Why do Christians pick and choose what they want to stand by in the Bible?

Question

Why would you rely on something that you have to constantly reconcile, reinterpret, discard as "old testament doesn't count" (yet still use other things from it), & come up with complex convoluted answers & weak cop-outs for things that don't make sense or are just sick & wrong?

Don't you realize how weak/insecure that makes your religion in other people's eyes that you're trying to convert?

If you're going to stick by something, then stick by it damnit. Why be half-as$ed? Faith isn't about logic, remember? So why pick and choose?

Answer 1

I know what you mean. I am a christian, but I try to use the whole bible, not just certain verses, then throw it into everyone's faces. I guess it's just easier to find something in there to make one look superior. but that's not what Jesus would want us to do. He wants us to use love and wisdom. It's not wisdom to throw out the old testaments, just like its not wise to make you look superior by picking and choosing the verses. God wrote the bible to give us insight, but many use it to pass judgements. Many christians have forgotten that we are examples of Jesus's love.Jesus ate with sinners, saved a prostitutes life, and even showed sorrow, anger, and fear.Jesus was beat beyond recognition, but forgave those people--he didnt' yell out,"YOU"RE GOING TO BURN IN HELL!" We are to inform others of Jesus and what He stands for, but many just judge--like that's going to make someone really want to look at christianity...

Answer 2

Good question! The old Testament is the story of the foretelling of Christ. All the Prophets tell something of the Christ that is to come. It also, shows how God worked in the lives of a sinful people and how He tried to communicate His love to them. The old testament gives us the Law, (10 Commandments) However, the Jewish nations had hundreds of laws that they had to live by. They didn't do any better than we do with the 10. All the 10 commandments do is show you that you need a Savior, you will break most of them if not in actually doing wrong but even thinking wrong. To think murder, is to do murder in God's eyes. So you can see, we as a race are in trouble. Jesus, in the new Testament, takes the sins of the world upon himself and leads us to the Father. We no longer live under the law of the Old Testament we live under the grace of God. You are living in a time of Grace. The bible is a complex book that must be read with care and by help of the Holy Spirit. It takes a life time of study and prayer to understand all there is to know about the bible, perhaps it would take several life times. So bear with us, we are a work in progress, its not that we mean to confuse you. Know this God loves you very much and want you as His child. Hope I helped you with this question.

Answer 3

I never pick and choose. I believe the entire Bible and I apply all of it to my life. You are correct, though. No one, including so called Christians, can pick what they like from the Bible and disregard what they don't like or don't understand. This is especially true for those who proclaim that God used evolution to create and who believe the ancient universe balderdash. The foundation of the Bible is Genesis, especially the record of the creation of everything by Almighty God in 6 literal days and resting on the seventh. If God is indeed omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent as Christians claim -which He is- then He is more than capable of creating everything from nothing in 6 literal days. He is also more than capable of saying exactly what He means, and that is precisely what He does in the Bible.
Faith may not be about logic, but true Christianity is a faith based on logical deductions drawn from all the available evidence. Some Christians are running scared from the literal interpretation of the Bible -especially Genesis 1- because they have been successfully deceived and duped into believing the completely unsupported lies of evolution. There is plenty of evidence to support a young universe; all you need do is look at it. There is plenty of evidence to support creation as recorded in the Bible; you only need look at it. There is plenty of evidence to support the statement that the fossil record is better explained by the flood of Genesis; you merely have to look it all up for yourself and see.
However, no one can make assumptions about what must or must not be done, according to the Bible, without having great familiarity with the Bible itself and its Author -God

Answer 4

Good point. Taken in a literal sense only, there seem to be conflicts and some passages seem to not make sense. However, if you look beyond the story into the spiritual sense being imparted, then it makes “new” sense.
Similarly, if sex were love, then divorce would be unknown, because sex would correct whatever was the problem. But we all learn differently, that sex is sex, and love is love. Love is a spiritual thing, but sex is not.
The bible uses material things and events to impart truth, which is spiritual. Many Christians, here and now, take the book literally, and so have to make adjustments to make it work. Now I am not saying that is wrong, it just doesn’t work for me at this point.
So I don’t pick and choose. I pick, think, and find.

Answer 5

Every part of Scripture has to be interpreted in the context of the whole Word of God. Remember also that revelation through Scripture is progressive, so that no man could clearly understand the nature of the deity until it was fully disclosed through God's perfect revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the perfection of this revelation is demonstrated in a Creator crucified to redeem those who have so grievously revolted and strayed from Him.
It was spoken 700 year before Christ, but could not be understood until He came. The heart of the message is this:
"All we like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has made to meet together upon Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6)
All TRUTH must be interpreted in the context of the cross.

Answer 6

Because people are people, and many don't like to hear what they don't like. Not all of us are that way. If you look at the messianic Jews (accept both old and new testament as both valid and important) you see that some are starting to move to a whole bible approach.

Answer 7

I stand by the fact that 2 + 2=4. How can that make me weak, especially if it's the truth?

Answer 8

The whole Bible counts its no "oh this part is the only important part of the bible" I use both fo them to convert someone I tell tem the truth! I told my friend about how God is coming back and how Hell is real she accepted God so now she is saved!

Answer 9

Attending church has ruined most Christians. Why? How?

Well, it is all about the agenda of the Religious Empire or denomination or the Individual Preacher.

If their agenda is to collect more money, and it usually is, then they emphasize that Jesus shed his blood for them, ..... So, the least they (we ) can do is to shed our money for God, and Jesus, and the religious empire or Preacher.

If the agenda is to increase the attendance rate among the membership, then they emphasize "Hell" in order to scare people into attending church.

If the agenda is to control the membership, in and out of church, then they emphasize that God is all powerful, and all knowing, to the point that God knows what you are thinking about. "so. you had better not stray from our rules." "God will know it, and he will punish you."

If the agenda is to increase the size of the church membership, then they emphasize that God is Love. Then they tell their members to go door to door telling people that God loves them, and that God will love them even more if they will join a particular church.

The list goes on. But in almost every case, the Church agenda conveniently ignores God's simple message.

And, what is God's message?

Harmony is harmony.

Disharmony is the only sin against God.

..........

Answer 10

What, exactly, do Christians pick and choose? Homosexuality? It's in the New Testament as well; it's mentioned both specifically, and under the category of sexual immorality.
What else is there to pick and choose from? Christians should follow the New Testament, not the Old, apart from the Ten Commandments, which Jesus spoke of.
The purpose of the Old Testament is prophesy and history, not necessarily instructions for current times.