What
specifically, if anything, do you find
good
, bad
, ugly
, about the Bible?
I'll start...
Love.
In the Tanakh we find these commands...
(Leviticus 19:18) . . .
You must not take vengeance nor hold a grudge against the sons of your people, and you must love your fellow man as yourself. I am Jehovah.
(Proverbs 25:21, 22)
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; If he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 For you will be heaping burning coals on his head, And Jehovah will reward you.
What does that mean though... What does it mean to love your fellowman?
Does it mean love him to have the freedom to indiscriminately murder?
For example, if your neighbor seeks to take an axe to your head, or he takes an axe to another's head, does loving one's neighbor mean that you should pat him on the back, and say, "I love you. Do what you want." Or should we go bring a glass of water, and say, "Here ... Drink this."?
I would say, trying to reason with someone, in the hope that they do not carry out their murderous intent, is a good thing, but is there a reasonable balance, where love for one's fellowman is concerned?
I would say,
understanding what love is, can give us the correct answer.
From the Bible, love is described, not as an emotion, but an action.
At 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, it says that love is patient and kind, but it also says, love does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
It is clear that there is a balance, where love requires justice - for the murdered, and their families, the raped victim, and their family, the mugged old lady, and her family, etc.
So if your neighbor takes an axe to someone's head, and seeks to take off your head, love would cause you to act justly.
This is what God's law in the Tanakh required. (Numbers 35:15-34)
To me, this is
a very good thing about the Bible.
The Bible strongly recommends... in fact, commands love, and love is closely connected to justice, and righteousness.
So that God's love move him to act justly against unrighteousness.
Of Jesus, the scriptures say, "You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness." (Hebrews 1:9)
There is reasonable balance.
The evidence that God is love, and how he displayed that quality, in a balanced way, is one very good thing about the Bible. (1 John 4:8)
Are there other good things about the Bible?
Are there bad, and ugly things?
What specific things can you share.