Quote From: polarburg You're absolutely correct. Much of Christian theology has to do with ...
1. Attempting to explain away the nuttier parts of the Bible,
2. Ignoring the parts that make no sense, and
3. Justifying any number of God-approved acts of cruelty
As for No. 3, these include slavery (See Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6 ) taking women to use as sex slaves (Exodus 21:20-21), putting homosexuals to death (Leviticus 20:13), torching the entire town if there's one unbeliever (Deuteronomy 13:13-19). etc., etc. etc. The list is a long, long one. These are not isolated examples. Like how about the Lord ordering Moses and his buddies to kill 3,000 people (Exodus 32:27-30) just a few pages after Moses brings down the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment? Some God.
Yes, there is a simple, obvious explanation for all of this -- the Bible was made up by humans.
That's one thing about hardcore Bible thumpers I have a hard time with.
The Bible was written by PEOPLE. It was written a long time ago. Most of it has been written by people that no one even knows the names of. They don't know when it was written, by who, or where.
In addition, it's been translated, retranslated, edited and re-edited dozens if not hundreds of times. I can read a book from one edition to the next edition and see things missing from the second edition, and often added to the next edition. I'm specifically thinking of the AA Big Book. I've never seen a first edition, but I used to have a second and third edition. There were a number of stories left out of the third edition, and a few added that weren't there before. The difference in the two books was about twenty to twenty-five years.
If a book can change that much in a quarter of a century, how much has even the New Testament changed in 2,000 years? I do have a problem with people who say the Bible is the Word of God and is infallible.
I'm sorry, I do not wish to be disrespectful to the Lord, but I have never seen the Hand of God. God Himself did not write the Bible. Human beings wrote the Bible. They wrote it, I'm sure, thinking that God put the words in their mind to write it, but they can't know that. They can believe it, but they can't know that. At this time in every conversation I've ever had with someone about the Bible, they bring up the word "faith". "You just have to have faith". I don't think there is anything wrong with faith, but when the moment rational thought intrudes on the infallicy of the Bible, if "faith" is the only answer, something is WRONG.
Really, most of it seems to be about Jewish men from anywhere to 2,000 to 3,500 years ago, and I resent that their thoughts and their beliefs influence so much of day to day life today.
These were men who thought their wives were their property, their children owed them lifelong obedience, and they were the only people who "got it right" and were the only people who were chosen by and favored by God. Their beliefs don't seem very different than radical Islamists. Women should have no money, no power, and no rights. As a woman, I think - what a bunch of arrogant jerks. And I thank GOD I live today in the United States of America, where if I decide I really want a different life than the one I'm living with my husband - I can WALK OUT THE DOOR. I can have him thrown in jail if he lays a finger on me. He cannot force me to give him my money, my ATM code, or my body. He could do any and all of those things, though, if it weren't for the separation of church and state the founders of this country put there. Thank GOD for Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and the constitution they created! Thank GOD for the United States of America!
