What Can We Even Say? (CH2PT4)

Here are some other portions of Scripture which for the most part their literal meaning in completely ignored in today's Christian world...

Leviticus 19:19 - " 'Keep my decrees. " 'Do not mate different kinds of animals. " 'Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. " 'Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24 - If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death--the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 - If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Luke 14:26 - "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.

1 Peter 2:18 - Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

Ephesians 6:5 - Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

1 Timothy 2:9-15 - I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 - Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Romans 13:1-2, 4 - Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

No one thinks slavery is a natural state. No one thinks women ought to be silent in church and not able to teach men, and no one thinks that the government rules by divine right. No one thinks that rape victims should be forced to marry their violators, nor does anyone think that a woman is defiled because she was raped. And no one thinks that we should hate people to be Christ's disciple. These ideas have simply passed and have been left behind in a bygone world. Good riddance. But what does that mean for the Bible?

What happens when a literal reading of the Bible is harmful for the church? We came to the conclusion at the start of this chapter that if the Bible had to be discarded then there could be no future of Christianity as we know it, or as a thriving prosperous religion. Christianity can survive with just a Christ figure, but in order to grow, to become a healthy vital religion the Bible is essential. But what does it say if we cling to this book, not because it has no value, but in spite of the fact that it is killing us. What if people and Christians can't follow Christ because of the Bible? What if the Bible is actually an enemy of Christianity?

To stand among our secular peers and suggest that misogyny, racism, and feudalism are God's chosen and divine forms of social interaction is to completely abandon our mind to the developments of the twentieth century and the Enlightenment. Not only would we be the sort mocked and ridiculed, but we would be the sort feared and shunned because of what manifestations our potential insanity can take. And this is the ultimate rub. Society would be right to do it!!! At no time in history can we say with such clarity that such a religion deserves to be ousted from the public arena.

At its inception, Christianity stood at the forefront of religious persecution in the face of tyranny and oppression. We fought and persevered to make sure that place could be established where people were free to practice their religion, and we were the ideal, the exemplar of that movement. Now look at us. We are now its embarrassment. We are the fool standing on the street corner yelling at those who pass by, and when someone is kind enough to point out that no one is listening, we are the insolent bastard who claims that it's a free country and we can do what we want. Oh, how we have lost our way.

All these problems in the Bible exist in the New Testament. They are stock and trade Christian verses and teachings through and through. I used clear examples which really cannot be argued against from a literal position on the Bible. You can be a consistent literalist and be a misogynist, a racist, and a totalitarian and have the virtue of the fact that you are a literalist.

But why is that a virtue again? Why do we automatically assume that we ought to read the Bible literally again? Maybe you hold to a somewhat progressive view and you allow for modifications of the text when clear pressure or inconsistency exists, but you are still holding to this system that the Bible is a book which ought to be read literally. How you reconcile yourself to the misinterpretations of the past which led to outright atrocities, I do not know. How you amend yourself to the fact that God would have had to literally deceive the Jews so that the Christians could get the right interpretation of the Old Testament baffles my mind, but if you are fine with it, then I have to wonder if you actually have an equilibrium in your conscience.

I think it is at least prudent at this point to consider that literalism just might be the entirely wrong standpoint to approach the Bible with. Okay, maybe that is too much, but let's look at the merits of literalism on its own standing and see if it is worthwhile venture. This is at least merited, and if literalism cannot stand as a good tool to use in our understanding of the Bible then we will have to ask if the Bible is worth even having in the Christian faith. The Bible clearly cannot stand the test of literalism, but can literalism stand the test of Christianity?