In the past, some readers were quick to challenge my statements that not everything in the Bible is true or good. These are people who accept that everything in the Bible is God’s truth. This isn’t so.
When you read the Old Testament, you will find many outrageous statements that will make you wonder if these were from God or from men. Most of these outrageous statements from the Bible are found in the Old Testament. That’s because the Old Testament is polluted with propaganda — justifying conquest and genocide — and wishful thinking by its various authors.
Let me show you specific passages in the Bible that contradicts the image of an all-loving and all-forgiving Father that we have. Ask yourselves if these were ordered by God or self-serving insertions of men.
About children and women
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to 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.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” Deuteronomy 21:18-21
“Yet she (women) will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” 1 Timothy 2:15
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Valuation of people
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from 20 years old up to 60 years old shall be 50 shekels[a] of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, the valuation shall be 30 shekels. If the person is from five years old up to 20 years old, the valuation shall be for a male 20 shekels, and for a female 10 shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is 60 years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be 15 shekels, and for a female 10 shekels.” Leviticus 27:1-7
Jesus Christ had a special place in his heart for the handicapped, the sick and the poor. This Old Testament passage is the opposite of what Christ preached by word and example:
“Speak to Aaron, (God) saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God,” Leviticus 21:17-21
These will earn wide scale protest these days:
“They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.” Leviticus 21:5
“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5)
Wow, did God really say these?
“When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seeth among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and remain in thine house . . . And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.” (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.” Exodus 21:7-10
Clearly, there’s a need for discernment when reading the Bible. Its highly questionable portions are traced to authors injecting their propaganda or wishful thinking. Note how there’s so much contrast between the Old and the New Testament. Where the Old Testament is so full of stone to death, annihilate, wipe out from the face of the earth — the New Testament is all about redemption, peace, caring for one’s neighbor, and even loving your enemy.
We should also be very discerning as to whom among our Bishops and the clergy we should listen to and follow. Sadly, there are Bishops and members of the clergy who are espousing and championing very un-Christian causes. There are Bishops that sound like the Old Testament.
Two good examples of these Bishops of the Old Testament mold are Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles. These two couldn’t hide their hatred for President Benigno S. Aquino III. Their words betray the hatred in their hearts. Their behavior contradicts the commandment of Jesus Christ to love.
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Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”
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