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For Abrahamic Religions

Ubon

Member
Is it acceptable to cherry pick the religious scriptures and only follow the parts you agree with?
 

Shiranui117

Pronounced Shee-ra-noo-ee
Premium Member
Is it acceptable to cherry pick the religious scriptures and only follow the parts you agree with?
It depends on the circumstance. For Christians, we ignore most of the ritual, economic/political and dietary laws of the Mosaic Law because the Book of Acts and several of St. Paul's Epistles tell us to (but if you're a Jewish Christian you should still obey the Mosaic Law IIRC). For the most part, however, no, we don't get to "pick and choose".
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Perhaps the basic core message of the teachings are what matters most as many things that are written applied to the cultures and laws of the periods when the scriptures are written.
I agree with that.
 

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
Basically the same cherry picking of scriptures that I see Therevada Buddhists doing!!
 

Riders

Well-Known Member
It depends on the circumstance. For Christians, we ignore most of the ritual, economic/political and dietary laws of the Mosaic Law because the Book of Acts and several of St. Paul's Epistles tell us to (but if you're a Jewish Christian you should still obey the Mosaic Law IIRC). For the most part, however, no, we don't get to "pick and choose".


Unless you go to a church like The 7th Day Adventists or the Messianic churches which go by the old laws for sabbath and other rituals.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
Is it acceptable to cherry pick the religious scriptures and only follow the parts you agree with?
I believe that largely depends on how one views the scriptures themselves. If one believes they are 100% divinely inspired and inerrant, and another doesn't believe as such, then they're likely to differ significantly in how close they may believe and follow what's written.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Is it acceptable to cherry pick the religious scriptures and only follow the parts you agree with?
As others pointed out, that is not only widespread but easily unavoidable.

Good follow-up questions would be "Why do many people speak of scripture as if it were authoritative?" and "How best to deal with scriptures?"

Cherry-picking from scriptures could only be less than advisable if we had reason to assume that the scriptures somehow have better judgement than the people, which I don't think we do.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
Cherry-picking from scriptures could only be less than advisable if we had reason to assume that the scriptures somehow have better judgement than the people, which I don't think we do.
And this is why I like the Dalai Lama's saying that if science goes against a Buddhist scripture, go with science because the scriptures were written by those who knew far less than we now know.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Same here, @metis

I would go beyond that, come to think of it.

It would be sad if static words kept being the absolute authority and ultimate doctrinary reference for whole communities century after century, even as everything else changes, adapts and often offers new possibilities and new demands around the doctrine that uses those words.
 

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
The Buddha didn't actually say that about Buddhist teaching, he was talking to non believers about their own beliefs.
 
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