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There are very obvious reasons NOT to take some portions literally, and it's not based on personal preference. It's based on the genre of the writing. Poetry, for instance, is emotive, not narrative in nature.
Other hard to follow instructions from "The Bible"
When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death."
Leviticus 20:10
“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property."
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)
keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)
keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
So does that mean if you make somebody else work it's just as bad? Just a general question since it was put out, as most of the people at the two churches near us go out to eat to the nearby cafes. Thus making the people there work on the sabbath...and would be cut off from the community and put to death.
Deciding what is right and what is wrong often is the 1st step to reflection and reflection is the 1st step to wisdom.
You won't learn anything if all you do is just obey rules, you must also try to understand why they're rules; why a rule is good or bad.
Last edited by Tricky D; 12-21-2008 at 12:23 AM..
Reason: typo
I had to luagh, the pope tells us not to support euthenasia (sp) because god must choose the time of your passing, but he drives around in an armour plated bullet proof car with body gaurds..........
Originally Posted by Filet Mignon Deciding what is right and what is wrong often is the 1st step to reflection and reflection is the 1st step to wisdom.
You won't learn anything if all you do is just obey rules, you must also try to understand why they're rules; why a rule is good or bad.
"Following the Bible - Literally or just the parts you want."
As I already said, choosing not to take every part of the Bible literally is NOT about just picking and choosing what you like. There are literary reasons behind some parts not being taken literally.
LOL what a silly topic! OF COURSE everyone takes the parts of the Bible in their own interpretation - from the snake handlers at one extreme to the 'open the Bible and whatever verse strikes you, take into your heart' soft core believers at the other. It is human to take something so huge and multifaceted into small and reasonable, comfortable bites. The real question, IMHO should be -If christians followed the Bible (sorry, only the New Testament for Christians) as it was written and strictly, without interpretation, addition, or exclusion, would the world be a better or worse place to live? Would laws be different, would punishments be more swift and exact, or solely left to Judgement Day? Would any and everyone be happier - or more miserable? Would we have more socialist inclinations, or fewer? Would Christians use politics as a brick to beat everyone else over the head - or "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's"? That to me is the crux of the biscuit.
The way I have always been taught is that the Old Testament was the old law, for the time before Jesus when there was no Savior. You're sins were your sins and that was it, for us it's supposed to be a kind of history book of this is what happened. The New Testament is the new law when Jesus was sent to save the people, and this had been predicted in different books of the Old testament (Daniel, Jeremiah, etc.). As for the Bible being literal, in some forms yes, in some no. Do you really think that God wants you to gouge your eye out if you see something you shouldn't, after He says to not harm your body for it is not your own, but a gift from God? For me, someone who sees the entire Bible as literal means they do not believe or they doubt God, or just looking for a reason to question what is there. Yes, the Bible was written by man, but it was men who were chosen by God in some shape or form to preach His word and tell the stories that were important. You would think that if it was incorrect, instead of letting His followers believe things that are not true, He would change it. No one now knows if He really has, but I do not believe God would lead His own people astray. Read some of the poems and songs, do you really think those were meant literally?
I agree that your original statement is the way some people claim to be a Christian or follow God. Society calls them hypocrites and the Bible calls them sinners. Everyone is a sinner and whether or not they have followed everything in the Bible completely is between them and God. It is not our job to put them under a microscope and inspect their lives, but to inspect our own to try and be more like God everyday. It is also the job of a Christian to speak to those people and do our best in a non-offending manner to show them with biblical scripture that God still loves them but what they are doing isn't right. Then it is up to them, planting the seed is the start to a beautiful finish. It is in no way justified, but everyone falls at one point or another, it's the walk of a Christian. And sometimes all it takes is one person to stand up in front of those who are only partially following and those who don't believe at all for God to say, "Here I am". YouTube - A strong atheist and a piece of chalk.
Being a work of fiction, especially after hundreds and hundreds of translations and rewrites over the centuries, it has no relevance to the real world, and even assuming the original were the words of god (doubtful, but...) it has been so polluted and distorted by the agendas of men who have twisted it time and time again over time.
But many see it as a buffet, where they are free to pick and choose only the parts they agree with, and ignore or worse distort the rest. Kinda like the republican party deals with facts
Being a work of fiction, especially after hundreds and hundreds of translations and rewrites over the centuries, it has no relevance to the real world, and even assuming the original were the words of god (doubtful, but...) it has been so polluted and distorted by the agendas of men who have twisted it time and time again over time.
But many see it as a buffet, where they are free to pick and choose only the parts they agree with, and ignore or worse distort the rest. Kinda like the republican party deals with facts
You are absolutely wrong about this. History proves your mantra wrong, as does honest scholarly study.
On the other hand, there's no reason to argue with you about it.
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Deciding what is right and what is wrong often is the 1st step to reflection and reflection is the 1st step to wisdom.
