Why do some Christians pick and choose what to believe out of the Bible?

Question

I find it extremely annoying that many Christians have decided to ignore some things in the Bible and fully support other things. For example, one person may support the story of Adam and Eve, but reject the belief that the world is only six-thousand years old. They may accept that humans and dinosaurs did NOT co-exist, but still believe in Noah's Ark.

Science has been poking holes in the Bible for years now, but all Christians do, instead of accepting the Bible as a false source of information, is ignore something, or claim you "have to read between the lines". Or that it can't be taken literally.

How many times are you going to change your beliefs before you become aware that the Bible is as fictional as Harry Potter?

I think either people need to stick with being delusional and believing fully and completely in the Bible, or regard it as nothing more than an interesting piece of literature--something to teach of morals and ethics, but not as a true account.

Towelieban Barbie --Obviously you haven't read your Bible very well about the 6,000 years thing. Go re-read it. It's been an issue discussed in my science classes for the past twelve years. And it was mentioned in my history classes a few times too.

Secondly, dinosaurs WEREN'T mentioned in the Bible...that's the problem. Where were they during creation? That's why there's a creationist museum in Kentucky teaching about how humans co-existed with dinosaurs (they even had a statue of a human riding one with an archaic saddle).

Maybe YOU need to do some research, buddy. :)

I'm just LOVING how people are focusing more on the examples than the question...

Answer 1

I completely agree with you.

The Bible has a lot of good lessons you can learn from it, but also has a lot of terrible lessons you can learn from it. I believe that this is why we observe so many Christians picking and choosing which passages they adhere to, simply selecting the ones that they happen to agree with and discarding the rest. I would add that in order for the Bible to be the infallible word of God (as so many Christians believe as a source of their faith and religion), then ALL of it has to be accepted, and NONE of it can be rejected.

That would include the following passages...



Killing people who don't listen to priests:

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deu 17:12)


Killing witches:

You should not let a sorceress live. (Exo 22:17)


Killing homosexuals:

If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives. (Lev 20:13)


Killing fortunetellers:

A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Lev 20:27)


Death for hitting dad:

Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. (Exo 21:15)


Death for cursing parents:

If one curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out at the coming of darkness. (Pro 20:20)

All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense. (Lev 20:9)


Death for adultery:

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Lev 20:10)


Death for fornication:

A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Lev 21:9)


Death to followers of other religions:

Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exo 22:19)

If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deu 13:7-12)

Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deu 17:2-5)


Killing nonbelievers:

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2Ch 15:12-13)


Killing false prophets:

If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord." When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through. (Zec 13:3)

Suppose there are prophets among you, or those who have dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles take place. If the prophets then say, 'Come, let us worship the gods of foreign nations,' do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or dreamers who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. Since they try to keep you from following the LORD your God, you must execute them to remove the evil from among you. (Deu 13:1-5)

But any prophet who claims to give a message from another god or who falsely claims to speak for me must die.' You may wonder, 'How will we know whether the prophecy is from the LORD or not?' If the prophet predicts something in the LORD's name and it does not happen, the LORD did not give the message. That prophet has spoken on his own and need not be feared. (Deu 18:20-22)


Killing the entire town if one person worships another god:

Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." (Deu 13:13-19)


Killing women who are not virgins on their wedding night:

But if this charge is true [that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night], and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deu 22:20-21)


Death for blasphemy:

One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die. (Lev 24:10-16)




I think my point has been made. You be the judge.

Answer 2

Wow are you a bit frustrated! Now in truth I have studied theology and history for years. I found that NO I personally do not believe the bible to be true as a factual history. I think it does have some spiritual lessons.
However I have one friend who has also done the same amount of looking and came to a completely different conclusion. He believes and is happy in that.
People pick and choose all their thoughts every day. They tell you sugar is bad and eat french fries. They won't drink but they smoke. Really human nature seems to be a total contradiction. How could the same people live faith any differently. I know its hard reading all this hate and anger. None of it seems to be based in sound thinking at all. I am pretty tolerant of someone else thinking the world works in a different way than me. So its ok to me for a person to think the bible is true when I don't. I even support that faith whole heartedly. Happy is happy.
Personally I love Harry Potter and would love if her world was true!
My point is I get the vent but asking people to be sane is like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. No worse it is the Modern white whale. ;p
By the way if you ever really want to know the history of the bible a good read and starting place is The Templar Revelation by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. They are less dusty historians to start with. I recommend this book only for those who are interested in the nature and creation of the Bible.

Answer 3

Well, the Bible doesn't explicitly say the Earth is 6,000 years old. That idea came from a Bishop Ussher in the middle ages, who actually came up with an exact date of creation of Octobert 23, 4004 B.C. which would make the Universe 6,011 years old, not 6,000. One may accept Ussher's interpretation, or one may come up with a different one. Christians worship God, and the Bible is a tool to reach God and Godly behavior. There is plenty of room for disagreement on many issues. Hence the variety of denominations. It's not "picking and choosing" what to believe, at least not any more than a Taoist "picks and chooses" what to believe when he reads and tries to understand the Tao Te Ching.

As for "literalness" of the Bible - of course the Bible isn't all "literal." I mean, open up anywhere to Psalms or Song of Solomon or the Book of Revelation - there are metaphors and other figurative devices all over those pages. Figurative language doesn't make a passage untrue. You need to understand the differences between the words "true," "literal" and "figurative." Once you get the distinction, and understand that something literal may be true, or false, and something figurative may be true or false, then you will understand a little bit better how to read something and interpret it.

The Bible is not as fictional as Harry Potter. The Bible is a set of religious books that have many different purposes - some historical (Exodus, Joshua, etc.), some setting down rules of behavior, worship and atonement (Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc), some establishing prophecies (Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.), some providing advice on how to live a good life (Proverbs), some providing entertainment and songs (Solomon, Psalms), some setting forth the fulfilment of prophesy and a new covenant with all mankind (the Gospels), some setting forth rules of proper behavior in the new age and how to run a church (Romans, Pauls letters to the Corinthians, Philippians, etc).

You set up a straw argument when you imply that the Bible ever was or was intended to be some monolithic, indisputable, "interpretable-in-only-one-way" book that is understood the same way by all people. It isn't that now, and it never was that. Someone who understands the history of how the Bible was written down, how it was compiled into its present forms (plural intended), and how the myriad of splits in the religion (denominations) happened knows that. You want to pigeon hole the Bible into a see-spot-run first grade reading material - it isn't. It takes a pretty darn good level of reading comprehension to understand a lot of it - that's why people go to Church and to Bible study. It has to be studied. That's the "seeking" part in "seek, and you shall find."

Your final paragraph with the either/or stick to delusions or disregard it completely is a false choice. No, you don't have to do that. There is a third alternative - to read it with thought and with a critical eye, and try to understand what various parts of it mean. What is salvation? How does one get it? What is the nature of God? What does "thou shalt not commit adultery" mean? What does "thou shalt not make any graven images" mean? What is sin? These are difficult theological concepts, and differences of opinion are allowed.

Answer 4

Well I for one take the whole Bible literally and I do believe all of it. History discoveries have backed so much of it up but you can believe what ever you want to believe. However I don't believe in the Bible because someone found something that backs up what the Bible says I believe it because I know what God has done in my life.
You are right though so many people pick and choose what they want from the Bible. But even the Bible says that is wrong. I live near Glenrose, TX where Dinosaur valley State Park is and I have seen the human foot prints right along with the dino prints (probably made escaping from the FLOOD (but you don't believe in that either do you). However much you don't believe it I have seen the evidence. They did exist at the same time. Some may have been amalgamations (mixing two animal species together to create something odd) some may have been created by God and just became extinct during the flood because God knew that they wouldn't fit in the world after the flood, or they became extinct after the flood as many other animals did.
It is true that I know that a lot of the means with which evolutionest judge time are not to be relied on. So no I can not believe them.
The only thing I ask is that you look at all the evidence with an open mind in the first place and then make your decision as to what you believe. The truth is out there and it will blow you away.

Answer 5

It's necessary to remember the complexity of the Bible and it's openness to interpretation. Large amounts of it can ONLY be taken metaphorically. The book of Revelation being the perfect example. Large chunks of Genesis I think, would also fit that category.
However, the presence of allegorical tales along side with ones of debatable historical accounts shouldn't place the Bible in the meaningless or purely fictional stack. It contains too much of both the literal and the metaphoric to be too easily disregarded.

While I understand how irritating it can be to have someone yelling one scripture as all-important but completely ignoring the one that follows it, this is more a reflection of the individual and their agenda. Don't judge the axe, judge the serial killer that swings it.

I'm not aware of the Bible mentioning dinosaurs at all, I'm pretty sure that's another example of someone's personal theory.

Answer 6

If Christians pick and choose what to believe in the Bible, they are guilty of hypocrisy and sin. In particular, the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus should be taken very seriously by a sincere Christian.

Answer 7

While I love the Harry Potter books, I don't think the comparison between them and the Bible is an accurate one......however, I do agree with you that Christians should accept the Bible in totality. And I think the majority of Christians do. But you need to know that there is also a lot of science, archeology, history, ect. that does point to much of the Bible being true. Thank you for an interesting question. A star for you!....Blessings!

Answer 8

God Bless you...

I don't believe that a Christian can pick and choose what to believe out of the Bible. However, one has to be able to discern what is meant to be taken literally, and what is to be taken as allegory. The Parables of Jesus, for example, are allegories. The story of the Exodus is literal. Jonah is literal. Noah is literal. The Song of Solomon is allegory. The Bible doesn't trick you--if you know how to identify different forms of literature, then you can identify what the Bible is doing.

The Bible is not a book of delusional stories. Archealogists are finding more and more proof that what the Bible talks about is true--the people and places, and the events described therein are all proving to be true. Don't believe me, though, do the research. You'll see the truth.

The Bible has to be the foundation of a Christian's faith--for it alone is God's revelation to man. We come to have a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. But it is only through the Bible that we can know Truth. If the Bible is not your foundation, how do you know anything concrete about God? How can you judge false doctrine and teachings? You cannot.

Too many mainline denominations do not teach the foundational truth of the Bible. That is why so many Christians think they can pick and choose out of the Bible. You must either believe it's entirety, or none of it. As a Christian, you can not sit on the fence.

As far as using the Bible only as a source of ethics, I think that is a mistake. That is like saying that Jesus was a great teacher, but not the Messiah. That doesn't work because either Jesus was who He said He was, or He was a fraud along the lines of James Jones or David Koresh. Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh. If He was not, then He was either mad or controlled by Satan. Are you saying that someone who was insane (because according to you, He was not the Son of God) was a wise teacher?

I think the same applies to the Bible. You must either take it as Truth, or if you don't believe it--then you must discount it completely. It claims to be the Truth, divinely inspired. If it fails on that account, how can any of it's claims be valid?

Bottom line: The Bible is Truth, it is the inspired and Holy Word of God. It is the Foundation of the Christian faith. Everything a Christian stands on is in the Bible. Any Christian who says otherwise is either very foolish, or not a Christian at all.

Answer 9

Uh, I find it annoying you do not know where the "six thousand" comes from and that it is not a traditional thought. Plus even your precious science says man and dinosaur did not co-exist.

Just because some one in a lab coat tells me something does not mean I have to believe it or that it is in fact truth. I do not see science poking holes an anything in the Bible.

Careful what you wish for...one day science will drop the Bible and go after Harry Potter!

Answer 10

Well, let me put it this way: Many Christians feel the Bible is divinely inspired, not divinely written. Evidently militant atheists don't quite get that.

Also, I'm not going to be told what I should or shouldn't believe by a tiny minority of miltitant atheist morons, like yourself who are motivated by nothing other than a pure and ridiculous hatred for Christianity and Christians (Christianphobes).

So why don't you get a life, and if you still find you hate Christians so much, grow a backbone and go out into the real world and confront them there.

Have a nice day.

Answer 11

Not only "Christians" do that!!! you can't generalize on this because there's plenty religions out there and the members of those that do the same... we are all human and you can't expect people to go by the book!!! everyone tries to but it's nearly impossible... have you ever met someone that lives accordingly? and why only criticize the Christian people and their religion?... when all religions have questions without correct answers.
I find that extremely annoying and stupid to think that about one religion and generalize about everything and everyone.
Just because you are an atheist doesn't make you right. If there was a "bible" for atheist like you... you wouldn't go by the book either... why because were humans and we choose to believe in whatever we desire... just like you choose to believe the way you do.

We choose what is convenient for us and religions have molded themselves every day as time passes and things change. Science will always try to compete with religion to bring down faith... but faith will always be stronger than anything. Faith is what keeps people believing even when in doubt of God. The world has hundreds or even thousands of religions to choose from... which is the right one??? is there even one?who knows? will that stop people from believing??? I doubt it.

All I know is that you can't judge a book by it's cover.
and I don't know why people think Christians are supposed to be perfect and not make mistakes they are human just like you. They aren't Saints... so please do yourself a favor and stop trying to figure out something that has no real answer... we are all in the same boat and we are all wondering the same thing... how the hell did we get here??? regardless of your religion or lack of. We all have questions and we all make mistakes. Catholics, Christians, Atheists, whatever.
Science will keep poking holes at everything... that's what they do.

Christians aren't robots they think for themselves... just like all other religious people. They aren't programmed or hypnotized or brainwashed.... they are just like everyone else in the world. omg...So they pick and choose!!!... don't they have the right to? ohhh well... at least we know they are human and not some aliens from outer space right?

I think people should be able to choose whatever religion they want and mold it to their own convenience and be happy.
I don't really care... who am I GOD!!! to judge? i don't think so.

So please enough with the CHRISTIAN SAINTS that live in your head.