Joseph was clearly the son of Jacob (Matthew 1:16), so Luke 3:23 should be understood to mean "son-in-law of Heli." Thus the genealogy of Christ in Luke is actually the genealogy of Mary, while Matthew gives that of Joseph. Actually the word "son" in Luke 3:23 is not in the original, so it would be legitimate to supply either "son" or "son-in-law" in this context. Since Matthew and Luke clearly record much common material, it is certain that neither one could unknowingly incorporate such a flagrant apparent mistake as the wrong genealogy in his record. As it is, however, the two genealogies show that both parents were descendants of David. Joseph through Solomon (Matthew 1:7-15), thus inheriting the legal right to the throne of David, and Mary through Nathan (Luke 3:23-31), her line thus carrying the seed of David, since Solomon's line had been refused the throne because of Jechoniah's sin (Jeremiah 22:24-30 and Jeremiah 33:15-17).

You have a very twisted view of Christianity. There are many cults that fly the Christian banner but serve not the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the Devils Favorite Trick, as it appears you have fallen for it along with a great company of others: http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/doctrine/devilstrick.html

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Corinthians 4:4)

6. Wow, do you really believe what you are saying? I doubt if you are going to get any followers on that one. As for the genealogies in Luke and Matthew, there is no contradiction at all once you understand that the genealogy of Christ in Luke is actually the genealogy of Mary, while Matthew gives that of Joseph.

7. You are mistaken. Naarah is the Hebrew word to denote a "young woman". Almah is the Hebrew word to denote a young woman that is a virgin, and when the 54 scholars translated the KJB they chose to translate almah in this particular context virgin. You will have a hard time convincing anyone otherwise except those who have come out of a liberal seminary. Bottom line for me is that the virgin birth was prophesied 700 years before it came to pass and was wonderfully fulfilled in that virgin Mary. God was "made in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7), God sent "his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3), yet He was "without sin" (Hebrews 4:15), and God chose to do it through the virgin birth. Christ was not born like you and I with a sinful nature, born of Adam's race. He was miraculously conceived of the Holy Ghost. The Bible tells us that the payment for sin is death. I could not die for your sin because I have sin of my own. I too need a redeemer who could take away my sin. Jesus was without sin and therefore could die for your sins and mine. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:4-5). God prepared Him a body in the womb of that virgin and God was manifest in the flesh with the sole purpose to redeem a fallen mankind, and to save them from their sins, so they might have the free gift of everlasting life when they receive Christ.

8. You reject the earliest historical document of this record so there is many things you will not accept. For some it does not matter how much evidence is available. Many today believe the Holocaust did not happen, or that man never landed on the moon etc. You need to examine your heart. If you are seriously looking for evidence of early archaeological evidence of Nazareth just Google it. You will find evidence on the very first page of your search.

9. When you die do you know where you will be? I am not talking about the tent you now live in that is decaying and will soon be dust. I am talking about you, the spirit that now resides in your body. The spirit is not physical. That is the part that will go on to live forever, where is your choice. Read "The Devils Favorite Trick" on this website. It appears you have fallen for it. The Pope is not Christian, and Roman Catholicism is not Biblical Christianity. The Bible tells us to "Prove all things" so you are not that far from being a true Christian. I have done my own research and have come out of a cult because of it, although being trained from a child of it's "truth". I have a library full of books on all the topics you have mentioned and more. I have a book that I wrote called "Mystery of the Mayans and Aztecs Solved" with the subtitle, "Unlocking the mysteries of the Inhabitants, Languages, and Religions of the World" that is a summation of my own research. If you email me your mailing address I would be glad to send you a free copy. For me it is not hard to believe in an Almighty God and Creator, just by looking at all the amazing marvels of creation. It demands a Creator, a Master designer. Some believe in evolution which I have seen to be the greatest hoax this world has ever known.

1. Just in case you do not know all these idols are from the Greek and Roman Pantheon. No one today follows them. These were idols that they first fashioned with their minds in the constellations and then made idols to worship them. Or as the Bible says, "...God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven ... ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them..." (Acts 7:42-43) If you would like to know more on this subject we have a couple of articles on our website that go into more detail on this, called "Stars, Idols and Demons" and "The Mystery of Religion".

2. Your batman theory just does not wash. It may have worked in the "Dark Ages" of superstition, but will not work today. When Constantine legalized Christianity in 324 AD what happen was that Constantine's form of Christianity was a pagan one. People became Christians for all the wrong reasons now. Pagan temples were turned into cathedrals, idols names were changed to saints, such as, the idols of Isis and Horus, the Madonna with Child, was changed to Mary and the babe Jesus. The head of the pagan priesthood, the Pontifex Maximus (ceasar), now became the presiding Bishop of Rome over all other bishops. This is how ROMAN Catholicism (a cult) was formed. To become a Christian in the first three centuries meant a certain painful death. After the legalization of Christianity, it meant exaltation to high positions in government etc. The Pagans would not be converted so the world converted Christianity. That is called apostasy in the Bible, or a departure from the faith. You can read more about this in our article called "Babylon and the Church Today" for more information on this topic.

3. The ministry of Jesus Christ began approximately the last three years of His life and then He was crucified and died for our sins and rose again from the dead approximately 33 AD. Now you want something written "in 33 CE or earlier". You must take into account that it is hard to write details of an account before they happen. In your critique of your Creator Jesus Christ, you should also take into account that those were not the days of Twitter and Facebook, TV, CNN, ABC, Fox News, computers and the printing press. The first accounts of the life and death of Christ were written by his companions, which were recorded in the Bible by the apostles. You must also understand that in those days when things were written on the skins of animals or on papyri, they were read and handled and wore out rather quickly and copies needed to be made, and this is how most documents have come down to us today. Christianity in its beginnings may have been quite insignificant. There were only approximately 100 people in the upper room before Pentecost. But as it began to grow from that "little flock" (Luke 12:32) it began to be noticed and hence, the latter half of the first century is where you would expect to find secular mention of this "sect", which records have survived to this day such as Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, etc.

4. I cannot believe the extent that some will go to try and banish the reality of Jesus Christ from their life and minds. You are grasping at straws my friend. People have been trying to destroy the Bible with its historical record for thousands of years, but it remains true. They are gone and God's Word remains. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1:24-25)

5. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

Let's face it, if Jesus were not real there would be no Christianity, which today number about a billion souls. Luke would have went back to his medicine practice, Matthew to his tax collecting, Peter to his fishing nets, etc., but no, they gave up their life to bring the message of the gospel to a lost and dying world. Many in the early church would have gladly bowed down to idols of Caesar if the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ had not taken place, but no, they gladly chose martyrdom, knowing they would obtain a better resurrection.

And today, historians such as Paul L. Maier address this absurdity saying, "The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus' existence."

There is mention of Jesus by many historians, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the younger, etc. Some of these were eyewitnesses such as Luke who wrote, "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." (Luke 1:1-4)

As for Nazareth not existing in the first century, your argument is from one of silence, Nazareth was quite insignificant in its beginnings as with any city, hence the saying, "can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46) The only mention of Nazareth in the Bible is referring to "Jesus of Nazareth", which would obviously, in subsequent centuries, make it a city of renown.

Considering your argument, "Spider Man lives in New York City. By this line of reasoning Spider Man is real by I can find NYC on a map. It is easy to create a fictional character and drop him into a real historic setting with real historic people." This just does not wash as EVERYONE knows that Spiderman is a Marvel Comics super action hero. Nobody believes he is a real person. The same goes for your batman story.

But more than the historical witness is the moral witness of Christ. He "went about doing good", "never man spake like this man". He could challenge His contemporaries, "Which of you can convice me of sin?" We can easily point out the sins in one another's lives, but none could put their finger on Christ because He was God manifest in the flesh, the One who bore our sins on the cross that we might have the free gift of everlasting life. If Jesus never existed in your mind, why all the fuss? Why waste your time? Why not just leave these silly Christians with their fairytales and move on. Oh but you can't, because you know that if it were true that Jesus is alive and He is who He says He is, you will stand before Him as your Judge unless you repent. Many like yourself feel they need to find some jot or tittle that they might throw out the whole counsel of God, despite its overwhelming truth that speaks to the soul of man. I have nothing to lose seeing that Christ already owns my life, and it is in His hands. You on the other hand have eternity to lose. You should reconsider your ways. I will pray for you, that God would open your mind and heart to see.

Oh yes, as for the "virgin birth", it is no mistranslation. I thought the academics have come to understand this by now. But let us follow this through right from the prophecy in Isaiah.

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a SIGN (Note: also translated "miracle". What sort of miracle would this be if a girl got pregnant by a man?); Behold, a VIRGIN [Hebrew: Almah] (Note: In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, "Almah" was translated by the 70 Greek/Hebrew scholars as "parthenes" which can only mean "virgin") shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

As we stated, the word translated "virgin" is from the original Hebrew word "almah" and is used 7 times in the Bible. It is translated once as "damsels", twice as "maid" and 4 times as "virgin". There is no instance that can prove that this word designates a young woman who is not a virgin. There is also another word used more often and translated as virgin, the Hebrew word, "bethuwlah". There is also the Hebrew word naarah, used 62 times which is never used to denote a virgin but is translated "damsel", "maiden", "maid", "young", and "young woman". But apart from that, it would be no "sign" (miracle) for a woman to conceive. Most all women can do this, but this is a further prophecy pointing to the Redeemer who was promised to come and save His people from their sins. When mankind fell, the promise right from the garden was that the "seed" (Genesis 3:15) of the woman would come and destroy the works of the devil.

Also, when we look to the fulfillment of this prophecy we are told in Matthew that "before they [Mary and Joseph] came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 1:18), and that Joseph "knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son" (v. 25) Even Mary, when she was told that this blessing was to come upon her she said, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34) Furthermore, the New Testament was written in koine Greek and the word translated virgin (parthenos) in this case can only mean "virgin", removing any doubt of this miraculous event.

It is one thing for an athiest not to believe in miracles, but this is certainly no mistranslation. For those who believe in the Almighty Creator, the virgin birth is no problem at all, seeing He spoke the whole universe into being by His mighty Word.

It is strange how some have a great problem with the Almighty God creating the universe, yet they have no problem believing the universe started with the explosion (the big bang) of a dot smaller than the size of a proton, and after billions of years here we are, intelligent beings, the result of undirected random chance communicating over computors on the internet. I often wonder whose faith is greater.

I would love to discuss with you any one of these 20 or so points/questions you have since everyone has a reasonable answer, but your drive by shooting approach makes it a little hard to reply because of the space and time involved. I could give you a list of 100 reasons why evolution is stupid and ask you a reply to each one also.

Asking one or two questions at a time may get a response, but for now, in response to your first question, I will leave you with this: the Bible deals with real people, places and events, and at every turn it has been found to be the most accurate historically document the world has ever known. I do not know where you get your information from but consider what one of the world's most respected archaeologists, William F. Albright had to say, "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition." Consider what the Jewish archaeologist, Nelson Glueck, who was honoured by the liberal Time Magazine, had to say, "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference." Listen also to what Professor William F. Albright, archaeologist and head of Palestine's American School of Oriental Research, had to say, "The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools... has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history."

It is sad to see that your ignorance has fuelled hatred towards your Creator.

1)SLAVERY: It must be remembered that in the beginning there was no such relationship between mankind before sin entered the world. In the Bible, you find it used in various fashions. God delivered the Israelites out of slavery from their cruel taskmasters in Egypt. God sent the Israelites into exile and bondage in Babylon because of their gross sin and neglect of their Maker. Also, if someone was indebted to a person and could not pay, he would have to work it off as a servant to him whom he owed the debt. This could never be perpetual for there was the year of Jubilee in which all debts were erased. Today people go to prison to pay their debts. Are you against that too? Unfortunately this system does not pay for that which was stolen, and on top of that the one who has been stolen from gets to pay through his taxes for the wellbeing of the thief and prisoner. That is sure just?? If you overextend yourself to the bank, you will be obliged to pay back your debts to the banker, in essence you are a slave to the lender. Are you against that too? How about your employer, you are his slave/servant to do as he says. If you are against that you will be unemployed and will be searching for another one to be your master if you want to continue to eat. While the Scriptures do not outright condemn slavery/servant hood as such, they taught a new relationship between masters and servants (e.g., Colossians 3:22-4:1; Ephesians 6:5-9), considering both as brothers and fellow servants of Christ, and they urged true Christian behaviour on the part of both master and slave, and eventually these principles would change society itself, as an indirect effect, to which it has, gradually becoming more of an employer-employee relationship.

2)Genocide: The Bible tells us "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:20) And that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Also, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6), and "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That God does not strike you and me dead is an amazing thing. It is because of His mercies He allows us to continue another day, for He is "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). When mankind commits genocide it is an atrocious thing, but if we are put to death by God it is just and right and according to what we deserve from the One we have sinned against. In the context of the Scripture you quoted, Israel at this time had sunk to a new low in turning from their Maker, the nations who then stole the ark where the Philistines who worshipped the sun and idols. Many of these gentile nations performed such abominable acts, even infanticide, slaughtering their own children on alters to their own gods that the time had come for them to be judged. You may call it genocide, but these were irreparably wicked and God would not allow their abominations to go on any longer, and perhaps by this example, many would fear and believe and turn from their wicked ways.

3) Cursing a parent: Sin if it is not nipped in the bud or restrained will go on to wholesale wickedness. When evil is first tolerated, it is not long before it is practiced. That is the lesson of history. We are also told in Deuteronomy, " If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) Now you may call this another "minor" incident, but God does not, it only shows how depraved the minds of society have become. But take note that there is no example in the Bible of anyone ever putting to death his son for cursing their parents. This commandment alone was enough to turn many from even attempting such folly, and those who would ignore it and proudly and rebelliously curse their own parents, the ones who have nurtured them and brought them up would reap the consequences of their actions. Records indicate no rebellious son was ever put to death under this law. Every father elected to spare his own son, no matter how sinful the son might have been. Only Christ, the perfectly obedient Son (John 17:4; 8:29) was not spared (Romans 8:32). "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Exodus 20:12)

4)Rape: Here you are corrupting the Scriptures. There was a death penalty for rape (Read Deuteronomy 22:25-27). The innocent woman was not forced to marry her rapist. You need to read a little more carefully before you think to blaspheme your righteous Maker.

5)Homosexual: Again this just goes to show how far our minds have slipped by endorsing such a perversion. The sins described in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus are considered to be very grievous sins by the Lord Himself. They include infanticide (Leviticus 20:2-5), especially in connection with child sacrifice (note Leviticus 18:21) as practiced in certain idolatrous worship, spiritism (Leviticus 20:6, 27), cursing of parents (Leviticus 20:9), adultery (Leviticus 20:10), incest (Leviticus 20:11), homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), bestiality (Leviticus 20:15-16), and others. They were punishable by death in Israel, in order to maintain the holiness of the people as a nation set apart to God (Leviticus 20:23-26). Whether or not such punishments should be enforced today is controversial; it is at least obvious that God hates such sins. Yet all are being promoted today in the modern revival of ancient paganism known as the "New-Age" morality.

6)Murdering children: First of all let us take note that in Exodus 19, the smiting of the firstborn, that they were not necessarily babies. (Do you support abortion?) Also, in your first complaint against God, you were against slavery, now you are mad that God would judge the Egyptians who, even after the first nine plagues, would still not set the Israelites free from their bondage. You cannot have it both ways.