I am a Christian and was reading some texts regarding sin. Here's what I found:
"Slaves, obey your masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart." 1 Corinthians 14:33-35
"Women shall be silent in churches, for they are not permitted to speak." Ephesians 6:5-6
Obviously, we no longer keep slaves and even in conservative churches women are allowed to speak. So, if we can disregard this, why all the hubbub about homosexuality and the Bible being taken literally?
2007-08-01 18:58:19 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I know that the Bible contradicts itself and I shouldn't have taken it out of context but I was afraid of running out of space. Look at it from a believer's point of view.
2007-08-01 19:12:22 · update #1
Steve N, both quotations are taken from the 2nd Testament.
2007-08-01 19:15:09 · update #2
The Bible should be taken in context of the time each book was written. After almost 2000 years a lot of things have changed.
Also it is very wrong to take a single quote from it and try to use it as an argument. The Bible contradicts itself all the time.
Of course idiots will always take the Book literally...
2007-08-01 19:04:10 · answer #1 · answered by Kimon 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Fellow Christian, the word of God is about understanding and not merely reading some texts.
You have to pray for wisdom. And in faith you have to receive the Word, as you receive Christ.
Literally, in the Old Testament, to be a slave
and a master simply meant being a debtor
and a creditor. Sounds familiar? It should,
we still are slaves (debtors) and masters
(creditors) today.
You were confusing slaves and masters with the oppressed and the oppressors.
common mistake. The first form of slavery is what God was referring to and approves of...the second form is an abomination.
Ladies being silent in the Churches, for they
are not permitted to speak.
This simply translated to: No woman is to
lead the Churches as the head of those
Churches. It doesn't mean that she can't minister-only that she is not allowed to control the Churches and preach.
Does that mean that some women won't disobey these verses? Of course not.
Because a true Christian obeys God. Loves
God. And doesn't just go through the rituals
of merely showing up for services. That building isn't going to save anyone.
What the secular world is not conforming to isn't going to cut it either. If you don't have The Lamb, our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Holy, living words of God; then we're only Christians to a fictitious environment. I pray that the Good Lord will
bless you, forever more. Love, peace and happiness.
2007-08-02 02:34:59 · answer #2 · answered by sylvester m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most mainstream Christian religions do not take the Bible literally. But I do believe there are some mainstream ones that do - most notably Baptists and Jehovah Witnesses. But all of them tend to pick and choose what to take literally. I would recommend the following book: The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg. He talks about the reality of the Bible in history, why examples such as "the slave obeying the master" thing were written, and how to interpret the Bible from a modern perspective. In other words, "getting to the heart of it's meaning."
If you're looking for a fairly intellectual denomination that doesn't tell you what to think, I would recommend Episcopalian. It's full of former Catholics, such as myself. We like to call ourselves "Catholic Lite."
2007-08-02 02:07:59 · answer #3 · answered by PDY 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe for the most part the bible is to be taken at ones own point of view. For example, God created the Earth in seven days. Within these seven days animals and man were created and lived together but fossils show that man did not live with dinosaurs. One is much older than the other so these seven days could be symbolic to billions of years. So that part is not taken literally, for your examples, many Christians believe in equal rights between men and women but still believe that the man is the head of the household. You must also realize that the Bible was written hundreds to thousands of years ago and was written by men, not women and the women's rights movement was but less than 100 years ago. As for the slaves quote, I can't really give a solid opinion on that. It would seem though that it is god saying Slaves, us because we were brought here by Him, fear your master, God. This is what I take these two quotes to mean. I believe the bible should be interpreted based off of opinion because the argument can go both ways. The quotes from Jesus or God himself I believe should be taken literally though. "A man shall not lay with another man like he does a woman." I am not sure of the exact verse but that is in the Bible as one of their quotes. This I believe to be taken literal.
2007-08-02 02:14:19 · answer #4 · answered by phskicker30 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well I'm Catholic, which is more specific than Christiany and we are taught that not everything in the Bible is to be taken literally. I went to a Catholic school and we were taught that there are things (like the text you quoted) that make no sense to us now. It's because times have changed and we don't take everything in the Bible seriously. What matters is the big picture. The Bible is composed of stories, like the Creation story? And Noah's Ark. They're metaphors and examples of what they believed back then, and guidlines to living today. Some we find total wrong and some are still of use today!
2007-08-02 02:04:22 · answer #5 · answered by Stephunkanie 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because those who claim to take the Bible literally don't follow all the rules in there [while claiming they do follow all the rules and condemning others for not following all the rules]. Which leads to the question how one can take the Bible literally and consider it inerrant, yet not feel compelled to follow all the rules?
It's much easier to claim the Bible condemns homosexuality than it is to claim that all women should be quiet in church. If the literalists tried to pass Constitutional amendments to keep women quiet in church or to allow slavery, they would lose so much support and money that they would go bankrupt. They're not going to try and push anything that makes them lose money from supporters; hence you have the real motivation behind their leaders' justification [and promotion] of homophobia.
2007-08-02 02:14:51 · answer #6 · answered by Michael B - Prop. 8 Repealed! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Honestly... im a christian myself but (sadly) i doubt that the Bible is (100%) truth.. due to the fact that they are many conspiracies regarding the origination and complation of the bible (words have been lost/altered/changed/manipulated)
...its sad though..how they are so many different religions and Mathew Chapter '24' (all the verses)... claims so much deaths >.
its ironic though.. i know i've read it before in the new testament that 'God is love' ..so how can he destroy even bad people in the last days?! why cant he just give us all 1religion the truth!
>.
2007-08-02 12:05:29 · answer #7 · answered by ola_ridiculous! 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can we say that you are a new Christian?
The first verse you used wasn't talking about the right or wrong of slavery. In fact, Paul called himself a slave to Christ. I call myself a slave to Christ.
Women being silent in churches:
You speak while the sermon is happening? If you do, you are being rude. The women used to interrupt the sermon to ask a question. They were not brought up like I hope you were. When the preacher is preaching, no on needs to hear your voice. And turn your cell phone off - it's the same courtesy.
About Homosexuality. I agree with you.
2007-08-02 02:05:47 · answer #8 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
NO. coz those things are written at an age of war,poverty,corruption and discrimination. Jesus was a huge political icon of the time, he refuse to follow the government which led to his death. we should interpret the bible as a story of something beyond understanding(yes,GOD), a story of courage(jesus), a story of hope(noah's ark), a story of men's flaws(adam and eve), a story of karma(revelation).
wehn interpreting the bible, ALL should be considered: the author, the author's culture and society on their own time, their beliefs. many has to be considered in interpreting the bible. these lines u've stated above were written in an era where there are no women's rights, where slaves are a common property. today, these things are unapplicable in our daily lives, it means that what those lines mean today maybe telling us that those are crude past teachings that has to be forgotten or never made again.
2007-08-02 02:12:09 · answer #9 · answered by TJ 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It also calls shrimp an abomination.
When reading the bible you have to take into consideration the fact that it was written a very long time ago and many of the values they had back then are things we no longer find moral. Also, think about the fact that it was written by men not god.
2007-08-02 02:04:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋