Christians* sell Jesus as the loving, passive, peaceful version when it suits them…yet they really assert he is an evil monster who commanded slavery, beating slaves with rods, executing children with stones and much more…yet they ignore such in their convoluted attempts to explain away contradiction in the bible.
I’ve had literally thousands of discussions over the many years…I’ve challenged Atheists, Agnostics, Mormons, JW’s, Muslims, Arminians, Calvinists, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Charismatics, Calvary Chapel Millerites, Calvary Chapel Baptist-lites, Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Emergents, Anglicans, Liberals, Conservatives, One-eyed Red-haired Third Street Irregular Baptists…you name it, I’ve probably explored their angle.
Why? Searching for Truth. I figure someone has it figured out…so far, not so much.
I grew up in a Charismatic Fundamentalist Conservative Presuppositionalist environment. I was heavily influenced by that Camp and that Camp’s Gurus for many years of my younger earthly existence. Through a series of progressions and life events, I ended up studying at The Master’s College and became very Calvinistic, while retaining a form of the Dispensationalism I learned from Calvary Chapel. John MacArthur’s sect is the rare breed of Calvinist Dispie.
I like Mac, I like James White, I like John Piper and at one time I revered a Paul Washer and anyone, really, who believed God was all-powerful and Deterministic and truly in control of everything. I thought I had the “special revelation” of the Elect…I had been chosen and given this secret…it’s the true belief, under the PR veneer, of nearly all Calvinists: We know a secret, we’re special and you aren’t.
Why? Why would I be drawn to such a silly Belief System? Because it seemed to nearly add up…applying a very logical approach to “the bible”. Nearly…but only if you ignore glaring problems within the bible itself….and only if you force the Premise into your Box, while ignoring glaring contradictions in other texts that disprove your claim.
I argued as a Calvinist…most others didn’t have the ability or the knowledge to soundly refute the Calvinist Formula as most other Groups and most other people don’t care to know what they believe and why they believe it…they are content to take at face-value whatever the person at the Pulpit who represents God tells them. Most have no clue what the bible says and most read only a very small portion of the bible over and over, while having no knowledge of what the entire bible says. Most don’t trust their own minds, their own conscience and their own instincts…they buy into the myth that the man at the Pulpit, the man behind the curtain claiming to be Oz, the Great and Powerful, is just a man…and does not hear directly from God on all matters.
You, YOU have as much access to God as the Guru you put too much faith in. Don’t buy into the “specially anointed” mythology. I’ve tested the theory many times…none are “specially anointed”…in fact all of the Gurus I’ve interacted with are remarkably human and remarkably not-anointed. None perform real supernatural miracles that would prove their Apostleship or deity, like we see professed in the New Testament. Walk on water, raise the dead, speak in a foreign language you never studied, turn water into wine, heal a shriveled hand in plain sight…then I’ll buy into your “special anointing”…otherwise, you’re just another human with an opinion…and opinions are like arseholes…everyone’s got one…and you know the rest.
What we can do is examine the bible itself and examine the claims made by those professing to have it all figured out and who profess to have “the correct interpretation!” and who profess the bible is “perfect” and without error or contradiction or mistake etc.
In that regard, let’s examine a common refrain and knock down another myth of the Conservative “Perfect Bible” Fundamentalist Conservative…in the hopes that Christian Liberalism (which relies on Conscience and Reason and the Holy Spirit to interpret the imperfect text) gets more of a looksie as a better way to approach God and Jesus and “church” etc.
Myth: “You can absolutely trust the bible! It means what it says, it says what it means! You can find all truth in the bible! It does not contradict itself! It is perfect and it is God’s perfect word!”
No, it’s not. You’ve over-sold the collection of texts that were subjectively chosen to be “the bible” while other texts were thrown out or are still part of other Christian* church canons, but not yours. The reason I’m pointing the stuff out is not to disprove God or Jesus. The bible doesn’t have to be perfect for God and Jesus to be real. What I am doing is exposing the error in the Conservative Christian* Fundamentalist positions which lead to abuse, corruption, arrogance, pride and corrupting power structures and over-emphasis on man-leaders as God etc. Christian Liberalism has done more for Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness and Self-Control beginning with the Enlightenment, than its Conservative Fundamentalist step-brother. My goal is to pursued you away from Conservatism (within Theology and Christianity) and toward Liberalism (in Theology and Christianity). I am not touting Liberalism from a Socio-political perspective…in that arena, I am a Libertarian and a bit of an Anarcho-Capitalist and a Constitutionalist in the vein of protecting Checks and Balances in the System to provide a level playing field with no Group or Individual gaining too much power…as one of my Universal Premises is that Power is too intoxicating for mankind and it corrupts.
To the Premise of this article: If we can show the bible does in fact contradict itself, it demolishes the faulty sales-pitch of the Conservative Fundamentalist Inerrantist Presuppositionalist and forces us to re-think what is true and what isn’t and causes us to re-examine our Belief System and filter what is “good” and “evil” and “right” and “wrong” through a different matrix, a different interpretive process…rather than taking a Fundie Guru’s word for it.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.–KJV
This is continuing to prove a tough one for Fundies.
Here’s how the convo usually goes: I point out that most likely Adam and Eve “saw God” in the Garden according to Genesis…and that Moses “saw God’s backparts” and glowed from seeing God in Exodus….Jacob “saw God face to face” in Exodus and Jesus says in the Gospels that “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”.
Then comes the spinning sound, like a wind-mill. It usually goes something like this: “The bible doesn’t say specifically that Adam and Eve saw God in the Garden, it says they talked with God and dwelt with him in the Garden but they didn’t necessarily “see” him. If they did see him, they saw Jesus as a Theophany.”
Hmmm, OK. We can let them slide on that one due to technicality…since the bible doesn’t “specifically” say Adam and Eve saw God, you just assume it (ironically, though, Fundies then assume all sorts of stuff that isn’t specifically addressed…like the fact Jesus never spoke about homosexuality).
Moses “seeing God” is much harder for them, the refrain goes like this: “Well, Moses didn’t really ‘see’ God, he saw an image of God and saw his back parts, not his face”.
Hmmm, OK. Now you’re in the deep weeds. The verse says clearly Moses “saw God” and an image of God is seeing God…you either can see something or you can’t. God supposedly chose to make himself seen to Moses or Moses lied and the bible contains a big lie.
Another explanation of Moses seeing God goes like this: “Well, Moses didn’t see God the Father, he saw Jesus as a Theophany”.
I like this one. I think it is the only way they can really explain away the contradiction in John…but it presents a problem elsewhere as we’ll see further along in this article.
What about Jacob? This one’s a toughie and usually brings the Fundie to his/her knees in desperation and the refrain goes something like this: “Well, OK, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Jacob literally saw God, he was using a figure of speech!”
Ya, LOL. A “talking snake” in the “Garden” is literal and not metaphor, but an explicit statement by Jacob saying “I saw God face to face!” is metaphor. Nice try.
The more solid reply is similar to the Moses explanation: “Well, Jacob saw Jesus as a Theophany”.
OK, let’s go with this one again, Jacob didn’t see God the Father face to face, he saw Jesus as a Theophany face to face (even though the text doesn’t explicitly state such, we are forced to assume this to avoid a contradiction in the bible in John.
Let’s restate what appears to be a solid rebuttal: “Adam and Eve, Moses and Jacob didn’t see God the Father they saw Jesus as a Theophany, and the verse in John is God the Father, not Jesus”…lots of assumptions, not a simple read or plain meaning like Fundie Ken Ham says we are to do with Genesis…but a plausible explanation none-the-less.
Here’s the problem with it, and it’s a biggie: If Jesus is the God who spoke to Moses…as stated by Fundamentalists who say such to avoid a contradiction in John…then Jesus gave the Levitical Law to Moses.
Why is this a problem?
Have you read the Levitical Law? Have you read what a Fundie claims Jesus told Moses to command the people of Israel?
First, lets establish the authorship of the Torah and Levitical Law per a leading Fundie Literalist source: John MacArthur’s gty.org:
“Authorship and date issues are resolved by the concluding verse of the book, “These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai” (27:34; cf. 7:38; 25:1; 26:46). The fact that God gave these laws to Moses (cf. 1:1) appears56 times in Leviticus’ 27 chapters. In addition to recording detailed prescriptions, the book chronicles several historical accounts relating to the laws (see 8–10; 24:10–23). The Exodus occurred in 1445 B.C. (see Introduction to Exodus: Author and Date) and the tabernacle was finished one year later (Ex. 40:17). Leviticus picks up the record at that point, probably revealed in the first month (Abib/Nisan) of the second year after the Exodus. The book of Numbers begins after that in the second month (Ziv; cf. Num. 1:1).”–gty.org, John MacArthur
The “LORD” is the same Hebrew “LORD” used for God in Genesis, same for Jacob seeing God face to face, same for Moses seeing God, etc. Does “LORD” mean “LORD”? If so, the Fundamentalist Literalist Inerrantist asserts that Jesus appeared to Moses and Jacob (at minimum) and that Jesus gave Moses the commands in the Torah and Levitical Law.
The Fundie asserts that JESUS gave the following commands…it is not “cultural” or “societal” etc….as Fundies use to dodge the barbarism of the Old Testament…it is actual literal COMMANDS of what they says is JESUS telling Moses…to avoid a contradiction in John:
According the Conservative Fundamentalist, then, Jesus commanded Slavery, Sex Slaves and Polygamy…and even beating Slaves with rods, as long as they don’t die:
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)
When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl’s owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)
According to the Conservative Fundamentalist, then, Jesus commanded the Execution of Children with stones for gluttony, drunkenness or rebellion:
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21 KJV)
According to the Conservative Fundamentalist, then, Jesus commanded that Rape victims must marry their Rapist and that Rape Victims are to be executed if they didn’t cry out sufficiently:
If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT)
If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife. (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)
Now, the spin usually goes: “This was cultural and JESUS didn’t condone this!”
Well, actually, you assert JESUS commanded these rules, when you attempt to blame this all on Jesus to avoid the contradiction in John that “No one has seen God at any time”.
There are quite a few more examples I could post…it’s iron-clad and air-tight…but the intellectually dishonest “force my Position into my Box!” Fundamentalist will, most likely, simply willfully ignore truth and fact about their wrongly held assumptions…rather than change their opinion now that they have more evidence.
I don’t believe Jesus commanded those evil things above or any of the other evil things found in the Old Testament. I also don’t think the bible is perfect and I demonstrated a verifiable contradiction in the bible…some folks have “seen God” according to the bible…even though the same bible says “no one has ever seen God”.
We must view the collection of texts we call “the bible” through our Conscience and Reason and we must seek to learn what is Universally “good” and Universally “evil” and apply that Standard to what we read and see in humanity and human history.
I reject the John Piper Calvinist premise that “God can do whatever he wants”…even if it’s evil. That contradicts other texts that say God is Universally “good” and that he is “love” etc. and it contradicts Conscience and Reason and the Holy Spirit inside of us.
To restate the conundrum: Either there’s a Contradiction in the bible in John that “No man has seen God at any time”…or you make Jesus the Author of the Torah and Levitical Law given and commanded to Moses…and the evils in the Old Testament are not merely “cultural”…they are God-given commands.
Any way you slice it, the intellectually honest person is forced to rethink a previously held position of Bible as God and perfect, without error, without contradiction, without mistake etc.
