Christians, struggling with something. Help?

Question

I am struggling with the thought that believing the Bible is 100% true and cannot in some circumstances be taken as conceptual and that the writers of the Bible sometimes put their own biases into what they wrote? What do you think? There are many passages in the OT and the NT that are heavily misgynistic. However, God does say he loved us all equally yet passages in the Bible (especially those of Paul) say that women are lesser, etc.

Also, many people use passages from the OT to denounce homosexuality yet they eat pork, wear fabric blends, have sex on their period, etc. This is very frustrating and confusing to me.
Also

Answer 1

I don't believe that you can always take the Bible literally. In some places, the authors wrote symbolicly. Also, it wasn't written directly to us. All of the Bible was penned by the human authors with a specific audience in mind. That audience does not include us. While the Bible is still applicable to us, we need to remember that we are not the primary audience. The historical context of the author and his original audience is very important.
As for the OT passages, the reason why people use them against homosexuality is that there are passages against it in the NT(Romans 1:26-32; I Corinthians 6:18-20. This denunciation was carried over from covenant to covenant; however, there is nothing in the NT prohibiting wearing fabric blends, eating pork, etc. In fact, eating pork and other non-kosher foods was encouraged for Peter the apostle in a dream (Acts 11:1-17).
If you look at passages addressing women in a historical context, I think you will find that the Bible's views on women were immensely liberal in their historical context. Especially Ephesians 5, I do not see how this is a put down of women. Women are to be nourished, cherished, and loved, and men are to sacrifice themselves for their wives as Christ did for the church. While men and women have different responsibilities, God loves both genders equally and unconditionally. The role He has given us has nothing to do with how much He loves us. Also, Paul addresses women directly in some of his letters, praising and thanking them for their work of the gospel (I Cor. 16.19; Phil. 4;2; II Tim.1:3-5).

Answer 2

Can you think of anything that has been written down by man that can say that when written by many over thousands of years all agree on what is in it? Only one book that I know of and I have searched many years. That is the bible. No way could it be anything but God inspired to be able to agree on all points when so many did not even know about others that wrote parts of the bible. So you can be assured 100% that even if they did put some biases in, that it is inspired by God so you can know it is truth. God does love each of us equally but you need to know some things about the times and customs of the bible writers to understand all that is said by them. Paul did not say that women were not as good as men or were inferior but only that they should not be doing some of the jobs that were supposed to be for men to do. As today, could you go out and do some of the hard physical labors that men do every day? Of course not. You just are not made for it and would buckle in the first hour. Does that make you inferior? Not unless you think because you are not made of muscle and bulked up like a man that you are. Women were made more delicate and suitable for a different work than men. In the temple service, it was the mans job to stand up and preach and teach from the bible and if the woman had a question it was considered best to wait and ask her husband when they got home rather than speak up and have a question and answer period every week at the temple. God never gave women the job of being preachers even though many today are taking that job. God gave very specific qualifications for Elders, or preachers for a reason. To keep the church pure and undefiled. Unfortunately, it has become defiled more and more over the years and what God says does not seem to mean near as much as it did even 20 years ago. I totally agree with you about the people that denounce the homosexuality but use the pork and all kinds of other things that God said not to do. This is not the fault of the bible but of the people that want to be hypocrits. God said you need to put a difference between the clean and unclean and not defile the temple of God and those people will pay one day very soon with their very lives. Do not be confused, pray and study the bible daily to see what God has to say to you and live according to those things that are revealed to you in God's Word. Check out the site below and do the studies that are there too. They will help a lot to answer your questions.

Answer 3

I consider myself a christian. I too feel that the Bible is not as accurate as some people think. It is like gossip. You tell someone something, then when it comes back to you, it's totally different. The Bible has been written many, many times. So it is possible that some stories have been exaggerated and some not. It was also said that some stories were removed completely. My very first question is: How did we come from Adam and Eve? Adam and Eve had two boys and one of the boys killed the other. And he was banished from the Garden of Eden. He supposely met someone and got married. Where did she come from? If Adam and Eve had more children, and that was his sister, then we are all incest. There are so many questions. We will not know until we die. So what I do is believe in the Lord with all my heart and hope he forgives me of all my sins. It is better to believe and die to find out there is no Heaven than not to believe and find out there is.

Answer 4

Personally...(and this is strictly my opinion) From the time the bible was written, translating it over the years I'm sure its been left to whoever what interpreting it into another language at the time. Some things just don't translate. Add the fact that I don't think people take into consideration that Man has done a lot of messing about with it over time. Also another point is that things have changed so much whether good or bad. Its like some of the silly laws you read about (like you can't wear blue on a Tuesday and milk a cow if you have a feather in your hat kind of silly) that were perfectly reasonable in that day and time.

Don't know if that makes us right or wrong.

Answer 5

Only a few fundy's accept that the bible is 100% literal true. Many many Christians over the centuries have taken a different view. The Bible was not even completed until nearly 400AD.
The protestant reformation in europe was fought so that each Christian could hold his own view on scripture (before that for 500 years the authority was the catholic & orthodox churches). Why can't God speak directly to you? Why do you have to believe somebodyelse's view. If the Holy Spirit dwells in believers then he can lead you to truth as he wants you to hold. There are many Christian churches and people who share your views.

Answer 6

First, take a look at your Bible. Then look at some other Bibles. There are thousands of translations of the Bible. THOUSANDS. I think it's close to 12,000! Which one is correct? None of them! It's impossible to do a direct translation between any two languages and not lose or add things. The saying goes: "A Translator is a Traitor." (Not literally, but to the languages.)

I personally do not believe the Bible is literal in English, Hebrew, Greek, or any other language. I believe the book was written by men with divine inspiration, not divine dictation. That's why you see two creation stories in the Bible and that's what Kabbalah is, trying to explain errors like two creation stories. (Kabbalah is very interesting and offers a lot of insight btw.)

I see the Bible as a guidebook for life.

Answer 7

Some things are OK now since Jesus came and changed the rules a bit. Some things were not addressed, such as homosexuality, so we can only assume that the old law is still in force on that one. As far as sex on your period, that's just gross and I don't know why anyone would do that.

This is to William, open-mindedness is what brings most people to faith. Don't be so self-righteous and keep an open mind, because you seem not to have one.

Answer 8

Don't fall prey to things like overwhelming observable evidence, Don't actually read the Bible without an interpreter, and above all else do not think for yourself. Dear Lord we'd all be in trouble if that was allowed.

Answer 9

i believe the stories in the bible are written with a little bias of the writer. they were just normal people like you and i. but, possibly God wanted it that way. as far as the OT and the NT. i believe we are to live under grace, not law. that is why Jesus died for us. we no longer have to shed blood to wash our sins, jesus did that for us.
as far as the woman man equality thing. woman was created for man, but man is not complete without woman.

Answer 10

Do not stray from your faith. This is what the devil would like you to belive.

Continue your walk and you will see that it was just a fleeting thing. Only the devil trying to get at you. He will continue to try and find a way into your head. Fight it.