I'm nearly done writing a pocket-sized apologetics handbook. This list is from two chapters regarding biblical accuracy and biblical contradiction. Feel free to email me if you want more.
Biblical Inerrancy
1) The order of creation illustrated in Genesis ch. 1 reads as such: heaven and earth, light, night and day, a “firmament” that separates water in the sky from water on the earth, dry land, grasses and herbs and fruit trees, stars, the sun and moon, sea animals and birds, land animals, man and woman. This feat was supposedly accomplished in six days. Obviously, this report of creation is in direct opposition to our current knowledge. One can hardly imagine how night and day existed before the Sun was created or where the “firmament” could be found today.
2) Leviticus ch. 11 lists the many dietary and sanitary restrictions placed on the Hebrew people. The taxonomy presented in this chapter is vague and, in several cases, incorrect. The passage erroneously classifies bats as a type of bird and rabbits as a ruminant species. The same inaccuracies are repeated in Deuteronomy 14. Lev. 11 also states, “All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.” We are unaware of any four-legged bird species in existence, now or ever.
3) 1 Kings 7 describes a bath constructed in the temple of Solomon. It states that the bath was circular, having a diameter of ten cubits and a circumference of thirty cubits. From basic geometry, we know that these numbers cannot be correct, as thirty divided by ten does not equal pi.
4) 1 Chronicles 29 describes offerings that the leaders of Israel made to Solomon's temple. All told, the reported offerings amounted to approximately 182 tons of gold, 363 tons of silver, 654 tons of brass, and 3,630 tons of iron. It is incredibly unlikely that a Bronze Age tribe acquired and delivered this much wealth. For the sake of reference, the maximum load (fuel, cargo and passengers) of a Boeing 747 is around 188 tons. In modern values, such a donation would be worth approximately 4.7 billion dollars.
5) The book of Job contains numerous references to aspects of the Earth's topography consistent with the Babylonian model of the Earth (ie. the Earth is a flat disk that lies atop four supporting pillars). To this day, some organizations1 use these and other verses to support the idea of a flat Earth.
6) In Matthew 4, Satan takes Jesus to a hill so tall that he can view every kingdom on Earth. Obviously this would only be possible if the Earth were flat, regardless of how tall the hill was.
7) In Romans 10, Paul claims that the prophets had reached, “...all the Earth... unto the end of the world.” Of course, Paul was unaware of the existence of Native Americans, East Asians, Southern Africans, Pacific Islanders, and many other people around the globe. The majority of humans on Earth had not heard about Christianity until the twentieth century.
Biblical contradiction
1) The first and most glaring contradiction in the Bible is displayed in the first two chapters. Genesis 1 describes creation in the following order: Earth, plants, sea animals and birds, land animals, man and woman. Chapter 2 gives the following order: Earth, man, plants, land animals, birds, woman. These two irreconcilable accounts have fueled the controversy over scientific theories of origin for over a century
2) Genesis 6-7 describe the preparations made by Noah before the biblical flood. In Genesis 6, God commands Noah to bring two specimens of every animal species onto the ark. Immediately afterward, in Genesis 7, God commands Noah to bring two of every “unclean” animal, and seven of every “clean” animal and bird. Later in the same chapter, all animals are said to enter the ark two by two. It is possible that this discrepancy derives simply from Noah's fuzzy recollection of the events. According to the passage, he was six-hundred years old at the time.
3) Exodus 12 and Galatians 3 both claim that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for four-hundred thirty years, in accordance with the God's covenant with Abraham. The story of this covenant is related in Genesis 15, wherein God tells Abraham that his descendants will be slaves for four-hundred years. While simple numerical discrepancies like this one may seem inconsequential, they serve as very clear demonstrations that the Bible is not a perfectly consistent text.
4) The topic of animal sacrifice is discussed frequently in the Bible, and it is unclear as to whether or not God approves of the practice. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy speak favorably of sacrifices and burnt offerings, even including several sets of detailed instructions for how to make sacrifices most pleasing to God.
Conversely, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah all claim that God neither requires nor enjoys animal sacrifice. It is noteworthy that God prefers blood sacrifice in the earlier books of the Bible and gains increasing disdain for them as the work progresses chronologically. The practice culminates with the sacrifice of Jesus, as related in the Gospels.
5) The Ark of the Covenant is an legendary object depicted in several books of the Bible. Originally constructed to God's own specifications, the Ark was designed to protect and transport the stone tablets upon which God inscribed the Ten Commandments. The Old Testament describes many of the divine or magical powers of the Ark, including one event (1 Samuel 6:19) wherein over fifty-thousand Philistines are destroyed by looking at its contents.
Exactly what those contents were is up for debate. 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5 state that, “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb.” Hebrews 9:4 gives a different description of the contents: “The ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.”
6) Considering that logical arguments require clear definitions of their terms, arguments regarding G/god(s) should be consistent in their descriptions of his/her/its divine attributes. One gross inconsistency in descriptions of the biblical God is whether or not it is possible to actually see him. Exodus 33 claims that no man can see God and live. The New Testament books of John, Timothy, and 1 John agree with this claim, stating that no man has seen God, nor could any man ever see God.
This is odd, considering that the authors of the New Testament were almost certainly aware of the many Old Testament figures reputed to have seen God face to face, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and seventy unnamed Levite elders.
7) Saul, the first king of Israel, is an oft-maligned figure of the Old Testament. His death in battle at Mount Gilboa is recorded in several books, but the various accounts name several different killers. According to 1 Samuel 31 and 1 Chronicles 10, Saul fell on his own sword to avoid being captured. 2 Samuel 1 gives the first-person account of an unnamed Amalekite who killed Saul at the man's own request. Chapter 21 of the same book states that Saul died at the hands of the Philistine invaders.
8) One of the more convoluted cases of biblical contradiction is the kingship of Ahaziah, a king of Judah. 2 Kings 8:25-26 reads,
“In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.”
The very next chapter states that Ahaziah began his reign in the eleventh year of Joram, rather than the twelfth. Later, 2 Chronicles 22 claims that Ahaziah was actually forty-two years old when he took the crown, instead of twenty-two. This claim not only contradicts 2 Kings, it is irreconcilable with the chapter that precedes it. 2 Chronicles 21 states that Ahaziah's father, Jehoram, began his reign at the age of thirty-two and died eight years later, making Ahaziah king. This would make Ahaziah two years older than his own father.
9) To most Christians, there are no scriptures more important than the canonical Gospels, the four biblical accounts of Jesus' life. Unfortunately, the Gospels contain many contradictions of varying significance.
One glaring example is in the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew 1 and Luke 3 both list patrilineal genealogies from David to Jesus. These two records barely resemble one another. They both agree that Joseph was Jesus' earthly father, but the author of Matthew lists twenty-six generations between David and Joseph. Luke's author lists forty-one. Out of the seventy-one names on the two lists, the authors only agree on six, three of those being David, Joseph, and Jesus. The authors seem to have trouble tracing even two generations backwards. Matthew states that Jesus' paternal grandfather was named Jacob. Luke names him Heli.
10) Many Christians view the resurrection of Jesus as the single most important event in history, believing that his singular transition from death to life opened a pathway to immortality for all people. Paul reinforces this belief in chapter 26 of the book of Acts, in which he states that Jesus was the first person to rise from the dead.
Paul was a well educated man, but he appears to ignore several examples of reported resurrection in older scriptures:
a) The prophets Elijah and Elisha are both said to have revived dead children in 1 and 2 Kings.
b) In 2 Kings 13, an unnamed man is buried in Elisha's sepulchre. The man returns to life when his body touches the prophet's bones.
c) Jesus himself is reported as having resurrected two people: an unnamed man in