THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
The bat is not a bird! In Leviticus 11:13-19, we read, "And these are they which ye shall have in abonination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the ossifrage, and the osprey, and the vulture, and the kite after his kind; every raven after his kind, and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat." Again, Deuteronomy 14:11-18 declares, "Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagles, and the ossigrage, and the osprey, and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, the little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, and the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat."

Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
First, I am sure that the questioner will agree that these two passages of Scripture do not contradict one another. Both list those created which are unclean, and both include the bat.

Undoubtedly, what the questioner is calling a contradiction is the fact that the bat is listed with the birds, but is commonly known to be a mammal. Why was the bat listed among the birds, if indeed it is not a bird? It may be that listing it with the birds was accommodative. Birds have wings, bats have wings. Birds fly, bats fly. A simple observation of a bat might lead one to conclude it to be a bird. Identifying it along with the birds would accommodate those who thought it was such.

At face value, that explanation may not satisfy the questioner. It may appear to be lacking in substance. However, consider the fact that the Scriptures refer to the sunrise and the sunset. In Numbers 21:11, we read, "And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising." Luke 4:40 says, "Now when the sun was setting, all that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them." Is there really such a things as a sunrising or a sunset? We know that neither is literally true. The sun does not circle around the earth, rising and setting. Why then were these descriptions used? It deals with appearance. Early in the morning, we see what looks like the sun rising in the east. Late in the evenings, we see what looks like a sunset in the west. The Scriptures have used accommodative language. In much the same way, Moses referred to the bat as a bird, for so it appeared to the people.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible, but original article is no longer listed

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