Are you horrified by any Scripture?

Much of Leviticus.

I will post this here as well.

Some Christians get Horrified by things in the Bible or statements and actions of God in the Bible because there idea of Good.

Many Christians call God good, loving or merciful. But many things in the Bible are not compatible with what most people consider good, loving or merciful. When most people think of good,loving,merciful, they think of someone who is gentle, kind, not easily angered, forgiving, humane, who acts to eliminate pain and suffering etc. or fictional characters like superman(who has a code of not killing) or spiderman(who is fun and good natured) etc.

When most people look at the OT and some of the NT they don't see a good, loving or merciful God or the Jews as a morally good people to be looked at as a beacon of righteousness and goodness. they see a God that is harsh, cruel, easily angered, draconian, brings pain and suffering, kills children, unforgiving and is quick to punish, oppressive etc. Or Jews killing whole groups of people, enslaving people, stoning there own children, forcing women to marry there rapist etc.

I however do not believe many of these things about God. I do not think many of the things in the OT are accurate representations and descriptions of what is God is doing or what is happening. Many things are lost in translation or mistranslated or influenced by the views of translators and writers of scripture(who are human and can make mistakes).

The verse about the unforgivable sin. That scares me. And some of the stuff in Revelations about the end days.

xpower said:

I however do not believe many of these things about God. I do not think many of the things in the OT are accurate representations and descriptions of what is God is doing or what is happening. Many things are lost in translation or mistranslated or influenced by the views of translators and writers of scripture(who are human and can make mistakes).

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So how do you know what the word of God is and what it isn't?

xpower said:

forcing women to marry there rapist etc.

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I'll disagree with this last part. I think that this is a misinterpretation of Deut. 22:28-29.

Achilles6129 said:

I'll disagree with this last part. I think that this is a misinterpretation of Deut. 22:28-29.

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How so? I'm asking earnestly, because it seems fairly clear to me.

Arcangl86 said:

How so? I'm asking earnestly, because it seems fairly clear to me.

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1) The phrase "and they are discovered" indicates complicity.

2) The father can refuse his daughter to anyone in marriage (in Torah law, see Ex. 22:17) and in this case he gives her to him

3) The word "tapas" doesn't mean rape.

i think every Christian wishes they could edit out parts of the Bible they found disturbing or out-of-date, but I honestly feel like talking with other, more experienced Christians is a better idea than just pretending the verse is irrelevant. All Scripture is God-breathed, and even something offensive or disturbing can probably tell us something.

Tina W said:

The verse about the unforgivable sin. That scares me. And some of the stuff in Revelations about the end days.

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Nothing in Scripture should "scare" a child of God. So if you know this to be true for yourself, you should also know that what is written in Revelation is about the wrath of God against the unbelieving and the ungodly. The unpardonable sin is the one committed by Christ's enemies, who attributed His divine miracles to Satan rather than the Holy Spirit. All other sins can be forgiven.

The Bible was written primarily to bring us to repentance and salvation. Therefore God's severe judgements on those who were wicked, or idolatrous, or rebellious are clearly described. That prevents human beings from distorting the nature and character of God.

God's holiness and absolute righteousness are the reason for His perfect judgements against sinners and evildoers. And they are also the reason for the Cross, where God's wrath against sin was poured out upon His only begotten and well-beloved Son. God's grace and mercy could be extended to sinners only AFTER the sin-debt had been paid in full. The crucifixion was the most horrible and horrific of all experiences. Yet that was the only way to bring humanity back to God.

Achilles6129 said:

So how do you know what the word of God is and what it isn't?

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I believe Jesus Christ himself is the word of God. As for the bible I just accept it was written by humans and humans often make mistakes about something or don't fully understand what they are experiencing or just ignorant about something(like the world and thinking the earth is flat). I see the bible as authoritative on many things but not inerrant. Human error is just too common.

Tina W said:

The verse about the unforgivable sin. That scares me. And some of the stuff in Revelations about the end days.

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At the time Jesus made the statement regarding the sin against the Holy Spirit, he was followed by great multitudes. They had heard about the great things he did and wanted to be close to him. Some of religious leaders of that day, enemies of Jesus were watching him heal the sick and cast out demons. They said "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." They could not deny that a miracle had occurred, but they could belittle it. They wanted to keep the people from following Jesus.

That is when Jesus said "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, in this age or in the age to come." Matthew 12:31

So what is the unforgivable sin? According to the context, it is accrediting to a demon the power by which Jesus performed his wonderful works. It is saying that Jesus possessed an evil spirit rather than the Holy Spirit.

A person would have had to be present and witness the miracles of Jesus, and say that he was performing his works by the power of a demon instead of the Holy Spirit. That is one thing you don't have to worry about, because it is impossible for anyone living today.

The passage where God commands Abraham to kill Isaac.

Several components in the Old Testament. Mainly, many of the rules or practices laid out (I.e.Leviticus), & immoral acts during war that appear sanctioned by God (I.e. Joshua).

To be fair, I know there are some explanations out there. For example, I've heard that the Ancient Near East typically used extremist language when talking about the results of war - the implication being that the extreme reports of destruction in some parts of the OT are intentionally exaggerated.

Still, the fact remains that for many modern persons - indeed, for modern Christians - there are troubling things in the Bible. How we deal with those things depends on how we view the Bible & how we practice our faith.

I am not horrified by any scripture, but am disgusted at how people in the bible used God as an excuse to perform evil and despicable acts. And how, even up to today, people still use scripture to excuse their beliefs and their deeds.

Since I don't see every word and verse of the bible as the "word of God", it doesn't bother me to think that God would perform or command the evil found in scripture. Men ordered and performed all that evil (if it actually occurred), hiding behind the image of an angry, vengeful, or supportive God.

PloverWing said:

The passage where God commands Abraham to kill Isaac.

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If you read the entire pericope, it's rather less horrifying. God did not actually make him go through with it.

Wgw said:

If you read the entire pericope, it's rather less horrifying. God did not actually make him go through with it.

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That makes it better, yes, but it's still troublesome that God asked Abraham to do something deeply evil. In most stories in the Bible, following God's command means doing what is good. This story is different.

PloverWing said:

That makes it better, yes, but it's still troublesome that God asked Abraham to do something deeply evil. In most stories in the Bible, following God's command means doing what is good. This story is different.

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Alas, here you're imposing an external definiton of evil on God.