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HarryT · 10-19-2007, 06:34 AM

I was rather amused, Jon, to see the other day someone on this site mention a book written by someone who had apparently lived his life according to what it says in the Bible. My immediate thought was to wonder if he really had followed literally all the laws in the book of Leviticus. Would he stone his children to death if they were disrepectful to him? Would he happily sell his sister into slavery (as long as it was to a foreigner)? Would he kill someone who wore mixed-fabric garments? The Bible says that he should.

That's the problem, isn't it? The Biblical laws are based on the culture of the time. The "kosher" food laws are basic common sense for food hygiene if you live in a hot climate with no refrigeration, but they make no sense at all today. Some people today pick out the fact that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, but those same people (probably) don't kill disrespectful children, nor do they sell their relatives into slavery (the first of which the Bible says that you must do, and the second is condoned). The first part of the book of Joshua is a detailed set of instructions for genocide (all approved by God, of course), against people unfortunate enough to be living in a country "reserved for God's chosen people". Does that mean that God sanctions genocide, as long as it's against the right people?

You can't take the Bible (IMHO) as anything more than a set of guidelines written by - and for - the people of their time. To try to apply them in a completely different society 2000+ years later just doesn't work. I don't mean the basic "moral" stuff - that's still perfectly valid, of course - but the nitpicking detailed stuff that some people love to pick out to justify whatever their own agenda happens to be.

10-19-2007, 06:34 AM	#119
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,554 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I was rather amused, Jon, to see the other day someone on this site mention a book written by someone who had apparently lived his life according to what it says in the Bible. My immediate thought was to wonder if he really had followed literally all the laws in the book of Leviticus. Would he stone his children to death if they were disrepectful to him? Would he happily sell his sister into slavery (as long as it was to a foreigner)? Would he kill someone who wore mixed-fabric garments? The Bible says that he should. That's the problem, isn't it? The Biblical laws are based on the culture of the time. The "kosher" food laws are basic common sense for food hygiene if you live in a hot climate with no refrigeration, but they make no sense at all today. Some people today pick out the fact that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, but those same people (probably) don't kill disrespectful children, nor do they sell their relatives into slavery (the first of which the Bible says that you must do, and the second is condoned). The first part of the book of Joshua is a detailed set of instructions for genocide (all approved by God, of course), against people unfortunate enough to be living in a country "reserved for God's chosen people". Does that mean that God sanctions genocide, as long as it's against the right people? You can't take the Bible (IMHO) as anything more than a set of guidelines written by - and for - the people of their time. To try to apply them in a completely different society 2000+ years later just doesn't work. I don't mean the basic "moral" stuff - that's still perfectly valid, of course - but the nitpicking detailed stuff that some people love to pick out to justify whatever their own agenda happens to be.