An Incredible Interactive Chart of Biblical Contradictions

A few years ago, computer science whiz Chris Harrison created a beautiful visualization linking up every cross reference in the Bible. So, for example, if a verse in the New Testament referred back to a verse in the Old Testament, there was an arc drawn between the two chapters they were in (the vertical lines at the bottom represent the number of verses in that chapter):

Amazing! Turns out there are 63,779 cross references in the Bible (and that many arcs in the image)! If it’s any indication of how complex this image is, the high-resolution version is more than 100MB large.

In 2009, graphic designer Andy Marlow used Harrison’s work as his inspiration to created a similar visual for Sam Harris‘ Reason Project. This time, though, he only included arcs representing contradictions in the Bible:

Helpfully, this visual also included text explaining what the contradictions were and where they could be found:

Also amazing! But very bulky and not very user-friendly. I don’t know that you could really print out a poster that large and, even if you could, the arcs are still a blur.

Now, computer programmer Daniel G. Taylor has taken all that data and turned it into a visual masterpiece.

His website, BibViz (Bible Visualization), gives you the same linking arcs as before, but when you hover over one of them, it lights up and tells you in the upper right-hand corner of the screen which verses are being linked together. Click on an arc and it takes you directly to those verses as compiled in the Skeptics Annotated Bible:

(***Update*** 12/16/20: The BibViz site is down and the URL redirects to adult material, so I have removed the link.)

That’s not all. The visual also shows you where in the Bible you’ll find the passages featuring Cruelty/Violence, Discrimination against Homosexuals, Scientific Absurdities/Historical Inaccuracies, or (below) Misogyny/Violence/Discrimination against Women:

See the long bar on the far left side? That means the Book of Genesis has more anti-women verses than any other book in the Bible. And all those bars are clickable and lead you to the specific passages in the Skeptics Annotated Bible.

When I asked Daniel what inspired him to create this, he said (via email):

Some of my family is extremely religious, and after quite a few discussions with them and some friends I was inspired to look up the Reason Project’s contradictions poster again as a reference, but thought it might be nice to have something like that without the duplicated entries, with the ability to click individual links, and something that could be regenerated easily should errors be found.

The whole site is seriously an incredible resource. Go there and just play around with it. Then show your fundamentalist religious friends and watch them squirm. There’s just no plausible way anyone can take the Bible literally after spending time on this site… unless they’re closing their eyes, sticking their fingers in their ears, and refusing to think about any of the errors in their worldview.

(Thanks to Ed for the link!)

IvyLeaguer2012

You would be laughable if you weren’t so pathetic.
IvyLeaguer2012

Congratulations, you’ve explained one of them. 63,000 to go.
jn

I fear u just did what alot of so called christians do. Answering and responding to any opposition with hate and malice isnt getting u anywhere. Jesus loved ppl who hated him. U have given a good example why so many turn from and wont consider going to christanity. What is wrong with u, anyone shows a ligitimate question about the bible and faith and they all of a sudden become human garbage to u? The bible was written by men with political agendas, it was peiced together by men with political agendas, and translated, chañged, books removed, ect. That bible u clutch and worship states u should not worship and lets not forget the church building u cant have salvation without. It seems to no where in the bible does it say god is jesus it says jesus was son of god. The god and jesus interchange was made up by man. Anyone who goes trugh this much trouble to create a fanciful afterlife are the ones who fear death. I have no fear of death because i do my relationshipnt care what happens to me once i die. Ps 1% of todays births in the us claim virgin births.
jn

Sorry typos…analog keyboard lagging. Bible worshipping equals worshipping an object. And christians say u have to b in church to b saved. But isnt god in everything? And after i die wont care bc ill b dead. Whateve4 happens is how its supposed to b. Oh and wat i didnt cover n earlier post if god knows everything and jesus is god why did jesus ask so many questions. And if god already knows what we r going to do why go through the mascerade why not just snatch up the ones he wants and end the rest ahead of time. And when the angels rebelled y did god have to b told about it. And again with noah y did the angel have to inform god. And how could there even be a war, god could just smite the angels ahead of time bc he knew theyd rebel. The concept of free will and god knowing everything contradict each other. Oh and the trinity was created in response to genesis, god said lets create man in our image and makeß reference to us a few times.
jn

By this reasoning we should believe in many gods and every person who during jesus time, before him and since him have claimed to be children of gods, virgin births ect. Also i find it strange u arent explaining the contradictions of the bible which is wat this article is about. Just preach and ignore evidence that the bible is not divine inspired. If it were it wouldnt b so full of mistakes, contradictions and outright fairy tales.
Alli Hogan

Did anyone really study biblical history here?
Love Yoo

Hey friends. Thought you might want to know if you do a Google search for Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai you’ll find they are indeed the same.

We address other misunderstandings at SwordSharp.com

With love. Happy New Year.
JudgeRight

A thoughtful response by an ivy leaguer, as one might expect. Too much facebook and sorority/fraternity alcoholic action yields such results.

However, as you don’t like my reasoning I suggest you think about what one of the most prominent “lay theologians” of the pevious century has said: “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy”. C.S. Lewis
JudgeRight

Nope, you are describing cynicism.
IvyLeaguer2012

The fact that something makes you happy doesn’t mean its true. That’s known as wishful thinking. If a doctor tells me I have cancer, I don’t say “no, that would make me sad, ergo it isn’t true.” I face the fact that the universe doesn’t owe anyone happiness; it is the way it is.

Its not an accident that there is a well-established inverse correlation between intelligence and religiosity. Its because the more the idea of God is scrutinized, the less plausible it becomes. I’m sure you were raised in a religious household; you need to forget what your parents and your priest told you to believe and try reason [for a change].
JudgeRight

If you saw hate in my post, then your definition of “hate” has nothing to do with the real meaningful the word.

Which actually defines the problem in the thought process among today’s brainwashed, tolerance-mongering, godless defenders of spiritual and intellectual error.
JudgeRight

Now this is more like it, sir. And you are very, very wrong about my upbringing. I was raised, mind you, in a communist country, where the very mention of the word God or the name Jesus Christ was forbidden. Ironic, isn’t it?

And I shall agree that happiness is not necessarily truth. But have you seen happy people living a lie? And if yes, how long do you think their happiness would last?

Therefore no more theologians’ quotes, let’s go straight to the source and tie religion and truth. Jesus said in John 8 “If you abide in my teaching you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And in John 12, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” Let your humanistic lights guide you; I find it quite more reasonable to submit my thinking to the One that made reason possible and available to us. Or shall we say that the primordial soup gave you reason?
IvyLeaguer2012

Plenty of families maintained their religion despite living in officially atheist countries.

And there are plenty of people who live lies their entire lives. There is indeed often a moment when their lies collide with the truth; in that moment, the intellectually honest among us acknowledge their mistake and change, but others double down on the lie. This is common with religious folk, who would rather delude themselves than have to reckon with the possibility that we aren’t special in the universe and there is no purpose.

As for the Jesus quotes, I’m sure they do something for you but they do nothing for me. You seem to look down on the idea that our brains have been formed by evolution, but if you were to consult any neuroscientist or biologist, they would tell you that the tell-tale signs of evolution are abundantly visible in our brains today. Its not really a debate among experts, just among those who are terrified of the logical conclusions of that fact: we are glorified animals. Nothing more.
JudgeRight

The possibility that evolution formed our brains with their complexity and magnificent power is equal to accepting that if you throw a grenade in the backyard of a horder the accidental result will be a Boeing 747.

And no, my family did not preserve their religious faith under the militant atheist regime. There was nothing here to preserve – they were atheist themselves. All were. I converted from the deception of atheism to the Truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ. And until you do, too, the quotes form him will remain to you as distant as you say they are.

Our ways of reasoning will remain worlds apart as you remain trapped by unbelief and cynicism which you wrongly term “reason.” And to paraphrase A. W. Tozer, prominent American preacher: “Faith is the assurance of the things unseen, not the things impossible.” He is thus referencing the definition of faith in the book of Hebrews, 11:1. Reason and sound thinking, actually, are the first cause that would make any man a believer in Christ. And excuse my insolence: It it takes more “faith” to believe in evolution, a badly patched hoax, than to believe that we originate in the plans of a Rational Creator.
IvyLeaguer2012

Your boeing 747 analogy proves that you know nothing about evolutionary theory. While evolution is based on random chance, natural selection is nonrandom and what leads to the growth in complexity.

Seriously, you need to actually study a subject before you declare its nonsense. I’ve studied Christianity inside and out, and I made a deliberate effort to study all religions so that nobody could tell me my opinions are based on ignorance. I’m sorry to say that you’re ignorant of evolutionary theory, which is why you find it so implausible. Indeed most learned people were religious until Charles Darwin because they couldn’t devise a better explanation for the complexity of life than creationism, but there is one now and its more elegant and explanatory than any religious BS.
JudgeRight

Your suggestion that I am ignorant of the theory of evolution kicked in like a reflex again, due to your general prejudice shared by atheists that “religous people are ignorant and uneducated.” Such prejudice is fed by succumbing to propaganda and is ignorance on its own account. I am quite aware of the evolution theory. I was taught it, propaganda style, in the compulsory communist school. This was the only orthodox view allowed. Other opinions guaranteed social ostracism or concentration camp for the speaker.

The only chance of coherence for Darwin’s theory is the idea of old earth. Complexities have taken billions of years to develop. BS, to use your language.

Here is a detailed article that shows Darwin’s own evolution into evolution. http://christiananswers.net/q-aig/darwin.html. It was all about religion or unbelief.

Since I am a convert to Christ, I also struggled with issues of intellectual prejudice you display. C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity was the perfect cure. I highly recommend it, as you are interested in exploring Christianity.
JudgeRight

Your suggestion that I am ignorant of the theory of evolution kicked in like a reflex again, due to your general prejudice shared by atheists that “religous people are ignorant and uneducated.” Such prejudice is fed by succumbing to propaganda and is ignorance on its own account. I am quite aware of the evolution theory. I was taught it, propaganda style, in the compulsory communist school. This was the only orthodox view allowed. Other opinions guaranteed social ostracism or concentration camp for the speaker.

The only chance of coherence for Darwin’s theory is the idea of old earth. Complexities have taken billions of years to develop. BS, to use your language.

Here is a detailed article that shows Darwin’s own evolution into evolution. http://christiananswers.net/q-aig/darwin.html. It was all about religion or unbelief.

Since I am a convert to Christ, I also struggled with issues of intellectual prejudice you display. C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity was the perfect cure. I highly recommend it, as you are interested in exploring Christianity.
IvyLeaguer2012

Its not a reflex, I analyzed your statement and it was patently obvious. Read about Fred Hoyle’s boeing 747 analogy and you’ll realize that its universally laughed at by the biology community. Anyways, I’m done trying to educate you; you’re beyond help. Please don’t respond because I’m not interested in what you have to say.
JudgeRight

It does matter who laughs last, my friend ;). We win.
TCC

I don’t know what your background is, but if you were taught evolution in a communist school, it is very likely that you were taught it incorrectly. At any rate, IvyLeaguers2012 is absolutely correct to note that your 747 argument demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of evolution and how it works.
TCC

Nothing like gloating about your fantasies of infidels burning in hell to show that you’re a good, moral person.
IvyLeaguer2012

You win at the who can completely humiliate themselves on this thread the fastest competition. I hope you don’t have kids because they’ll be absolutely fucked in science class with a parent like you scrambling their brains.