Can you help me understand this?

[RuleByLogic]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy. However, I read several sections of the Bible, and many seem to go against many current views of Catholics. Isn’t this going against god, to pick and choose which sections of the Bible to believe and which sections to ignore?

For example, the Bible allows slavery:

–Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

–Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

The Bible also has contradicting quotes on the true number of gods. For example, these lines state that there are several gods

–Genesis 1:26
And God said, let us make man in our image.

–Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?

…while these lines state that there is only one god:

–Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

–Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

There are also contradictions concerning whether or not god is all-powerful. These lines state that god is not all-powerful:

–Judges 1:19
And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

–Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work

…while these lines state that god is all powerful:

–Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

–Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God! … there is nothing too hard for thee.

Could any Bible expert explain to me these inconsistencies, and why it is allowed to obey some of god’s word, but not all of it?

 

[Whoppercheese]

tl;dr

 

[Omyo12]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy.

This is true, but not entirely. We believe it to be INSPIRED

We also believe the Word of God is found in the Written Traditions and the Oral Traditions.

It is “literal” to an extant. For example, we are not required to believe in a literal 6 day creation. However, there are spiritual truths which God has revealed.

Keep in mind though, the Bible is ENTIRELY true

However, I read several sections of the Bible, and many seem to go against many current views of Catholics. Isn’t this going against god, to pick and choose which sections of the Bible to believe and which sections to ignore?

For example, the Bible allows slavery:

–Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

–Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

The Bible was INSPIRED by God through the Holy Spirit but WRITTEN DOWN by man
Remember the culture of the people writing
And this wasn’t American slavery, these slaves could actually work for their freedom and where treated better. People were usually slaves to work off debts.

The Bible also has contradicting quotes on the true number of gods. For example, these lines state that there are several gods

–Genesis 1:26
And God said, let us make man in our image.

–Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?

…while these lines state that there is only one god:

–Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

–Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

Well, seeing that you’re a Unitarian Univeralist, I take you don’t believe in the Trinity.

I take Genesis 1:26 as God speaking within the community of the Trinity. This only happens in the beginning when man is created.

The Jews take Genesis 1:26 to be God speaking to the angels

Jehovah’s Witnesses take it as Jehovah speaking to Jesus (Michael the Archangel) since it was through Jesus that all things were created.

As for Exodus 15, this could be Moses setting YHWH above the gods and legendary heroes of Egypt since YHWH is the true God. It’s not that the Egyptian gods ever existed.

There are also contradictions concerning whether or not god is all-powerful. These lines state that god is not all-powerful:

–Judges 1:19
And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

–Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work

…while these lines state that god is all powerful:

–Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

–Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God! … there is nothing too hard for thee.

In Judges, it was the people of Judah that could not physically beat them. God does not always come down and smite the enemy for them Himself.

As for Mark, it’s because the people did not have faith. It’s not that he physically couldn’t perform mighty works, but that he wouldn’t because the people lacked faith.

Could any Bible expert explain to me these inconsistencies, and why it is allowed to obey some of god’s word, but not all of it?

context
context
context
context
context

it is key!

We obey ALL of the Bible

 

[Scrubba]

We obey ALL of the Bible

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***.” - 1 Samuel 15:3

“Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.” Number 31:17-18

Obey it then. Whenever you hear an Atheist speak out against God utterly destroy him and rape his virgin female relatives. Don’t worry, it’s justified - God just wants his mistakes to be erased. Think of yourself as God’s favorite tool.

 

[Luke65]

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***.” - 1 Samuel 15:3

“Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.” Number 31:17-18

Obey it then. Whenever you hear an Atheist speak out against God utterly destroy him and rape his virgin female relatives. Don’t worry, it’s justified - God just wants his mistakes to be erased. Think of yourself as God’s favorite tool.

You know, advocating violence is not allowed here, even if you’re being sarcastic rolleyes. But we do obey the Bible, including the part where it says the Law of Moses was “set aside”, and “obsolete”.

 

[Scrubba]

You know, advocating violence is not allowed here, even if you’re being sarcastic rolleyes. But we do obey the Bible, including the part where it says the Law of Moses was “set aside”, and “obsolete”.

I was quoting straight from the Bible. I don’t condone violence in any way. I’m glad you took what I quoted to be an utter disgrace.

If Jesus deemed the law of Moses to be obsolete (due to the fact it was already ancient in Jesus’ time) then how can you honestly say that the rest of the Old Testament isn’t obsolete? Even if Moses’ Law is set aside there is still over 2,000,000 people killed because of God’s order or via God directly. Is God just while Moses’ isn’t even though Moses’ got his Law straight from God’s word?

The law of Moses is the law of God. Jesus said the law of Moses is obsolete… therefore?..

 

[DebChris]

The Bible consists of different types of writing. Just as you might read poetry differently than history, you need to ask what the author’s purpose is. While the Scripture is the Word of God, each book of the Bible was written at a particular point in time for a particular audience.
A freeing statement that I took away from the theology class I never took, “Do not look for the answers. Look for the questions.” I have found this allowing scripture passages to raise questions leading to unexpected answers. The seeming contradictions become less of an obstacle.

 

[bpbasilphx]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy.

---

**It depends on what you mean by “literal”. If you interpret that word as pop-evangelicals do, you’re miles away from Catholicism, or any kind of traditional Christianity. (In other words, you’re setting up a straw man.)

To deal with just ONE issue you mentioned, it would be truer to say that the Bible TOLERATED slavery, but nowhere is it depicted as a good thing.

And did you read the NT precepts for slave owners, or pass them by?

The idea that the Christian master was God’s slave, and the Christian slave was God’s freedman (who stood in a special position to his erstwhile master), and that BOTH were brothers was revolutionary to the original hearers.**

 

[Corki]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy. However, I read several sections of the Bible, and many seem to go against many current views of Catholics. Isn’t this going against god, to pick and choose which sections of the Bible to believe and which sections to ignore?

For example, the Bible allows slavery:

–Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

–Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

You will find some passages in the Bible that say if you have a slave, you must treat him/her fairly. But the passages you quoted are not necessarily about slavery. A servant is not a slave. There are servants today and it is a noble profession (i.e. bulters, valets, cooks, maids, nannies)

 

[juliamajor]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy. However, I read several sections of the Bible, and many seem to go against many current views of Catholics. Isn’t this going against god, to pick and choose which sections of the Bible to believe and which sections to ignore?

For example, the Bible allows slavery:

–Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

–Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

The Bible also has contradicting quotes on the true number of gods. For example, these lines state that there are several gods

–Genesis 1:26
And God said, let us make man in our image.

–Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?

…while these lines state that there is only one god:

–Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

–Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

There are also contradictions concerning whether or not god is all-powerful. These lines state that god is not all-powerful:

–Judges 1:19
And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

–Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work

…while these lines state that god is all powerful:

–Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

–Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God! … there is nothing too hard for thee.

Could any Bible expert explain to me these inconsistencies, and why it is allowed to obey some of god’s word, but not all of it?

first-Catholics aren’t fundamentalists-look somewhere else for that.second-there are many meanings and layers to scripture-if you don’t look beyond the surface,you gain nothing. Third- context, context context- not just where it sits but the cultural context of their time. Some things can be timeless but Paul was a person of his time and inculturated-just like anyone else.
The picture of who and what God is changed over time, an evolution of doctine.- Again these were a people of a particular time and place- whose views of YHWH changed with time. Early on Yhwh was the God of a particular people. nothing unusual about that-common among pagans.Each god had a particular place, and a people and were limited to physical -cultural boundaries.The god s of Egypt wouldn’t be as effective or powerful in syria as they would in Egypt.They might have a particular devotion to that god but would worship the god of the society they traveled to-a little added help couldn’t hurt!
YHWH started out this way but evolved so at the time of the psalms and prophets we have the image of a universal God who rules everywhere, loves everyone, and can be worshipped effectively anywhere. YHWHism, being monotheistic and unique started to define itself within that uniqueness

Genesis 1:26 can be one of two things the royal"we" (the word Elohim is used here- which can be singular or plural and you are talking about an English translation not the original Hebrew) or an imperial court-God and His angels.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

According to Catholicism, the Bible is the literal “word of god” and cannot be disputed in terms of it’s legitimacy. However, I read several sections of the Bible, and many seem to go against many current views of Catholics. Isn’t this going against god, to pick and choose which sections of the Bible to believe and which sections to ignore?

For example, the Bible allows slavery:

–Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

–Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

The Bible also has contradicting quotes on the true number of gods. For example, these lines state that there are several gods

–Genesis 1:26
And God said, let us make man in our image.

–Exodus 15:11
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?

…while these lines state that there is only one god:

–Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

–Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

There are also contradictions concerning whether or not god is all-powerful. These lines state that god is not all-powerful:

–Judges 1:19
And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

–Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work

…while these lines state that god is all powerful:

–Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

–Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God! … there is nothing too hard for thee.

Could any Bible expert explain to me these inconsistencies, and why it is allowed to obey some of god’s word, but not all of it?

Get a good study Bible like the Ignatius series and READ it. And listen to your priests as they break open the Gospel.