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

[yeshuaslavejeff]

If I had just learned there is someone known as God, superior in every way to Man, and interested in giving me gifts and salvation, why would I even consider dismissing a letter from His hand?

Well, the reasons others give, and detailed in God's Word
are some of these:

(1) for family.
(2) for friends.
(3) for neighbors.
(4) for pastors, priests, scholars or other religious athorities.
(5) for profit. (not prophet - for $$$$$$$$$$$$ )
(6) for prophet (false prophet making $$$$$$$$$xa million)
(7) for pleasure (worldly reasons)
(8) to save a life (when God's Word requires letting go)
(9) for an "angel of light" (deceptive shining one)

 

[DennisTate]

Yes, just like the grown up disciples of Jesus in the New Testament,
and
the 'adults' (grown men and women) of YHWH in the TORAH and OLD TESTAMENT , PROPHETS and PSALMS.

In each and every case, YHWH and Y'SHUA showed the WAY to go, showed what to do.

Exactly.... and if we will admit our flaws.....
we can turn them into a powerful tool to encourage and
inspire others.

The Apostle Paul sure was quick to admit to his own flaws.....
that he still had even decades after his powerful conversion.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Exactly.... and if we will admit our flaws.....
we can turn them

Who can turn them ? (very, very important)

 

[SkyWriting]

Even if they were "added" years after Paul's death, it doesn't make them any less true or inspired than the fact that they were written thousands of years ago just like the rest of scripture was.

But they are untrue, uninspired, and wrong, by biblical standards.
Not one person has even tried to make a counter argument.

How can a writer declare that women should not lead in a church
when this passage is preached inside the same church?
How about "women should remain silent?" - Totally uninspired.
---> Mathew 7: 12
In everything then, do unto others as you would have them
do unto you. For this is the essence of the Law and the prophets.

What Does the Bible Say About "Do Unto Others?"

 

[SkyWriting]

The conditions you describe weren't nearly as "normal" as they are now. When I spoke of my "younger years", I was referring to the 1970s.

I was there. Single moms, working moms, and home alone kids that got into trouble.
Divorced dads, divorced moms, blended families, all that was there.

 

[Aldebaran]

I was there. Single moms, working moms, and home alone kids that got into trouble.
Divorced dads, divorced moms, blended families, all that was there.

But not in the same numbers.

 

[Aldebaran]

But they are untrue, uninspired, and wrong, by biblical standards.
Not one person has even tried to make a counter argument.

How can a writer declare that women should not lead in a church
when this passage is preached inside the same church?
How about "women should remain silent?" - Totally uninspired.
---> Mathew 7: 12
In everything then, do unto others as you would have them
do unto you. For this is the essence of the Law and the prophets.

What Does the Bible Say About "Do Unto Others?"

Here's an article that addresses it pretty well: "Women Should Remain Silent"?

 

[DennisTate]

Who can turn them ? (very, very important)

OK.... good point... it is G-d the Father turning them not actually us.....
but our words can be used to assist in causing a shift in how they think.

 

[John 1720]

I hate to say it, but sometimes I come across thing in the bible that make me wonder. When I was reading the book of Mark, I noticed some things toward the end, such as:

Mark15:46
"So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb."

This seems to say that the stone covering the tomb was rolled into place by Joseph himself. How large could it have been if he was able to do it alone? But then we read:

Mark 16:2-4
2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
3and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

The tomb entrance had a gravity fed channel and a stop. In Joseph's case it was downslope in the women's case it was upslope. It would not have been a herculean task but would have required considerable more effort as gravity would have favored Joseph.
The Garden Tomb: Channel - | Virtual Pilgrimage by Good News Ministries

 

[Historical Christianity]

This might be because Paul was the only apostle that was not physically with Jesus when these things happened.

We have no writing by anyone who met Jesus. We don't even have any writings with credible claims that the author met anyone who met Jesus. That's why it's so hard to support a claim of a historical Jesus, or a claim to know as fact anything that he said or did while on earth, except die.

 

[Aldebaran]

We have no writing by anyone who met Jesus. We don't even have any writings with credible claims that the author met anyone who met Jesus. That's why it's so hard to support a claim of a historical Jesus, or a claim to know as fact anything that he said or did while on earth, except die.

Didn't any of the writers of the Gospels actually meet him?

 

[Historical Christianity]

All the gospels are anonymous. Hundreds of documents from the first and second centuries claim apostolic authority. The gospels don't even claim that. They don't even claim eyewitness status.

 

[rjs330]

Uh-huh. Convenient.

So let me guess, any one who disagrees with your preferred Biblical interpretation doesn't qualify?

Anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and believe on him and strive to walk in the spirit does not qualify.

 

[rjs330]

The Bible is full of fictional stories, if that challenges your faith, good.

Again which ones are fiction and which ones aren't? Let's start with the OT shall we? I'd like to know which ones are fiction and which ones aren't and how you can tell the difference.

 

[Historical Christianity]

Anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and believe on him and strive to walk in the spirit does not qualify.

Thus only Evangelical Christians. They are the only ones who insist on that unbiblical language. Paul was not so restrictive.

 

[rjs330]

The story of the Good Samaritan is fiction and was told by Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Word of God... NOT the Bible.

lol

Yes but it does state that the scriptures are writings inspired by God and carry the full authority of God because they are. Lol.

 

[BenjamintheWolf]

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's clearly disagreement among very, very well studied people about certain parts of the bible. Sometimes it's highly in question as to what is meant as a parable and what is meant literally. So your question is a little tricky.

In general though, no. However some Christians are still learning that you can't pick and choose the parts you want to believe. Sometimes a non-believer who is a great debater and influential could easily make them feel silly for believing a symbolic parable or play gotcha using the biblical language of the timeline of history. That doesn't mean they cease to be christian, they're just not mature in their faith yet.

 

[BenjamintheWolf]

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

disagree

 

[rjs330]

The Bible is not God.

The Bible itself says it was written by men, about their experiences of God...

Inspiration does not equate with perfection.

Those who confuse God with the Bible engage in a form of Idolatry.

That absolutely ridiculous. What did Jesus do when teaching in the temple? Did he not teach from scripture? What did Jesus use to defeat the enemy? Was it not scripture. Jesus blasted the Pharisies for failing to follow scripture and adding their own traditions. Paul told Timothy that scripture is the way we reprove rebuke and exhort one another. When Paul taught the people studied the scriptures to see if his teaching was accurate. No it is not idolatry. That is just a foolish statement. What did David say, that he meditated on day and night. What did God tell his people to do with the scriptures. Was it not to learn it and hear it and write it in their door posts?

What kind of nonsense poo poos the authority of scripture? We worship God. We have proper reverence for the written word.

 

[Historical Christianity]

Again which ones are fiction and which ones aren't? Let's start with the OT shall we? I'd like to know which ones are fiction and which ones aren't and how you can tell the difference.

It's not hard if you've learned literature. For the Bible, you'll need to know allegory, legend, myth, hyperbole, the vassal suzerainty treaty, wisdom, Hebrew poetry, Hebrew parallelism, Hebrew prophecy, Hebrew acrostic, apocalypse, parable, the epistle, Greek polemic, the sermon, and for the gospels, ancient bios narrative. I suspect outright fiction is rare.