Can you be a Christian and reject certain parts of the Bible?

[grasping the after wind]

Joseph of Arimathea was a very rich man. It would have been his "word" to his servants, and they would have actually rolled the stone. He just authorized it.

So you don't actually literally believe every word of the Bible then. You use judgment to logically interpret meaning that is not literally stated. I agree 100% with your stream of logic that interprets what the Bible means when it says that Joseph rolled the stone. The OP seems to be under the impression that one is rejecting something if one uses one's ability to reason rather than simply accepting that every word is meant absolutely literally. It is completely unnecessary for God to be absolutely literal in every single word of the Bible in order for the bible to be inerrant. Jesus was not literally a door or a gate but for us to understand the concept of how we are saved, calling himself the door or the gate is quite helpful. I would say that one cannot reject any part of the Bible and have any moral ground to stand on when quoting another part of the Bible as authoritative, but one can accept the fact that not every word of the Bible is meant to be taken literally without thinking that one is rejecting the parts one can reasonably assume are symbolic, idiomatic, figures of speech or parables told to illustrate some literal truth.

 

[dbldee]

There are multiples of parts of the Bile that can be rejected.
Remember that times change and so do people.
In context, there are stories of violence and wars, slavery, infidelity ..
As Christians were are not supposed to embrace these

 

[grasping the after wind]

There are multiples of parts of the Bile that can be rejected.
Remember that times change and so do people.
In context, there are stories of violence and wars, slavery, infidelity ..
As Christians were are not supposed to embrace these

Are you sure? If we can reject whatever we please because times change, maybe we should embrace wars and violence in these changing times? Seems like many are already all in for embracing infidelity. I must have missed Jesus saying to make sure we tweaked his message to conform to changing times.

 

[Mateo1041]

Everyone rejects parts of the Bible. Since the Bible is self contradictory, it's impossible to accept the entire thing, at least literally.

No they don't. What are you talking about? I believe the entire Bible. Is God a god of confusion who can't even get his own story straight? Especially such an important and miraculous one?

There is so much bad info on this thread. Can you be saved if you doubt? Yes, we're all sinful and in need of repentance. But you must at some point realize that you're now at the salad buffet practicing salad bar Christianity where you are now making your own religion up as you go vs trusting what God has revealed over centuries and millenia from creation until the canon was closed. Why would you doubt the basis of your faith that showcases God's power and might?

 

[Mateo1041]

There are multiples of parts of the Bile that can be rejected.
Remember that times change and so do people.
In context, there are stories of violence and wars, slavery, infidelity ..
As Christians were are not supposed to embrace these

More bad info. God's Word does not change. The prophesies, history, songs, gospels, doctrine, and letters shared are all still as relevant today as they were in the past. As Ecclesiastes would say, there is nothing new under the sun. It is all still very applicable.

Let me ask you this. What do you propose eliminating? Surely virgins don't give birth today and people don't die on crosses. Where does that leave YOU as a professed Christian?

 

[Mateo1041]

My mind will try to assign probability to certain passages instead of claim to know with absolute certainty. I think Christ may have walked on water and did miracles.

I do not believe God created the world within six days. I believe God has guided the development of species.

I would ask why not? Why don't you believe and have faith? Is man's way and sinful mind being trusted or God's perfect majesty and might? What's so hard to trust about a literal 6 day creation? You don't think God could do that even though He claims to and it's woven into Scripture in both old and new testaments? Do you believe what God has revealed about a virgin birth or His Christ who came into the world to die for all sin so that as Christians one might live? Do you not believe Jesus was divine, the Son of God? What are you even left with then once everything miraculous is stripped out?

 

[Mateo1041]

A day or a thousand years is the same to God. So in my view you can take it as a literal six day creation or not.
Did the flood cover the whole earth, or only the whole earth man inhabited at the time?

If it were thousands of years or for that argument millions, Wouldn't God have simply revealed that back in Genesis? The Bible has been very clear about what a day is and the thousand day reference would be taken out of context in this way since its purpose is to speak of God's grace that all should repent and believe. Yet people turn their backs on what He says...

 

[David Brider]

No they don't. What are you talking about? I believe the entire Bible. Is God a god of confusion who can't even get his own story straight?

He's not, no. The people who actually wrote the Bible, though, were ordinary, fallible humans. They recorded humanity's dealings with God through the ages to the best of their abilities, but they weren't perfect, and nor did they claim to be.

 

[Dr Bruce Atkinson]

Can you be a Christian and only believe some parts of the Bible? For example, can you reject a global Noah's Flood, a six-day creation, a literal exodus, etc.? Could you reject other parts as well, like Christ walking on water? Discuss.

This is like the question, can you be a Christian and still sin? Of course you can, but it is dangerous because you are moving away from God and either He will discipline you or, if you persist, He will let you go. True believers, His sheep, will always hear Him, repent and come back, but the goats will stubbornly go their own way to perdition.

If you pick and choose which scriptures to believe and obey, then it is not God you believe ... but yourself. You have made yourself into an idol. Not a good idea.

How you interpret the scriptures is another issue, as the Bible includes many genres. Some of it is metaphorical, allegorical, or simplified for the first readers; that is, some of it is "big picture" true but not meant to be literal or scientific. Examine study Bibles and commentaries to see which parts can be interpreted metaphorically and which parts must be interpreted literally.

Also, some of the Jewish Laws have been fulfilled in Jesus and others' abrogated for Gentile Christians (the civil, dietary, and ceremonial laws). The laws called Moral, however, are valid for all times and all peoples.

 

[Sine Nomine]

Can you be a Christian and only believe some parts of the Bible? For example, can you reject a global Noah's Flood, a six-day creation, a literal exodus, etc.? Could you reject other parts as well, like Christ walking on water? Discuss.

There are difficulties in the OP and the discussion that make for a good fight but no good solutions.

By asking what can be rejected, the OP seems to presume a literal reading and that a written history is perfectly accurate with no bias on the part of the writers. Inspiration becomes a synonym for transmission and author for conduit for God's dictation. In this view, one must accept everything as literal. Confusing or contradictory passages are this way because we don't get what God said.

There are precious few verses to support that God used dictation to produce the Bible. There are excellent reasons to accept that the Bible was written by people with an intimate experience of God, lead by him to write specific things, and in certain instances (most notably the Gospels), recording His own words to individuals and, by extension, to us.

Over spiritualizing/sanctification of the text forces certain views. E.g. Gehenna (the local heap of burning trash) becomes identified with the lake of fire and Hell.

Over secularization dismisses the power of the text to speak to people. E.g. Genesis isn't literal therefore it's meaningless and should be ignored/rejected.

Balancing our tendacies to do these two things is more likely to be helpful. The Bible can thus be literal AND figurative, full of literal inaccuracies AND still truthful. Written by sinful people AND still God's Word.

 

[Armoured]

No they don't. What are you talking about? I believe the entire Bible.

Not literally, you don't. Or if you think you do, you haven't read all of it.

 

[Searril]

I mentioned Noah's flood

The Genesis Flood: Why the Bible Says It Must be Local

The Genesis Flood
Why the Bible Says It Must be Local

 

[JeremyTheAnglercan]

Can you be a Christian and only believe some parts of the Bible? For example, can you reject a global Noah's Flood, a six-day creation, a literal exodus, etc.? Could you reject other parts as well, like Christ walking on water? Discuss.

It depends what you mean by reject. If by taking some things as metaphorical or limited by the author's understanding or intentions then yes.

We know a literal Genesis or flood did not happen. We are not sure that a literal Exodus took place, but we cannot prove that with certainty. We are fairly certain the events in Esther did not occur in real life. I wouldn't outright reject any of those occurrences, but merely read the passages within their context.

The miracles of Jesus do not, in fact, defy science in a literal Genesis sense. We cannot replicate them, and they defy the laws of physics. But we cannot prove they did not occur. If we accept there is spiritual world and thus sin and a need for salvation and indeed the very existence of God; that defies the laws of physics, so why can we not accept Jesus' miracles? We have no evidence to disprove either (like we have to disprove a 6 day creation, a global flood, a literal Esther etc.).

If we reject the virgin birth of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus, then we must reject the existence of Jesus Himself. We cannot take the Bible as objective evidence of Jesus' existence, and there are no historical documents that support the Biblical narrative of Jesus.

 

[JLB777]

Can you be a Christian and only believe some parts of the Bible? For example, can you reject a global Noah's Flood, a six-day creation, a literal exodus, etc.? Could you reject other parts as well, like Christ walking on water? Discuss.

If you reject those things, then there is a problem within you that needs to be addressed, one that is likely to reject some things in the bible that does in fact pertain to your salvation.

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.
Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy 4:16



JLB

 

[Darren Court]

Firstly, you have to qualify two things... i) What is a Christian - that's easy the bible tells us it is someone who follows Christ ii) Who decides who qualifies and doesn't - that's God.

In other words, nobody can judge if anyone else is or is not a Christian. Indeed the bible reinforces that point in saying we will be surprised at some who are in heaven and some who aren't.

Secondly, you have to ask if God is God could He and did He give us truthful instructions. If He couldn't or didn't then how can we determine anything including what is essential to be a Christian or not? If God allowed parts of the bible to be true and parts to be false then how can He judge us if we get it wrong and trust the wrong parts?

In other words, the Christian faith makes no sense to me if the bible isn't without error.

Even if the bible is completely accurate, it doesn't help much with your question since it's not clear if you disbelieve in parts of it what the impact is.

The reality is that in disbelieving parts of the bible you are actually not trusting God and I suspect we all distrust God in some measure in different ways..... and the bible is clear not trusting God ain't good.

 

[4meta]

Everyone rejects parts of the Bible. Since the Bible is self contradictory, it's impossible to accept the entire thing, at least literally.

Would you be so kind to explain how the bible is self contradictory & how is it impossible to accept the entire sayings of the bible?

 

[Armoured]

Would you be so kind to explain how the bible is self contradictory & how is it impossible to accept the entire sayings of the bible?

Have you read it? Do you hold it as literal, or do you accept much of it is metaphor?

 

[Mateo1041]

He's not, no. The people who actually wrote the Bible, though, were ordinary, fallible humans. They recorded humanity's dealings with God through the ages to the best of their abilities, but they weren't perfect, and nor did they claim to be.

Those men wrote the books and chapters of the Bible as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is God's inspired Word and infallible. I haven't found anything in God's Word that is untrue or that can be proven incorrect. There are things I may not know or understand though and for those I'll refer to Hebrews 11. We aren't God and merely human. Pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Which is amazing all the more how God loved us enough to send His Son.

 

[Mateo1041]

Have you read it? Do you hold it as literal, or do you accept much of it is metaphor?

I have. It was a wonderful experience to get the full breadth of God's Word and really go through everything, from OT to NT. I let the Bible interpret itself, which it does a wonderful job at. Context, surrounding verses, etc.

 

[4meta]

Have you read it? Do you hold it as literal, or do you accept much of it is metaphor?

Lol, just like a politician, answering a question with a question.
I'll answer your first question. Yes, I've read the bible & I keep reading & studying the bible weekly.

Now back to what I asked first. Would you please be so kind to explain how the bible contradicts itself?