Why can Christians pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe? (Jesus, punishment)

texan1 · #1 03-26-2008, 01:42 PM

In order to believe that the Bible is truly the word of God, it seems that you would have to believe that God can speak directly through humans. He spoke through the authors of the Bible who put the Holy Creator's words into this holy text.

Why then is it ok for mere humans to pick and choose which passages to believe in, which to take literally, which to disregard all together and how to interpret all facets of it? Most churches talk about a loving, forgiving God and talk about Jesus as the Prince of Peace. But when I read the Bible I can't seem to find this God in there. Much of what is in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, depicts an angry vengeful and frightening God (Leviticus for example). There are also laws outlined (in Dueteronomyfor example) that say women should be covered, they will be stoned to death in public for adultery, and are considered about as valuable as cattle. Most "Christians" I know certainly don't believe in these Taliban-like values.

Are there any Christians who might be able to explain how they reconcile this? Why you get to pick and choose only small sections of the Bible to believe in? And if you are free to do that, do you really believe it is the Divine Word? Do you think Christianity has actually evolved away from the Bible?

Starfish · #2 03-26-2008, 02:20 PM

The LDS perspective is that valuable parts of the Bible have been lost, and some parts have been altered through the many translations. Other parts of the Bible have no reason to be there. However, the Bible still contains much for us to gain from. It also contains the life of Christ and his words, which is part of the greatest value of the Bible.
We believe the Lord foresaw this happening to his book. So he set in place another book to be written, which contains his gospel. Upon it's completion, this book was hidden away, instead of being left in human hands subject to alterings and varied translations through the centuries.
So we have the Book of Mormon, a book of scripture, written in 600 BC to 400 AD, which clarifies and explains those confusing parts of the Bible. It was God's way of preserving his word in it's purity.

The Bible was written by prophets. The Book of Mormon was written by prophets. We also have prophets today, to help us clarify God's word, just as in times of old. So through the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and our current prophet, we are able to clearly understand the Gospel, Christianity, and what God would have us do.

Many religions do pick and choose, and we may appear to do the same; we just feel we have a better understanding of it.

texan1 · #3 03-26-2008, 02:39 PM

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response Starfish. I'd be interested to hear from other Christian religions. This is one of the main reasons I doubt the Christian religion I was brought up in. Why do we follow some parts and disregard other parts? How do we know these prophets are really speaking the word of God? And why do so many prophets contradict each other? How do we know that some of them weren't just kind of crazy, like David Koresh in Waco? We just don't know that. I guess that's why it's called "faith". And Joseph Smith for example advocated polygamy which is now looked down upon by the mainstreem Morman church. So if that part of his prophecy is not true or accepted, how do we know any of the rest of it is? And this goes for Jesus and other prophets cited in Christianity. If they were really speaking the word of God why do we not accept all of it? Sorry to keep asking....I just think it's a fascinating question and the source of most of my doubts.

EtuMalku · #4 03-26-2008, 02:43 PM

Not being Christian I will refrain from replying to this but I wish to salute Starfish for a clear unbiased explanation of these scriptures, well done.

Victor · #5 03-26-2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texan1

In order to believe that the Bible is truly the word of God, it seems that you would have to believe that God can speak directly through humans. He spoke through the authors of the Bible who put the Holy Creator's words into this holy text.

First things first. I don't believe God spoke directly to the authors of the Bible. Not in the same fashion you see in the OT; like the burning bush. Yes Christ is as direct as you get but most of what is written in the NT is via inspiration, which is not direct communication, but rather indirect communication.

texan1 · #6 03-26-2008, 03:07 PM

Thank you Victor - so do you think that's where the "faith" part comes in? You just have to accept that Jesus was inspired by God?

And this may sound stupid, but what is the Old Testament then, and why was it written? Seems like it is a lot of stories that are akin to Greek mythology (with regard to Genesis for example) as well as a list of laws and punishments that give us a window into how people of that time lived. The New Testament is a little more understandable and digestable.

One reason for my doubt is that it seems if there was a God, it can't be anything like what is described in the Bible. Why would an entity capable of creating such beautiful complexity communicate his message in such a poor and confusing way, through one man in a remote middle eastern town which then took the message and broke off into different religions which are still at war today? As some sort of strange test? He didn't have any prophets to give the message to China or to the Native Americans for example. :-) I am having such doubts.

texan1 · #7 03-26-2008, 03:10 PM

And it seems that so many Christians believe in only some of the Bible as well, so maybe in their heart they also have trouble accepting it as true?

PureX · #8 03-26-2008, 03:16 PM

I am a non-religious Christian, which means that I do not believe that "God wrote the bible", or even that the bible represents God's mind or will. The bible is a collection of some of mankind's ideas and experiences relative to the concept they held of "God". And as such, I would read it knowing that some parts will likely be more useful to me in my time and place than others. I am in fact obliged to "pick and choose".

Victor · #9 03-26-2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texan1

Thank you Victor - so do you think that's where the "faith" part comes in? You just have to accept that Jesus was inspired by God?

Well, it certainly has to be invoked. But it's not faith alone. There are hundreds of books that let you see it from all sorts of different perspectives that really don't require any faith at all. But yeah, faith is certainly involved in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by texan1

And this may sound stupid, but what is the Old Testament then, and why was it written? Seems like it is a lot of stories that are akin to Greek mythology (with regard to Genesis for example) as well as a list of laws and punishments that give us a window into how people of that time lived. The New Testament is a little more understandable and digestable.

It's basically letters, songs, poems, etc. of the relationship between the Israelites and God. Some may have not even tooken place, while others are more plausible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by texan1

One reason for my doubt is that it seems if there was a God, it can't be anything like what is described in the Bible. Why would an entity capable of creating such beautiful complexity communicate his message in such a poor and confusing way, through one man in a remote middle eastern town which then took the message and broke off into different religions which are still at war today? As some sort of strange test? He didn't have any prophets to give the message to China or to the Native Americans for example. :-) I am having such doubts.

Actually, the way it was written makes me believe it even more. Had it been in perfect order I think I'd be less inclined to believe. You gotta remember that no matter how God was to play it out, he wanted to do through us. That's where it gets messy. In fact, it's because I can see the humanity in the Bible that intrigues me even more. Usually hoaxes do a better job at convincing people. They aren't nearly as sloppy or out of order. They take the humanity out of things, if you know what I mean.

That make sense?