Really, really not trying to flame or anything, so please don't misunderstand, but... this is so confusing to me. Are you saying that you'd have been OK with him ripping up half of the Bible? Or just the parts that condone those kinds of practices? Or none of it?
Do most Christians not follow the whole Bible? You've genuinely knocked me for a loop there. I don't understand - how do you pick and choose? Isn't the whole thing the word of God? (It is, right? I just did
a quick bit of research and found this: 'the writers claim a supernatural origin for their writings. Nearly 4,000 times, expressions like "Thus says the Lord," "The word of the Lord came unto me," etc., are recorded in the Bible.')
Please, man, you're the expert. Any answers would be thoroughly appreciated. :)
Oh, I'm so happy someone asked me
nicely about my views ^^ Usually its just... ah, forget it ^^ Meh, not sure I'm an expert but I'll give it a shot:
Well, the thing is, I myself consider the new testament to be the current true Bible. Maybe I spoke a bit hastily there when I generalized christians, but I myself believe mostly only in the New Testament. The old testament was... well, old. It has laws for how people should live, and was prior to when Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. For example, we don't see christians offering sacrificial lambs or anything, do we? In the same way, some of the Old testament practices have become obsolete. Another thing was that some of the laws were aimed to the people of the time. For example, the concept of a king. God originally didn't want to give Israel a King, but since they kept asking, he relented. Which eventually led to Israel's downfall. I think, in the same way, God didn't like the concept of slaves. But, since Israel wouldn't have listened to him anyway, he tried making laws so that slaves and masters could live in harmony instead. (I hope I'm right here, you might want to ask other christians for their opinions as well, but here's what I think myself).
Also, Jesus somewhere in the Bible said that all the laws in the Bible could be summarized in the two greatest laws, which if you follow you basically follow the other laws of the Bible:
"Love your God with all your heart"
"Love your neighbour as yourself" (In
Matthew 22:36-40)
Well, it may just be me, but I think the second law contradicts slavery.
Yeah, the whole Bible is the word of God. And no, we don't just pick and choose; well, at least I hope I'm not. I think choosing the new testament over the old testament isn't picking and choosing, because both relate to two different ages. One without the complete forgiveness of sins, and one with Jesus.
If any other christians are reading, feel free to fill in or correct anything I've said. I hope I answered ur question ^^. Feel free to ask anything else I might have missed out.