The Bible that is followed should be limited to the Gospels and maybe a few other books of the NT?

Question

The Bible is like a giant history book, it learns from itself, and in it exists valid and invalid doctrines when it comes to pertaining those doctrines to life today. For example, many of the books of the OT, Leviticus comes to mind, are only valid and relevant to the people of those times. Following portions of those doctrines would be unsound if not illegal today. Other examples are Letters, these are really only relevant to the immediate time period.

The real Bible is the Gospels and a few other books that pertain to Jesus, well to Christianity, not Judaism. And these are what need to be emphasised. Following laws in the OT is like applying the ideas of Nazism to this modern day. It's unsound, and outdated, among other things. Be my example a bit crude, but it is true to an extent.

And all this is why we have the whole pick and choose vs fundamentalism debates and factions.

I'm not saying get rid of them, I mean stop using them as doctrines of belief, and instead keep them solely for historical purposes.

Answer 1

I think that for Christians it should be limited to the Gospels in the New Testament with the other books relegated to an appendix.

Answer 2

a) I'd suggest that contemporary Christianity pays attention to the Gospels, to the exclusion of all else, except when a passage is "convenient".

b) Following the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) is a valid way of living. It is relevant to contemporary life, albeit few are willing to commit to it.

c) I'm not sure what you consider in it would be illegal to practice today. My guess is that you don't understand the Legal Code outlined in the Torah. Assuming you are referring to the punishments that are mentioned therein, those were carried out after a court had ruled. IOW, The laws were both the law of the land, and the code of ethics to which one adhered to.

d) The various epistles (From the Tanakh, and New Testament) are guidelines on how to act, in the absence of a specific law covering a situation. They are a recognition that things change,and one needs guidance on how to "translate" laws for new, and different situations.

e) If you paid attention to the Lectionary, you'd discover that there is at least one Gospel reading, alongside the reading from the Old Testament, and the rest of the New Testament. You may also found a reading or two from Psalms. IOW, You will always have a reading from one of the Gosples. You will probably have a reading from Psalms. The OT and NT will be from "somewhere".

Parshiyot readings are always from the Torah. (Not that you are either interested in, or care about them.)

f) Unsound and outdated? Only to those who are unwilling to live by them.

I have three thought experiments for you:

i) Imagine a world in which the laws of the Tanach are completely obliterated. None of them are part of either the legal or ethical code of anybody living on that planet;

ii) Imagine a world in which the only legal code is that found in the Tanakh. Adhere to it, or be punished for the crime you committed;

iii) Practice living your life according to the laws of the Tanakh, and adhering to the Legal Code where you live. When you fully grok the implications of the laws in the Tanakh, and adhere to them accordingly, you'll discover that you are also adhering to the majority of the laws of the land, even if you have no knowledge of the laws of the land. (This is true regardless of the country, or legal code that is used, due to the common core of ethical principles that underlie both religion, and justice.)

Answer 3

I agree--personally, I find some of the Old Testament laws just plain disturbing...the amount of actions that are punishable by death in following the OT is just ridiculous. What's worse is Christians will pick and choose which OT laws are still being upheld and which should no longer be considered relevant. My view is, you can't follow one law from the Old Testament without following the whole thing. That is hipocritical. It simply doesn't make sense to do so and yet Christians still will.

I also agree with your statement about the letters, and although I had never thought about it, that makes sense as well. The letters do apply to that time period historically, but they apply very little to society today.

I personally don't follow the Bible. There are simply too many "laws" one has to uphold, too many things it commands us to do, and too many contradictions. There is one thing and one thing alone I believe about the Bible to be true, and that is its teaching of love...a teaching that has become lost under all of the fear and dogma of the Church.

Answer 4

Surely you cant pick and choose what parts of the bible you want to believe? You either believe its Gods perfect word or you dont. You either have to believe all of it or none of it?

Why would God allow something to written in name if it wasnt true and he didnt want you to believe it and live by it?

I'm afraid that what you are trying to do is to rationalize a prehistoric document, written in accordance with the norms of that time, with modern life.

The unfortunate truth is that none of the bible has any real meaning in todays world, it is a bronze age fiction written by people with no prophetic insight whatsoever.

Much of the bible is utterly abhorrent by todays standards of behaviour - for example no-one believes that slavery or the stoning of adulterers is acceptable in todays society.

I fail to see how any reasonable person can read the bible and accept that it represents a good way to live ones life.

Its time to get real and accept that the bible is nothing more than a prehistoric fairy tale.

Answer 5

The real Bible is the whole collection of books from Genesis to Revelation. No need to cut out the Old Testament or the letters of Paul, Peter, John and the others. There are a lot of examples, promises, commandments, and blessings from God in there for you today.

Answer 6

Then it would not be Scripture. The Scriptures were canonized (made official) by the Church - the Body of Christ - filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the Church that decided which Books "made the cut" - which ones were truly inspired. Otherwise the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene would all be part of "Holy Writ". They are not, because the Scriptures are the property of the Church - NOT the other way around.

Answer 7

Those who promote homophobia will never allow the OT to officially be removed or ignored. However, they ignore almost all of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers except two verses in Leviticus which they use to justify homophobia. They want to pick and choose, but deny they pick and choose while condeming others for picking and choosing. The hypocrisy makes them feel more comfortable living in their sin of homophobia.

Answer 8

"...limited to..." "a few other books that pertain to Jesus..."
Such as the ones he approved of?

The God of the New Testament (including Jesus) is, it is maintained, the same as the God of the Old Testament.

If examination of the latter does not confirm this then the whole theological structure of divinely revealed truth is sinking, and cannot be saved simply by throwing a few books overboard.

Answer 9

I do believe some Baptist already do this
Wycliffe Bible
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