Abraham had two sons. One born of sin, Ishmail - and the other a legitimate son Isaac.
Isaac led to Judaism and eventually Christianity while Ishmail led to Islam.
That is where the whole thing started!
Ishmail was the bastard child of Abraham - Hagar, Abrahams maidservant was the mother of Ishmail.
I cannot see how Ismael could be a "bastard child" since his mother and Abraham were married:
And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram [Abraham] had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his
wife (Genesis 16:3, explanatory insertion and highlights my own).
Of course, I expect Christian apologists to say something like "well, the word
"wife" meant something else in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin," to which I would respond: If a word in the Bible means something else in the original Greek, then change the word to reflect the true meaning for God's sake (no pun intended). What kind of fool would allow an error to remain in the "Word of God" for almost 2,000 years?
Screw this Biblical nonsense.
Here is an article I posted much earlier on another forum which goes into detail about the Biblical contradictions regarding Isaac and Ishmael.
According to Bible, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Here is what the Bible says:
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of (Genesis 22:1-2, KJV).
Paul also thought that Isaac had only one son when he was tested by God on the mountain. Here are Paul's exact words:
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called (Hebrews 11:17-18).
Now everyone who has read the bible knows that Isaac was not Abraham's only begotten son. Ismael, whose mother was Hagar, was Abraham's first-born son (Genesis 16:1-11). Over the years, my Christian friends have offered a multitude of explanations in an attempt to reconcile this apparent contradiction. Some have said that Ishmael was not considered to be Abraham's son because Abraham and Hagar were never married, to which I respond, say what? If he went in unto her and impregnated her, he's the daddy and it matters not whether he was married to the fair lady Hagar. Besides, the Bible says Abraham and Hagar were married: And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his
wife (Genesis 16:3, highlights my own).
Some Christians have even told me that Ismael must have died prior to the time Abraham was tested; however, the Bible clearly shows that both Isaac and Ishmael were alive when their father died.
Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre (Genesis 25:8-9).
Another argument Christians use is that Ishmael was sent away from the house of Abraham and thus was not counted as his son. But this argument is senseless since the status of begotten son is never negated be any distance, however far, between father and son. No intelligent person would say he has only one begotten son if he had fathered two children, both of whom are living, regardless of where they might live, when the father last had contact with the child, or any other attendant circumstances. If I had an adult son who lived with me in my home for many years, and another son whom I had not seen since his childhood long ago, and I know not whether he was dead or alive, and you asked me how many sons I have, how would you expect me to answer you? I certainly would not tell you that I have only one begotten son, that's for sure. I would say instead something to the effect of, I have two sons, but I lost contact with the oldest one years ago.
Finally, some Christians maintain that Ishmael was ignored because God's promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled through the lineage of Isaac, not the descendants of Ishmael and that God specifically said to Abraham, In Isaac shall thy seed be called (Genesis 21:12). However, all this is irrelevant since it has nothing to do with how many sons Isaac fathered. Regardless of Isaac's special mission, Ishmael is nonetheless Abraham's son.
The word's his only begotten son are unambiguous. Each word means exactly what it says and no more. There are reasons why we have dictionaries and why each word is assigned specific meanings. If words do not mean what they say, we cannot communicate. If the words in the Bible do not mean what they say, the entire Book is nothing but undecipherable gibberish. When Paul described Isaac as Abraham's only begotten son, it is clear that Paul thought Abraham had fathered but one child and had no others. Paul was wrong. So was the Old Testament God.
When some people discuss the Bible, they abandon every concept of logic, reasonableness and common sense. They pervert, profane and prostitute the English language. They unwittingly blaspheme their almighty God by asserting their own intellectual superiority over His as they defend Him, and explain Him; and they do all this rather then concede the obvious: that the book called the Bible is not the complete, inspired and inerrant word of God They fail to see the fallacy of it all: that the words of a truly omniscient being need no explaining. When God writes a book there will be but one interpretation, and even a child of ten years will understand it completely upon the first reading.
OK, now I'm done!
