Why do Christians accept what they don't understand?

Question

I'm a Christian, but I've been noticing that many Christians will defend something to the death that they don't understand.

For example, Luke 23:46 says Jesus' last words were "Father, I trust my sprirt with your hands"

But Mark 15:34 says his last words were, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It's stuff like that I don't understand, and when I ask questions, people either say I'm an atheist, it's not for us to understand, or "you just gotta have faith," whatever the f*ck that means.

So what I'm asking is why do Christians accept all the contradictions of the Bible and refuse to acknowledge them? Proverbs 2:3 says to always search for understanding, but when I do, I only get met with hostility from other Christians.

Answer 1

You sound like a Christian who doesn't believe in the absolute infallibility of the bible, which is a much more rational *and honest* way to be than those who convince themselves that even the contradicted portions are somehow mysteriously valid.

Life has to be understood by the mind. Any other way is more than "blind faith": it's blindness, period, and amounts to make believe.

Answer 2

Pitiful attack.

First, if you are going to quote scipture, try reading it's entirety and put it in it's CORRECT context.

Secondly, You will never understand FAITH until you study it. If you hear the answer and leave as that you'll always think 2+2=5. But if you look deeper into it, you will find exactly what you are looking for... The ANSWER.

WHY HAVEN'T YOU ASKED THE QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING? Which is simply "What is Faith?"

You do need faith. That is the correct answer. Unfortunately, since you don't know what Faith is (obviously) the individuals should have gone into deeper explanation for you. Faith is accepting your belief in God (and Jesus' word) to guide your life. There are a infinite number of things out there we don't know - one of which is details of our own futures. Faith allows you to put concerns and worries in the hands of God and allow him to handle whatever happens. This doesn't mean that only good things will happen. Satan is constantly attacking. So good and bad things will happen. If you have faith, you know that all things happen for a reason and will go to the greater good. You know.. That makes life easier to deal with.

But you won't understand that until you submit yourself as a learner. You should study about Faith and the Holy Spirit.

I'm sorry you didn't get a more definitive answer, but I'll be glad to you to the path you need to be on.

Answer 3

To answer your first concerns, Jesus quotes Psalm 35 at Luke 23:46 and Psalm 22 at Mark 15:34. Read both of these and understand that David was actually prophesying what Jesus would say hundreds of years later while on the cross! When you put these NT verses into their proper context by reading the entire Psalms they're taken from, you understand more of what Jesus was thinking while He was dying.

As for your second concern, I agree with you that "you have to have faith" isn't an acceptable answer. Jesus commanded us to be disciples (which means "learners"). If you permit passages such as these to remain a mystery to you instead of actively pursuing their meaning, you're not learning, are you? When others suggest to you that it's a dark mystery you're not supposed to understand, start getting your advice elsewhere -- they're not learners, so why should you seek to learn from them?

There's not ONE WORD in the entire Bible that God wants to be incomprehensable to you. So knock and it will be opened to you; seek and you will find; ask and it will be given to you! Don't give up until you understand.

Answer 4

Because most of the Christians on this forum are fundamentalists.

Ordinary Christians love the Bible exactly as it is -- with all its little contradictions. Ordinary Christians understand that the Bible is a work reflecting millennia of oral tradition that finally started getting written down but even then was edited and re-edited and translated and re-translated.

Love begins with acceptance. Accept the Bible with all its little flaws. It is the best tool we have to help us understand about our relationships with God and with one another.

Why do you think the early Church Fathers decided to keep four gospels instead of just one? Certainly not so they could hold it up as an exact, word-for-word dictum straight from the mouth of God.

Get yourself a Catholic Study Bible. It offers helpful historical contexts for some of the contradictions you find in it. And share some of the contradictions with a Catholic. She'll show you a few more, and it will not shake your faith or hers.

Answer 5

Two men remember different words, either all the words were spoken or each only remember how they interpreted them.
If all were word for word would it be more or less believable? In a court room three people seeing and hearing the exact same thing will give three statements that are similar but many things will vary. Is only one telling the truth? Or are all telling what registered most on them? To find the truth we listen to all of the statements and and make one of them.

Answer 6

To understand those verses one must read the context in which is was written. Jesus cried out first "Father, why have you forsaken me" because at that exact moment, Jesus was feeling the sin from the entire world in which he was sent to die for and it was unbearable. After He bled for our sins and knew He was seconds away from death, He cried out again saying "into your hands I deliver my soul".

Keep in mind also that Mark was written before Matthew and Luke. In searching for understanding, one must ask for God to show them the way to the truth of His Word. One must be open to receiving that word as well.

Just so you know, if you ever have questions and would like a direct "non hostile" answer from someone who is open to the Word, feel free to send me an email anytime.

[e-mail]

Blessed Be...

Answer 7

The bible is a compilation of scripts by many people. Its interpretation through different languages can result in differences in translation, which as Christians, we acknowledge and accept. If you believe in Christ and that he died on the cross, this is your salvation, not what he said in his last breath. The bible is man's manual for living. Use it for that purpose and not as an opportunity to criticise others.

Answer 8

I think it is fear. They are afraid to question in the least bit. True faith is knowing the contradictions, qoestioning god, and finding him. Remeber the bible was written by several people with different view points and ideas,

Answer 9

i was taught that he first said "My God. My God why have you forsaken me". But a few moments later said "It is consumated Father, into your hands i commend my spirit".

He could have said both and Mark heard different than Luke.

Answer 10

Why does anyone accept what they don't understund?

because there is so little that they do understand, even if some actually do think they understand.