How can you justify picking and choosing Bible aspects?

[calidog]

I know slavery was worldwide. But I'm not talking about Medo-Persians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. I'm talking about Israelites and Christians living in the Roman Empire. Christians especially had a higher standard for treatment of slaves than their pagan neighbors, and Scripture's protection of the of slaves is clear.

that was a generic thread meant to follow #16

 

[MikeMcK]

From what I understand now, the Bible is God's word, and God's word is infallible and timeless. Why then can you just pick the aspects that are convinient for you?

Morals are one part. The 10 Commandments are from Exodus and seem important enough to fight to place in public areas.Exodus 35:2 also says however that the punishment for working on the Sabbath is stoning to death. As creul and wrong as it seems, shouldn't God's word still stand true? Death by stone is actually the punishment for alot of things.

First of all, God’s word is still true.
However, that doesn’t mean that everything it says is to be applied in every context.

And what of divorce? A great many Christians (I know not all) seem to have no problem with it, yet the Bible clearly states otherwise.

The Bible does allow divorce and remarriage in some cases, but you’re right. Many Christians are disobedient about this.

Slavery is something the Bible supports in many areas(eg. Exodus 21:7), and the Bible was even used as justification for the South during the Civil War. We know slavery is extremely wrong, so does that mean God's word is incorrect?

No. It means that you haven’t studied what the Bible says about slavery.

First of all, it’s wrong to look at slavery as depicted in the Bible through the lense of slavery as it was practiced in North America. They’re two different things.

There are two kinds of slavery spoken about in the Bible.

The first is the slavery that God allows in order to punish a nation.

The second, and much more common, is that of indenture, where the servant enters into a business relationship with the master for a period of time or until certain conditions are met.

If you read the NT, one of the first things that jumps out at you about slavery is that slaves were considered family members. They had the authority to carry out business and legal matters on behalf of the master and, in some cases, they have the same birthright as a son.

The list goes on, such as burning sacrafices

We no longer make sacrifices because the ultimate sacrifice has already been made. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial laws.

and trimming the hair around your temples if you're male (Lev. 19:27)

Because this was written to one group of people in one context. We’re not a part of that group, so we don’t follow that command in that way.

However, we are to follow the spirit of that command, which is not to identify yourself with the pagan culture.

I've heard the responce that those are from the old testiment, and therefor moot to Christians

That something is from the OT, that doesn’t make it moot, but it does change the context in which we look at those things.

The Old Testament is God’s plan to bless Israel, provided they follow His laws. We’re not Israel, and now that Jesus has come, many of those laws have already been fulfilled.

but then you shouldn't follow the 10 Commandments either

Why not?

or have a problem with homosexuality, which stems exclusivly from Leviticus 18:22.

Actually, even the NT condemns homosexuality very strongly.

I think the problem is that you’re confusing the different kinds of laws in the Bible.

There is Mosaic Law, Moral Law, Ceremonial Law, etc.
We’re still bound by God’s moral law.