Is it ok to pick and choose which parts of the Bible you want to believe?

Question

I am an Atheist but I have read a fair bit (admittedly not all) of the bible so that I could come to an informed decision....anyway...

How do Chritians decide which parts of the bible are "real" and which are more like stories which we are meant to learn from? From what I know of the bible it doesn't actually differentiate between the two??

Also do Christians follow the bible to a t? For example there is a story about a man staying in an inn with his concubine and the villagers try to break into the inn to rape the man. The inn keeper begs them not too and instead offers them his virgin daughter along with the man concubine... this is supposed to teach us that man is superior to women and women must make sacrifices etc etc... and there other similar stories. Do Christian women follow this? Are they ok with that? Would they give up their daughter to protect their husbands??? And if you wouldn't.... why do you pick and choose which parts of the bible to follow?

Some really interesting opinions here folks! Thanks for your contributions!

Superfoot23... thanks for explaining the story I mentioned..... what I don't understand is, how do we know that that was a "story" and the vistors were "angels" etc etc and that it wasn't an actual event that happened?? Why does God have to demonstate that he is trying to "save us from our sins" by letting men rape a young virgin girl instead of an angel?? And is it not a sin to rape a young girl but it is a sin to rape and angel?? I dont understand how anyone was saved from sin here (true story or otherwise?) And why did God send the angels in the first place? To tease and tempt the men? This God sounds like hes on a power trip and I mean that with the greatest respect but it does seem a little cruel.

I guess people are right....I think maybe I'm looking a little too literally and logically when there is very little in religion which is logical. I guess I have a typical Atheist mind!

Answer 1

christians believe wat suits them, if it dont then they say jesus changed it for us, most christians follow no part of wat the bible says, as they believe jesus is son of god or even god, then they believe hes forgiven there sins before they commit them, so they can do wat they want and theyll still go t heaven, i reckon a lot of them will have some shock wen they die, the N T is just stories told by a bunch of guys, a bit like a lads night out, i took this beatiful girl home other weak truth is she was an ugly thing touching 60, we exagerate the truth and this is wat jesus deciples did,

Answer 2

To answer your initial question, no, it's not ok to pick and choose what parts of the Bible you want to believe.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 (The Message Translation) it says.." Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." Also, Deuteronomy 4:2 tells us, "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you."

We live in a world where everything is tailor made to fit a person's wants and desires. Because of this, some people expect that God should be tailor made to fit what they want. In my opinion, this is a very dangerous belief system. By doing this we are not only breaking a commandment of God, but we also act like we know better than God. For example, take a look at the laws of our country. We don't understand why some laws were made, but still we follow them because they are the supreme laws put in place.

Moving right along, I'm assuming that the "stories which we are meant to learn from" are the parables, which are some of the teachings of Jesus found in the New Testament. I could be wrong, I'm pretty sure I'm not though, but with the exception for the parables, there are no "metaphors" in the Bible.

Finally, about the story in the Bible. It's actually taken from the book of Genesis in the 19th chapter where two angels come to warn a man named Lot of the impending destruction of an incredibly wicked city called Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot takes them to his house to stay when men from the city, young and old, come and surround the house demanding for Lot to give the two angels to them so they could rape them. But Lot offered his daughters instead. The men from the city refused and began to try and break into the home. The angels then struck some of the men with blindness so Lot and his family could escape. This is not meant to show us that men are better than women, if anything, it teaches us God's provision for us in our time of need.

I really hope all of this answers your question...

Answer 3

Ok I'll tell you what I believe and I admit I do not speak for everyone, in fact I speak quite differently than a lot of Christians.

I believe the entire Bible is the divine inspired word of God, this to me is an intelligent researched decision along with the jump of faith (however large or small) everyone, including atheists must make to believe something.

I believe that every story is in the Bible for a purpose, I also believe that as it is said in the Bible, when we changed over to the new testament things changed.

Jesus was never disrespectful to women.

I am however, NOT A FEMINIST, I am a, as I like to call it, 'new feminist'. Although I'm sure I am not the first to think the way I do I did make up that term, at least I'm the first I've heard say it.

So I believe that men should, and a lot of the time they psychologically want to, want to take care of their wives, whether its physically, mentally, emotionally (very important), or in any other way.
And I think women should want to take care of their husbands in the same way, regardless of who pays the bills.

So, some Christians take parts of the Bible and prophetic or poetic, even when it's not trying to be. I don't.
Some people say we should live by every old Testament Law, I don't.

I believe in Jesus, honestly I do, I believe everything he said.

And he said that the old ways of being saved by works were over, Jews disagree with me because they don't believe in Jesus, that’s fine, I'm telling you what I believe.

I believe that you should follow the ten commandments to the best of your ability.
The Bible is BIG TIME, a history book (whether you think it's a true history book is your decision)
Its still a History book.
So while they married their cousins and slept with their father to carry on his seed (I too read the Bible) we don't do that today.
Mostly because we don't need to.
If you were on a deserted island with no people but one, I think you would carry on the population with that one person (of the opposite sex)
So they had to do things then.
And while my father wouldn't marry me off to my sisters fiance and I wouldn't fight with her over who gets to sleep with him that night, they did then, in that case it was so he could have 12 sons and have enough for the 12 tribes.
So the old testament and the new testament are different and SOME not all of the rules changed.
So I follow the ones that didn't change, and I follow the new ones, I don't pick pieces of the Bible and believe only the ones I like.
I try also to get the most pure form of the Bible that I can.

That’s just me,

Jessica

Answer 4

The bible is written in 5 different ways yet are leaving the same answer, Some is literally, others is symbolic, & others is a parable & some are types & shadows.. But the carnal mind can not understand the spiritual things of God, It takes only a spiritually minded person to understand the bible & the spiritual things of God, You could read the bible trough 20 times with a carnal mind & still you will not know anything. So all of the bible is real, it is hidden to those that do not have the spirit of God, As I said, There is a literal part of the bible, then a symbolic part of the bible, & then there is parables & also Types & shadows. & with the spirit of God in my life I can see the difference in all 5. For instance as in St. Matt. the 7 parables, each parable types out each church age, & we are living under that 7th parable now. That is in Matt. 13:47-50

Answer 5

As a non-christian, allow me to posit the following points:

If you take the view that the truth in the bible is to be of historical or objective accuracy, then you must consider that if the book is the work is written by people, it is equally subject to the criticisms that are made of historical or scientific papers, but whatever data that the wider community can mine from that can be held as unquestionably authoritiative.

If you take the view that you can gain truths from the bible relating to the subjective human condition, then it is up to the individual to derive whatever truth they wish, and it can be fairly said that the fact that this truth can be derived from the bible is unquestionable. However, this carries no authority with others, since the presentation of a countertruth might also be unquestionably derived from it as well.

As a result, I do not think that you can pick and choose parts of the bible to believe to be -True- in any authoritive sense. However, you can pick and choose what you want to believe -in- in a mythological sense as long as you have the humility to accept that this belief is not based in objective fact and that it is specific to your interpretation of both an infinitely interperable text and an infinitely perceivable world.

Answer 6

This is why it's important to read about the experts' opinion of the Bible. I recommend a book by amy orr ewing, 'why trust the Bible' which explains what it's all about.

With regards to the old testament stories, I have to believe that they really happened, but knowing what I know of my loving God, I don't think he ever said it was okay to send your virgin daughter out to be raped. God set boundaries, however, not walls, and imperfect people often do things outside the safety of boundaries. Since Jesus came, we can choose to have the Spirit of God inside of us, being our conscience (if we let him) so we know in our hearts how to live, right from wrong. We can always choose to disobey his voice, and then the consequences can be disastrous.....but not God's fault!

I personally learn a lot from the old testament, about faith mostly, and about the various aspects of God's character. I choose to believe that Jesus is the ideal person that I should try hard to be more like every day, because I want to stay in those safe boundaries.....I spent 28 of my life outside of them, and what a mess I was in. It's not always the easy option to follow Jesus but it makes more sense.

Answer 7

It depends on the denomination. Most Christians follow academic opinions on the subject. Scholars at universities dedicate their entire lives to applying archaelogy, paleography and literary criticism to the Bible, and they have a pretty good idea of which parts are historically true, which are errors, which are allegories/satire/hyperbole, etc. The majority of Christian universities teach literary criticism in theology classes.

Now, as for the minority of Christians, there are many who do indeed "pick and choose" the passages they want to accept. But it isn't as random as you might think - most of them do apply a specific form of interpretation from the catalog of possibilites, and could (at least) provide you with some rationale. Hyper-dispensationalists (less than 1% of Christians), for example, only believe that certain of Paul's letters are applicable to modern Christians, and only keep the rest of the Bible for reference. Some Sabbatarian Christians (less than 1% of Christians), on the other hand, follow every bit of the Bible (as far as modern law allows), observing both the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament, as well as the injunctions found in the New.

Answer 8

I am a christian, and I have read the bible front to back. I was raised in my faith.
I do not pick which parts of the bible to believe, I believe all of it, because I have faith that it is all real. I dont need proof. (faith is believing what we cannot proove)
If I am 100% honest, I will say no I do not follow the bible to a T. For I am human, and not perfect. there are times when I mess up, but always ask for Gods forgiveness. The bible doesnt say that men are superior, however it does teach us in ephesians 5:22 "wives submit to your husbands" and in ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives"

Answer 9

This is such a common misconception: not everything recorded in the Bible is approved of by God. Much of it is historical account, like the story you mention of the concubine. Its not teaching that man is superior to women and women are supposed to make sacrifices: its teaching that mankind is depraived and we need a saviour if we're to escape the punishment we deserve...

Answer 10

If you are a Christian the New Testament supplants a lot of the Old testament and what actions are acceptable. The Christian teaching has a kind, forgiving God rather than the more stern God of the OT.

Have you noticed how so-called fundamentalist Christians use the OT to justify their right wing, inhumane attitudes rather than listen to the more cooperative, persuasive attitudes of Jesus Christs teachings?

Answer 11

Reading the Bible by someone who does not have the Holy Spirit living in them and acting as their interpreter and the illuminator of the scriptures results in exactly what you have expressed.

Your understanding of the story of the man who offered his virgin daughter is completely wrong. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the superiority of anyone. It has to do with the lengths to which God is willing to go to give us all a way out of sinning.

The house guests were angels, not mere men.
The men of that town saw them and wanted to have sex with them.
The father of the virgin girl represents God the Father, willing to give His best to save them from their SIN.