The Bible

Today, as my husband and I drove to a local coffee shop, so that he could do some studying and I could catch up on paperwork, we began a discussion of the bible. Perhaps I should clarify, I began a monologue about the bible and he listened, grunted in agreement, and gave a few personal thoughts.

I've always known that I wasn't a so called based "scripture based" Christian. Which isn't to say that I don't read the bible. I have read the bible. (Or at least most of it. I do admit to skipping a lot of the lists of names in Genesis).

But the truth of the matter is that I find the Bible to be full of contradictions. And so much is up for debate:

For instance take the sixth commandment: thou shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17)

If you google the 6th commandment you will find multiple entries about the commandment in which people try to analyze the commandment based on their own beliefs and experiences:

http://www.biblestudy.org/question/what-does-thou-shall-not-kill-mean.html

http://www.deathreference.com/Sy-Vi/Thou-Shalt-Not-Kill.html

http://www.thenazareneway.com/thou_shalt_not_kill.htm


For me, the debate is relevant in the case of abortion, the death penalty, and war.

The death penalty is easy for me, I strongly believe it is wrong. That is a life, and whatever the sins of that person, it should not be up to us to end the life of another.

Abortion is more complicated, for me the decision is whether ending a life is right or wrong, but instead when is it a life. My thoughts on that matter shall be saved for another post.

War is also a shade of gray, particularly as I view innocent people who are not actually part of the conflict being the ones to pay the price. And yet, I can see that sometimes we are left with no alternative.

So that said, I simply don't take the bible as the end all be all in terms of my faith. Instead I find that each spiritual and personal issue must be weighed individually. I find that Bible is an imperfect resource as all resources are.

There is an exception to this: The Gospels. Or perhaps I shouldn't say that it is an exception, I just give more weight to the Gospels. While a great deal of the Bible is relevant to the times it was written, (including most of the New Testament) I find the Jesus' message to continue to be relevant in this day and age.