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Deleted member 2176153
Iām pretty lucky to have conversations with Christians from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Usually, those conversations go greatābut occasionally theyāre a disaster. I know thereās a problem the minute they tell me, āthe Bible clearly says.ā Itās at that point I start looking for the exit.
When you drop a phrase like that into a conversation, itās evident that you donāt understand how communication works. Weāre talking about a document where itās on us to build a bridge between different cultures, worldviews, languages, etc. Thereās no question that the Bible makes statements that are clearer than others, but even then we have to wrestle with some of the differences between cultures separated by thousands of years.
This isnāt because of some āprogressiveā desire to undermine the Bibleās authority, or because of a desire to wriggle out of personal responsibility. In fact, itās quite the opposite. I often find that the people who are serious about contending with these questions take the Bible far more seriously than those who just take what they see at face value without asking tough questions. In fact, I find a lot of the people that use this conversation ender arenāt overly familiar with Scripture.
So letās take a look at some things the Bible clearly saysāthings that youād be crazy to take at face value:
1. Do not allow a sorceress to live.
(Exodus 22:18)What are you going to do about that Wiccan down the street? The Bible has given you your marching orders. (Please do not follow them.)
2. Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.
(1 Peter 2:18)There was a time when Christians used the Bibleās explicit teachings about slavery as a reason not to abolish the slave trade. What do you do when the Bible isnāt not only vague about slavery but places the onus on slaves to submit to cruel masters?
3. If she grabs your junk while youāre fighting someone else, show her no pity.
(Deuteronomy 25:11ā12)The actual two verses read this way:
Crimony. Was this a problem that needed a solution? Either way, the Bible clearly gives a solution to this embarrassing problem.If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
4. No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.
(Deuteronomy 23:1)Had an accident that impacted your privates? Stay the heck out of the church.
5. The men of her town shall stone her to death.
(Deuteronomy 22:20ā21)What do you do if your daughter loses her ******ity before marriage? Be careful how you answerābecause this is what the Bible clearly says:
If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young womanās ******ity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her fatherās house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her fatherās house. You must purge the evil from among you.
6. Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
(Leviticus 20:9)Seems harsh, right? Too bad.
7. God encourages the murder of pagan childrenāand infants
(Hosea 13:4, 9, 16)Itās kind of hard to maintain a pro-life stance in the face of this clear statement in the Bible. Maybe we should only worry about Christian fetuses?You shall acknowledge no God but me. . . . You are destroyed, Israel. . . . The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their *******t women ripped open.