children as babies doesn't mean that they are literally infants. So too when a pregnant woman refers to her pregnancy as a baby.

Some people cite the Epistle of James which says, "The body without the spirit is dead." Since a fetus isn't dead, it must have a spirit and therefor killing it is murder. However, we can see that's not what James had in mind when we put the scripture in context:

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)

The point James is making is that belief without good deeds is not really faith, just as a body without spirit is not really alive. Here's another scripture that's not really about abortion but people twist around to make it seem like it is:

But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. (Deuteronomy 12:23)

This little scripture simply means that eating rare meat is not kosher, however it's been interpreted in all sorts of different ways. Jehovah's witnesses interpret this to mean that blood transfusions are not allowed, while others think it condemns abortion. Since a fetus has a bloodstream at about four weeks and blood is the life, some think that getting an abortion after four weeks of pregnancy is murder. A character in the popular television program CSI quotes this scripture in a 2005 episode, although another character responds by telling him that the Pope in the 14th century said life doesn't begin until the mother feels the embryo move, which would be about the fourth month, long after four weeks.

So if we take the Bible at face value without trying to read our own modern day beliefs into it, what are we left with? The closest the Bible ever comes to discussing abortion is the follow passage:

If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she has a miscarriage but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:22-25)

Causing a woman to lose a pregnancy demands a fine, but is not considered a serious injury. Killing a fetus does not demand a life for a life, so it was obviously not considered murder by the Bible.