Are there passages in the Bible you can ignore?

There might be different ways of understanding what is meant by
"ignore," however what you are referring to with that particular passage doesn't seem to be a matter of ignoring but rather of interpreting it a different way.

Sure, most of the Bible was not written to us. Huge parts of the Old testament are just a history during various Jewish kings, for example.

We should not ignore theological statements regarding monotheism or regarding salvation.

Caliban said:

This topic came up on a different thread but it was a bit off topic, so I wanted to explore it here. One person claimed that we should obey the leaders appointed over us in accordance with Romans 13:1. I think people can, and do, dismiss this passage.
I would like to stay on topic and not let the thread degenerate into esoteric talk of interpretation--those discussions go nowhere. We all know people will disagree over any particular reading of a text and no one thinks they are wrong.

The question is...is it okay to ignore parts of the Bible and why.

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I will stick to your rules as best I can though they hamper my answer greatly. I don't think it is ok to ignore them . Ignoring them completely is a bit tricky as people tend to ignore everything they dislike and then pound one over the head with out of context passages that they think prove their POV is correct. I don't believe there is anything in the Bible that is useless so I would not ignore any of it. Any more I would have to say would be violating the rules you set out.

Caliban said:

How does a person know which parts can and cannot be ignored or dismissed. Why those two? By what criteria would I be able to determine that?

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When we read the New Testament, we can read that the Jewish Law and prophets were given till Christ. After Christ, the New Testament applies.

So, if we want to apply something from the Old Testament, its should be something that is not place and time dependent, i.e. eternal truths about the nature of God or about the prepared way of salvation that was fulfilled in Christ. Something that does not change.

Caliban said:

This topic came up on a different thread but it was a bit off topic, so I wanted to explore it here. One person claimed that we should obey the leaders appointed over us in accordance with Romans 13:1. I think people can, and do, dismiss this passage.
I would like to stay on topic and not let the thread degenerate into esoteric talk of interpretation--those discussions go nowhere. We all know people will disagree over any particular reading of a text and no one thinks they are wrong.

The question is...is it okay to ignore parts of the Bible and why.

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Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Caliban said:

Okay, but my question still stands--can people ignore parts of the New Testament? Maybe Ephesians 6:5.

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Generally, there are salvic issues like faith in true God, in Jesus Christ, some basic facts about His life we must accept, some principles of Christianity, good deeds, how we should change our mind daily etc.

Then there are texts like personal notes of Paul, various Greetings, history like Acts of Apostles, unclear passages like the book of Apocalypse... so many places can be ignored even in the New Testament without any actual harm to the core Christianity.

Regarding Ephesians 6:5 I do not think this should be ignored by Christian slaves. Children should obey parents, people should obey kings and other authorities, slaves should obey their masters. As long as the will of the authorities do not clash with what God commands us to do, because God is the highest authority.

Caliban said:

I don't see what that has to do with this thread or even the general topic. You don't need to explain--just stay on point.

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ignorance is not having knowledge .... you do not have knowledge in regard to spiritual matters ....

It is on point .... you are ignorant regarding spiritual matters and the verse goes on to explain why. You have a hard heart.

Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Caliban said:

The church I used to attend ignored or dismissed many passages that they once held firm to--head coverings for women for example. Their interpretation did not so much change as people just stopped wearing them. I am mostly thinking of passages with much more powerful implications, like Romans 13, where people are told to obey/submit to the governing authorities. That logic would seem to compelling people to submit to the Third Reich or another horrible regime in history. Isn't it okay to simply dismiss that passage without trying to explain it away with esoteric interpretations?

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No. If one simply ignores something then they perhaps have not given the thing enough thought before dismissing it. I would say to dismiss a thing one should have a reason to do so. To ignore it one does not need a reason.

Hammster said:

All of scripture points to Christ.

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Agreed. I think we ought not feel that any part of Scripture can rightly be ignored. Not all parts have the same relevance for each of us and in all situations, but "ignore" is going too far.