God be seen?
Exod. 24:9,10; Amos 9:1; Gen. 26:2; and John 14:9
When God speaks to Moses face to face (Exodus 33:11) he is engaging in communication. Both this discussion and the one in Amos, where the prophet “saw the Lord” is poetic language (see the first paragraph of my reply “God good to all or just a few.”) Jesus in John 14:9 was remarking that seeing Jesus was seeing everything about the infinite Trinity that could be handled by finite man. Mr. Merrit makes the mistake of other secularists and anti-Christians that the consistency of is the same as material man, when in fact he is wholly other! The statements in John 1:18 and 1 Timothy 6:16 are true in that the entirety of God cannot be observed. However, God, according to His own choosing, can expose aspects of Himself, which is what He did when Jesus was incarnated (John 14:9) and what he did for Moses and others in the Old Testament
(Genesis 26:2; 32:30; Exodus 24:9, 10; 33:11, 23). However, God determines what can and cannot be seen. If God disallows, man perishes (Exodus 33:20).
Cruel, Unmerciful, Destructive, and Ferocious or Kind, Merciful, and Good
"I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy." (Jer. 1:14)
“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not but slay both man and woman, and suckling.” (1 Sam 15:3)
"The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." (James 5:11)
"For his mercy endureth forever." (1 Chron. 16:34)
"The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Ps. 145:9)
"God is love." (1 John 4:16)
Again Mr. Merrit compares apples with oranges. God meets different situations with different reactions. God is love and is good and merciful to all. For some (as in Jeremiah 13:14, their sin gets so bad (Amalek, along with others in the region, was completely debased) that they need to be put out of their misery. THAT is mercy!
Tempts?
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham." (Gen 22:1)
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (James 1:13)
Again, Mr. Merrit is comparing apples and oranges. The words for “tempt” or “temptation” have different meanings in the Genesis and James passages.17
Judas died how?
"And he cast down the pieces of silver into the temple and departed, and went out and hanged himself." (Matt. 27:5)
"And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all of his bowels gushed out." (Acts 1:18)
The two traditions do not agree ONLY in that neither provides all the details. Judas hanged himself (presumably with a rope). When he jumped, the rope broke and he fell headlong, bursting asunder. Why do skeptics insist that a witness has to tell EVERYTHING in order to be truthful in what he or she DOES tell.
Ascend to heaven
"And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:11)
"No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, ... the Son of Man." (John 3:13)
Jesus ascension18 was unique in that it followed a unique condescension.
What was Jesus' prediction regarding Peter's denial?
Before the cock crow - Matthew 26:34
Before the cock crow twice - Mark 14:30
Before the cock crows twice. Matthew’s statement does not preclude an earlier crowing. See remarks following the next “contradiction.”
How many times did the cock crow?
MAR 14:72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
MAT 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
MAT 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
LUK 22:60-61 And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
JOH 13:38 Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, still thou hast denied me thrice.
JOH 18:27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.
The cock had crowed earlier. At the time of his denial the cock crowed again. When John has Jesus saying the cock shall not crow, he does not mean that it had never crowed either ever or recently. The focus was on the crowing at the moment the third denial was in process. See also remarks by Geisler and Brooks, pp. 173-174.
Who killed Saul?
1 SAM 31:4-6 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore, Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
2 SAM 1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
Two possible answers. Perhaps the Amalekite man was bragging about something he did not do in order to get into David’s good graces. He then miscalculated badly! Another explanation is the Amalekite actually finished Saul off after the armorbearer refused and Saul was not completely dead. Why do we have to make a contradiction here?
How many beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount
MAT 5:3-11 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
LUK 6:20-23 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
I am mystified that this is considered a contradiction. Luke has a partial list as he is focusing on just a few of the Beatitudes. Matthew has a more complete list.