Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

Should the Bible be Taken Literally?


Guest Elizabeth K

Recommended Posts

Guest Elizabeth K

This is not intended to be disrespectful to the Bible - but rather to show there are potential problems with it's interpretations. These horribly misinterpreted examples can be useful in combating someone quoting Bible and Verse without thinking what is being said. Taking verse out of context can really be deceptive. From the internet - and this has be around for a long time.

On her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, written by a US resident, and posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them:

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:1016. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I’m confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D, Professor Emeritus,

Dept Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

University of Virginia

PS (It would be a damn shame if we couldn’t own a Canadian)

Link to comment
Guest KarenLyn

OMG! I've read this before and it's always a hoot! Oh, and I can clarify one thing for you. Your friend is wrong. It is allowed to own a Canadian though they tend to be much more expensive. ;)

Link to comment
Guest Donna Jean

.

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

Ok...this one kinda sux.......

I mean......I live in New Orleans and we eat lots of mudbugs (crayfish)...

That isn't considered "Shellfish" is it?

That would suck out loud because we'd have to cancel a load of festivals this year....

How about pork rinds?

'

Dee Jay

Link to comment
Guest Jenny C

For me, the old testament is outdated... it is old.

And more than that, when I was young, we sometime played the phone game... A chain of children would have to convey a message... At the end of the chain, the message was always transformed... And could not be taken literally... As are translation or transcription made sometime centuries after the actual events...

Truth is in the eye of the beholder... So truth is relative... and can be transformed...

There is only one message in the bible... Love and acceptance of God. The rest is a cream on a cake that has receive dust for centuries...

Sorry if I am direct !!! I do not wish to offend anyone but just express my opinion.

Love,

Jenny

P.S Can someone tell me what is the signification of the expression : "to own a canadian" ?

Link to comment
Guest Elizabeth K

P.S Can someone tell me what is the signification of the expression : "to own a canadian" ?

Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. In some people's case - Canadian's - they can own a Yankee.

Link to comment
  • Admin

That one has been around for a while, and yes it is funny as all get out. It was also aimed at a good target for that sort of stuff. The nice thing is that there are people who know more than the know-it-alls who populate the entertainment media.

Homosexuality as we know of it today does not appear in the Tanakh (Old Testament) and therefor is not prohibited nor is it a real issue. Leviticus is a handbook for the Jewish clergy (Levite's a priest tribe = Leviticus) and not for the general public, and J or E (depending on your point of view) did not want them acting like the other churches and their clergy down the proverbial block. "The other diety's priests do this type of thing, and I won't take that from you guys." "Try it and I'll fire you and take away your health care plan and your retirement benefits!!"

Link to comment
  • Admin

Yes, its very funny, and I laughed.

What's not so funny is that real people the world over murder, and are murdered, for taking their beliefs to their logical extremes.

That's why I gave up organized religion over 40 years ago, when I realized that there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the practices of pre-literate indigenous people and the stuff I learned in Hebrew school, based on 5,000 year old texts. Superstition is superstition. The difference is that one is passed on through spoken language and the other is written.

Sorry for the downer. My fault. But yeah, it is a funny piece.

Carolyn Marie

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

LOL!!! I take great offense to this post, miss Lizzy... not as a Christian, but as a Canadian! ;)

Just try to own me! I dare ya!

Link to comment
Guest ZensandT

To me, the question should be either, "Should the bible be taken seriously?" or "Should be bible be taken as truth?" Personally, I say no to both of those. But anyways, it doesn't matter if it's old testament or not, the god of the bible is unchanging, so you can't discard it.

Link to comment
Guest ~Brenda~

We all need to remember that the bible as we know it is a collection of books voted on by comittee to become the bible. In reality, humans were involved from the beginning in the formation of the bible.

Link to comment
Guest Stuck

I wonder if that was the source of inspiration for the scene from the West Wing, or if the letter is based on dialogue from the show. For anyone who hasn't seen it, youtube "West Wing Bible Lesson"... it is a very well spent 3-4 minutes.

Link to comment

When studying the bible, there are many factors to be taken into consideration. I've spent much time studying Lev. 18:22. What is to be considered is who the message is for, why was it spoken to these folks, the people and culture surrounding them; the political, social, and spiritual climate during that period. While it applied to that particular time, it does not apply to today.

Link to comment
Guest winterangel

That was humorous, Elizabeth; it gave me a good laugh. :P

I would like to more deeply analyze this all, but I think that'd simply result in me being chased off with torches and pitchforks. :lol:

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...
Guest pockychaser

Before I start, I really mean no offense to anyone. From the moment I joined you all, I've been wrapped with love and warmth, and I cherish that. I'm a Christian, myself, and I wanted to share in the appropriate forum. *deep breath* Okay, here goes.

--

Personally, I believe that yes, the Bible should be taken literally, and that it is God's Word, conveyed by human authors He inspired. -But- I also believe that the whole Bible points to Jesus, including the Old Testament. I definitely agree with Gennee here. Jesus' parables, for instance, were told in terms familiar to every one of His listeners. The Old Testament is filled with signs to the Israelites of their Messiah that are later fulfilled by the New Testament (including the fact that His own people wouldn't know Him), something that Jesus explicitly points out in Matthew 5:17. The New Testament, after the Gospels, is a series of letters to the Gentile churches and, by extension, today's believers. The Old Testament is geared toward the Israelites. They're both the Bible, though, and if you look at the Old through the lens of the New, a lot of new meanings start popping up everywhere! For instance, the sacrifice of the spotless lambs, looked at from a NT perspective, it becomes a sign of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. And of course, there's also Acts 10:9-19 to consider. Essentially, "Don't call unclean what I have made clean". That right there anulls the dietary laws, ne? (Another thing that someone pointed out to me a long while back is that a lot of the Old Testament laws are common sense precautions. I mean, can you imagine how devastating something as simple as a salmonella outbreak would have been back then? Ick! I assume that by the time of the New Testament, though, they'd heard of the concept of "thorough cooking".)

Ehehe, that's all I can think of for now. Apologies. I'm not trying to preach here, just share my views, as I said, along with the 'why's for them (though I admit that even Wikipedia, with its impartial presentation of Christian beliefs, does a pretty good job of being persuasive anyway, in my opinion). ^^;

Link to comment
Guest Robin Winter

OMG! I've read this before and it's always a hoot! Oh, and I can clarify one thing for you. Your friend is wrong. It is allowed to own a Canadian though they tend to be much more expensive. ;)

We're harder to break too, we're such a willfull people!

Link to comment
  • Admin

For people living in the 5th to 3rd centuries BC (or BCE) the people who can read must take the books written then literally or get the heck into some other non-jewish culture fast to save their skins. (I have a serious doubt any of them are living now, but if you are, better knuckle down, its the law.)

Likewise for any person living in the second through fourth centuries AD (or CE) IF your particular sect of "Christians" has adopted the books of scripture that were adopted by the Council Of Nicea, then they get taken literally so far as the other scriptures that your group used will allow. At the Council Of Nicea, literally hundreds if not thousands of proto orthodox scriptures were abandoned, denounced, burned or declared demonic or worse (the posession of some of the proto orthodox scriptures was the basis for a death sentence in the years following that Council.) Does anyone alive remember those fun times?

Or fast forward to the 12th to 15th centuries with their roasty toasty good times on Biblical literality.

Fast forward to today, what does the neighbor with a shot gun to your head believe in biblical literality? You better believe it literally!!

I love the Bible, all 50 of the different versions I have in print or in digital media, and I am a lay reader in my church who tries to vocally interpret the scriptures by voice inflection and attention to pucntuation, and a couple of good commentaries on the Jewish and Greek interpretations of some equivocal passages. Good honest translators come out with different readings, literally hundreds of times, and most hard passages in modern languages are committee efforts and we know what those do. There are also words that only occur in the Bible's most ancient manuscripts which people have fun bending to their own meaning, but we can't go back and ask, "hey bub, what WEREE you really talking about>).

Link to comment
Guest pockychaser

Hi again, everyone. I wanted to expand a bit on my earlier thoughts. I mentioned that the Old Testament should be read through the lens of the New. Hebrews especially is good for this, as it references the Old Testament laws -a lot-. (It was, after all, written to Jewish believers.) It also mentions that the New Covenant was given to replace the Old, meaning that we as believers no longer have to rely on it for salvation, but in Jesus. The laws remain, but can now be interpreted for their moral doctrine rather than being necessarily strictly binding. Also, when I think of "taking the Bible literally", I think of 2 Timothy 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". The Bible is the literal Word of God. The key, I believe, is context, like Gennee mentioned. What needs to be asked is, "In light of 2 Timothy 3:16, why did God choose to include this in His Word, and what can I learn from it?" That's where devotions come in. That, though, is a topic for another time.

Love you all!

~Mel

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
Guest ZensandT

Just posting a link to a video on YouTube, all hail the infallible and non-contradictory and inspired word from god. /watch?v=RB3g6mXLEKk

Every question asked in the video has answers with the corresponding passage the answer goes to, should you wish to look it up.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   5 Members, 0 Anonymous, 118 Guests (See full list)

    • Davie
    • Mmindy
    • MaryEllen
    • Maddee
    • Charlize
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.5k
    • Total Posts
      767.2k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      11,944
    • Most Online
      8,356

    Melissa_J
    Newest Member
    Melissa_J
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. Amyjay
      Amyjay
      (58 years old)
    2. bettyjean
      bettyjean
    3. Breanna
      Breanna
      (52 years old)
    4. Emily Ayla
      Emily Ayla
    5. JET182
      JET182
  • Posts

    • Mmindy
      Good morning everyone,   @KymmieLI hope you're misreading your bosses communications. As you say keep plugging a long. Don't give them signs that you're slow quitting, just to collect unemployment.   I have a few things to do business wise, and will be driving to the St. Louis, MO area for two family gatherings.   Have a great day,   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋
    • KymmieL
      Good morning everyone, TGIFF   It seems like I am the one keeping or shop from being the best. According to the boss. I don't know if my days are numbered or not. But anymore I am waiting for the axe to fall. Time will tell.   I keep plugging a long.   Kymmie
    • KymmieL
      In the warmer weather, Mine is hitting the road on the bike. Just me, the bike, and the road. Other is it music or working on one of my many projects.   Kymmie
    • LC
      That is wonderful. Congratulations!
    • Heather Shay
      What is relaxation to you? Nature? Movie? Reading? Cuddling with a pet? Music?
    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
      Having just a normal emotional day.
    • Heather Shay
      AMUSEMENT The feeling when you encounter something silly, ironic, witty, or absurd, which makes you laugh. You have the urge to be playful and share the joke with others. Similar words: Mirth Amusement is the emotional reaction to humor. This can be something that is intended to be humorous, like when someone tells a good joke or when a friend dresses up in a ridiculous costume. But it can also be something that you find funny that was not intended to be humorous, like when you read a sign with a spelling error that turns it into an ironic pun. For millennia, philosophers and scholars have been attempting to explain what exactly it is that makes something funny. This has led to several different theories. Nowadays, the most widely accepted one is the Incongruity Theory, which states that something is amusing if it violates our standards of how things are supposed to be. For example, Charlie Chaplin-style slapstick is funny because it violates our norms of competence and proper conduct, while Monty Python-style absurdity is funny because it violates reason and logic. However, not every standard or norm violation is necessarily funny. Violations can also evoke confusion, indignation, or shock. An important condition for amusement is that there is a certain psychological distance to the violation. One of the ways to achieve this is captured by the statement ‘comedy is tragedy plus time’. A dreadful mistake today may become a funny story a year from now. But it can also be distant in other ways, for instance, because it happened to someone you do not know, or because it happens in fiction instead of in real life. Amusement also needs a safe and relaxed environment: people who are relaxed and among friends are much more likely to feel amused by something. A violation and sufficient psychological distance are the basic ingredients for amusement, but what any one person find funny will depend on their taste and sense of humor. There are dozens of ‘humor genres’, such as observational comedy, deadpan, toilet humor, and black comedy. Amusement is contagious: in groups, people are more prone to be amused and express their amusement more overtly. People are more likely to share amusement when they are with friends or like-minded people. For these reasons, amusement is often considered a social emotion. It encourages people to engage in social interactions and it promotes social bonding. Many people consider amusement to be good for the body and the soul. By the end of the 20th century, humor and laughter were considered important for mental and physical health, even by psychoneuroimmunology researchers who suggested that emotions influenced immunity. This precipitated the ‘humor and health movement’ among health care providers who believed that humor and laughter help speed recovery, including in patients suffering from cancer1). However, the evidence for health benefits of humor and laughter is less conclusive than commonly believed2. Amusement is a frequent target of regulation: we down-regulate it by shifting our attention to avoid inappropriate laughter, or up-regulate it by focusing on a humorous aspect of a negative situation. Interestingly, amusement that is purposefully up-regulated has been found to have the same beneficial physical and psychological effects as the naturally experienced emotion. Amusement has a few clear expressions that emerge depending on the intensity of the emotion. When people are mildly amused, they tend to smile or chuckle. When amusement intensifies, people laugh out loud and tilt or bob their head. The most extreme bouts of amusement may be accompanied by uncontrollable laughter, tears, and rolling on the floor. Most cultures welcome and endorse amusement. Many people even consider a ‘good sense of humor’ as one of the most desirable characteristics in a partner. At the same time, most cultures have (implicit) rules about what is the right time and place for amusement. For example, displays of amusement may be deemed inappropriate in situations that demand seriousness or solemness, such as at work or during religious rituals.
    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
    • Heather Shay
    • April Marie
      Good morning, everyone!!! Two cups of coffee in the books and I am just feeling so wonderful this morning. Not sure why, but I'm happy and smiling.   Enjoy this beautiful day!!!
    • Heather Shay
      A U.S. dollar bill can be folded approximately 4,000 times in the same place before it will tear. -You cannot snore and dream at the same time. -The average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in a lifetime. -A hippo’s wide open mouth is big enough to fit a 4-foot-tall child in. -Chewing gum while you cut an onion will help keep you from crying.
    • Susan R
      Love it! This is great news. We need more of this to combat the excessive hate-filled rhetoric and misinformation. 👍
    • Susan R
      The experience was the same for me @April Marie. I slept much deeper and I woke up each morning feeling so much more restful sleeping with forms solidly in place. For me, wearing breast forms at night started when before I was a teenager. I had no access up to modern breast forms and certainly no way to buy mastectomy bras back then. I wore a basic bra my mom had put in a donation box and two pairs of soft cotton socks. I have some crazy memories of things I did in my youth to combat my GD but regardless, these makeshift concoctions helped me work through it all.   All My Best, Susan R🌷
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...