Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Fri May 30, 2014, 12:34 PM May 2014

11 Kinds of Bible Verses Christians Love to Ignore

http://www.alternet.org/belief/11-kinds-bible-verses-christians-love-ignore



1. Weird insults and curses. The Monty Python crew may have coined some of the best insults of the last 100 years: Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. But for centuries the reigning master was Shakespeare: It is certain that when he makes water his urine is congealed ice. Had John Cleese or William Shakespeare lived in the Iron Age, though, some of the Bible writers might have given him a run for his money. Christians may scoot past these passages, but one hell-bound humorist used them to create a biblical curse generator.

She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. Ezekiel 23:20 NIV

You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. . . . The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. Deuteronomy 28:30-31,35

2. Awkwardly useless commandments. The Bible is chock-a-block with do's and don’ts. Some of them are simply statements of universal ethical principles like, do to others what you would have them do to you, or don’t lie, or don’t covet your neighbor’s possessions. But from a moral standpoint most of them are simply useless or even embarrassing—especially if you think God could have used the space to say don’t have sex with anyone who doesn’t want you to, or wash your hands after you go to the bathroom.

Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. Leviticus 19:19

Ye shall not round the corners of your heads. Leviticus 19:27

3. Silly food rules. The early Hebrews probably didn’t have an obesity epidemic like the one that has spread around the globe today. Even so, one might think that if an unchanging and eternal God were going to give out food rules he might have considered the earnest Middle-American believers who would be coming along in 2014. A little divine focus on amping up leafy green vegetables and avoiding sweets might have gone a long way. Instead, the Bible strictly forbids eating rabbit, shellfish, pork, weasels, scavengers, reptiles, and owls. As is, Christians simply ignore the eating advisories in the Old Testament, even though they claim that edicts like the Ten Commandments and the anti-queer clobber verses still apply.

All that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 9:10
Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk. Exodus 23:19
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
1. Why did you post this in General Discussion?
Fri May 30, 2014, 12:36 PM
May 2014

If the point is to shit on Christians, there's a couple of forums dedicated to that; there's no political relevance to this post. So why do it, particularly since you have to be aware that it's against the rules?

Bryant

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
2. 1st - i'm a church going christian.
Fri May 30, 2014, 12:44 PM
May 2014

2nd -- christian 'culture; has been demanding an awful lot of space in public discussion in these recent years.

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
7. And if this were specifically about conservative christians -i.e. political Christians
Fri May 30, 2014, 12:50 PM
May 2014

who were using their faith to drive politics, than it'd be fine. But it's not limited to them, is it? And it's not a critique of how Christianity interferes with politics, it's a critique of Christianity itself.

Bryant

whatthehey

(3,660 posts)
5. MAYBE
Fri May 30, 2014, 12:46 PM
May 2014

because so much political and sociological harm comes from the people who display the kind of hypocrisy necessary enough to pretend one verse of Leviticus is an immutable moral law and the next is an irrelevant pre-Messianic relic?

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
14. If you walk into any church and say that, you'll get quite an argument
Fri May 30, 2014, 02:07 PM
May 2014

Also, from Matthew 5...

17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.…

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
9. Leviticus was written to three distinct and particular audiences.
Fri May 30, 2014, 01:24 PM
May 2014

Leviticus (as with the rest of the Book of Laws) was written to three distinct and particular audiences, the priestly caste (i.e., the tribe of Levi themselves), known as the lawgivers, who had placed on the themselves the majority of dietary and dress ritual, ordination of the priests, etc-- this was known as The Priestly Code.

The second audience was the Jewish nation as a whole, i.e., all twelve of the Hebrew tribes, including instructions for the laity in regards to sacrifice, attendance, holy days, temple decorum, criminal law etc. Also known as the Holiness Code, going beyond priestly ritual into moral strictures for the entire nation.

Finally, the smallest set of rules and injunction being directed towards humanity as a whole, including instruction on redemption of votive gifts, neighborliness, how to dedicate and make vows, etc.


One can think of the Books of Law as three distinct sets of laws, one set of laws affecting only the smallest portion, another set of laws affecting the nation, and third set affecting the world. If one was not a member of the priestly caste, one could ignore the rules pertaining specifically and only towards the priestly caste. Hence, when reading, it becomes important to know which audience is being spoken to to realize which law is being broken or adhered to.

In other words, if a law of today directs medical doctors to wear gloves during work, I myself may safely ignore the strictures of that law without guilt.


Source: Ritual And Rhetoric In Leviticus, by Jim Watts

JanMichael

(24,891 posts)
12. So were Paul's letters to the Romans
Fri May 30, 2014, 01:45 PM
May 2014

Very specific target audience, so I think we can safely toss that "gay stuff" too, eh.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»11 Kinds of Bible Verses ...