Dreadful scenes in the Holy Bible

[believerabcd]

I completely encourage and agree with the good teachings one can find in the Bible, like: helping those who are in suffering, being kind, many useful proverbs, being correct, fight for what is right, etc., since they are the perfect way one can live and they are completely realizable.
However, it is really strange how can the Bible be called Holy & be trusted as a right base in life, if among those good words it also contains interleaved with them, countless unjust odious and horrifying scenes so powerful that they are rarely to be seen even in today’s strongest horror stories.
Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.
Do you think that those disturbing verses have anything in common with the teachings of being kind ?
Should those verses stay in a book the people call Holy ?

 

[agnes_therese]

Well, if the Holy Spirit thought they should be there, who am I to disagree? I would refer you to 2 Timothy, 3:16.

 

[Theophorus]

Yes. Sacred Scripture is more than just about being nice/kind, its about salvation.

In addition to the good teachings as you call them, It shows the full effects of sin, the worst excess of the human condition and lays bare our capacities as well as the lengths God goes to to gently bring us back again. It shows the reality of human weakness as well as strength, and Gods goodness in response to it. For that reason its not surprising it makes some people uncomfortable. Even the horrific bits teach us how to be better and attain salvation and how God can draw good from human evil. Would you like to remove the crucifixion as well?

 

[patrick457]

I completely encourage and agree with the good teachings one can find in the Bible, like: helping those who are in suffering, being kind, many useful proverbs, being correct, fight for what is right, etc., since they are the perfect way one can live and they are completely realizable.
However, it is really strange how can the Bible be called Holy & be trusted as a right base in life, if among those good words it also contains interleaved with them, countless unjust odious and horrifying scenes so powerful that they are rarely to be seen even in today’s strongest horror stories.
Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.
Do you think that those disturbing verses have anything in common with the teachings of being kind ?
Should those verses stay in a book the people call Holy ?

I voted yes. I think that just because the Scriptures are ‘holy’ doesn’t mean that it should be sanitized of any ‘problematic’ material. Rule of thumb: the Bible isn’t so much a book of ready-made answers, but a vast, confusing library of questions upon questions upon questions. The thing is, popular culture have made the Bible to be something different from what it really is.

 

[robwar]

you are taking verses out of context, stringing them together to fit an unrealistic view of holiness. The Bible records what happen in the past which included animal sacrifice which is no longer done because Jesus is the ultimate and final sacrifice. If you are disturbed by violence, you would be bothered that Jesus was crucified and that is recorded as well. The first verse you start out with in Gen 3 has to do not with snakes but satan himself and the enmity between those who follow God and satan and those who follow him. The other verses are dealing with animal sacrifice which was done until and were precursors to Jesus own crucifixion. Are you an animal rights activist?

 

[MaryT777]

Well, if the Holy Spirit thought they should be there, who am I to disagree? I would refer you to 2 Timothy, 3:16.

This is my sentiment as well.
That said even teaching the flood from Noah’s ark was difficult to young kids in Catechism becauuse they would ask why God was “so mean” to do that. It’s difficult to grasp at that age.

I think we need to present God in age appropriate ways.

 

[Loving_disciple]

Here is one you really won’t like. Matt: 10:34. Also if it is put in the bible then it is Holy because God put it there. Also God is love but he is also truth and justice and sometimes Justice will happen. Anyone who takes away from the bible verse wise is a heretic.

 

[Cachonga]

I didn’t vote because I recognize God’s sovereign right to do as He pleases with His creation. The Scriptures are God-breathed, inspired by God Himself, not just “inspirational”. Who am I to tell God what should and should not be in His book? Who, among all the fallen children of Adam, has the authority to censor God? I would think that to even ask such a question shows a lack of understanding as to who you are in relationship to God (at the very least it indicates a lack of belief that God actually inspired the Scriptures, which is what makes them Holy in the first place). If you have a problem with what Scripture says, then either God was wrong to inspire it, or you are wrong in your understanding. I strongly assert that God is not wrong!

 

[LegoGE1947]

I didn’t vote because I recognize God’s sovereign right to do as He pleases with His creation. The Scriptures are God-breathed, inspired by God Himself, not just “inspirational”. Who am I to tell God what should and should not be in His book? Who, among all the fallen children of Adam, has the authority to censor God? I would think that to even ask such a question shows a lack of understanding as to who you are in relationship to God (at the very least it indicates a lack of belief that God actually inspired the Scriptures, which is what makes them Holy in the first place). If you have a problem with what Scripture says, then either God was wrong to inspire it, or you are wrong in your understanding. I strongly assert that God is not wrong!

The last 3 chapters of Judges about Micah and his house of gods and the Levite he hired to be his priest. And when the priest let his concubine be raped and then he cut her up and sent a piece to each tribe in Israel. Also Judges 11 where Jephtha sacrificed his only daughter after he won a battle, because he promised God he would. And yes, it is MY problem not God’s. But I simply don’t get how people could do stuff like this. (But then I don’t understand how some can do or approve of certain things in today’s world!)

 

[Aloysium]

I think the Bible talks about real people. Maybe I am cynical; I think I am realistic. I suppose that’s what comes of reading, for more than half a century, the daily news, which I have to note, doesn’t even speak about the abortions that are done each day.

 

[Bezant]

Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.

Do you really find these verses disturbing?

What about Deuteronomy 25:17-19, when God says “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven”? Or 1 Samuel 15:2-3, when God tells Saul to “go and strike Amalek” and to “kill both man and woman, and infant”?

 

[LegoGE1947]

Do you really find these verses disturbing?

What about Deuteronomy 25:17-19, when God says “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven”? Or 1 Samuel 15:2-3, when God tells Saul to “go and strike Amalek” and to “kill both man and woman, and infant”?

Of course, for disturbing you can’t beat the whole scene of Jesus being unfairly tried and then crucified. It was even more disturbing when it was portrayed in the movie “The Passion of the Christ”

 

[mymamamary]

I completely encourage and agree with the good teachings one can find in the Bible, like: helping those who are in suffering, being kind, many useful proverbs, being correct, fight for what is right, etc., since they are the perfect way one can live and they are completely realizable.
However, it is really strange how can the Bible be called Holy & be trusted as a right base in life, if among those good words it also contains interleaved with them, countless unjust odious and horrifying scenes so powerful that they are rarely to be seen even in today’s strongest horror stories.
Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.
Do you think that those disturbing verses have anything in common with the teachings of being kind ?
Should those verses stay in a book the people call Holy ?

Yes they should!! Do you realise that while being the Love letter of GOD to man, the Bible is also the whole of human expierence compounded into one book? That is why you will find EVERYTHING in the Bible. Rape, murder, war, gruesome executions, theft, lying, backbiting, in addition to all the beautiful stuff. Hence the reason that the Bible is so valuable to us. It contains any expierence that we would be likely to have. These vereses were also inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT and thus should definitley stay!!

 

[TimothyH]

I voted yes. I think that just because the Scriptures are ‘holy’ doesn’t mean that it should be sanitized of any ‘problematic’ material. Rule of thumb: the Bible isn’t so much a book of ready-made answers, but a vast, confusing library of questions upon questions upon questions. The thing is, popular culture have made the Bible to be something different from what it really is.

It is not as vast, nor as confusing as people make it out to be. There are some keys to understanding it, and with a little bit of guidance one can become reasonably good at understanding it as a whole and understanding individual parts. “The Bible Timeline” study by Jeff Cavins is one resource for such guidance.

As to the qustion in the title of the post, the Bible is holy not becuase it was delcared so by men, but because it is of divine origin. Our declaration of the sacredness of Scripture is only our recognition of an objective truth. The Bible is holy whether we declare it to be or not.

Asking if parts of it should remain or be removed is like asking if the roots or leaves of a tree should be removed - it ceases to be a tree if those parts are removed.

-Tim-

 

[believerabcd]

Would you like to remove the crucifixion as well?

The crucifixion portrayed in the Bible does not exaggerate in horrific graphic details, and it was also Jesus’s intention to endure the most it ca happen against Him, so it should be little reasons to be removed.

you are taking verses out of context, stringing them together to fit an unrealistic view of holiness.

The verses I mentioned portray something which looks like an unjustness did against innocent beings. That is their context.
They do not show for example, an atrocity made against the evil, to destroy the evil.

Are you an animal rights activist?

No.

 

[RobbyS]

I completely encourage and agree with the good teachings one can find in the Bible, like: helping those who are in suffering, being kind, many useful proverbs, being correct, fight for what is right, etc., since they are the perfect way one can live and they are completely realizable.
However, it is really strange how can the Bible be called Holy & be trusted as a right base in life, if among those good words it also contains interleaved with them, countless unjust odious and horrifying scenes so powerful that they are rarely to be seen even in today’s strongest horror stories.
Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.
Do you think that those disturbing verses have anything in common with the teachings of being kind ?
Should those verses stay in a book the people call Holy ?

The Bible is a history of mankind with focus on a particular race, an accurate look at the reality we still live in, and a cautionary tale It is fitting that the Canon closes with the words of an apocalypse. Chapter 22, verses 13-15. *** I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes that they might have the right to the tree of life, and that by the gates they may enter into the city. Outsides are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the muderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. *** But the door is open. Verse 17 says, And the Spirit and the Bride say “come,” and let him who hears say. come,” and let him who thirsts come, and he who wishes, let him receive the water of life freely.

 

[sw85]

I completely encourage and agree with the good teachings one can find in the Bible, like: helping those who are in suffering, being kind, many useful proverbs, being correct, fight for what is right, etc., since they are the perfect way one can live and they are completely realizable.
However, it is really strange how can the Bible be called Holy & be trusted as a right base in life, if among those good words it also contains interleaved with them, countless unjust odious and horrifying scenes so powerful that they are rarely to be seen even in today’s strongest horror stories.
Some examples of disturbing scenes are: Genesis:3:15, Genesis:9:2, Genesis:15:9-10, Genesis:17:11-14, 23-27, Genesis:37:31.
Do you think that those disturbing verses have anything in common with the teachings of being kind ?
Should those verses stay in a book the people call Holy ?

Holiness isn’t liberalism (they are very nearly opposites), the Bible isn’t a liberal book, and liberals and Christians are historical enemies. None of this new, none of it is interesting.

 

[patrick457]

It is not as vast, nor as confusing as people make it out to be. There are some keys to understanding it, and with a little bit of guidance one can become reasonably good at understanding it as a whole and understanding individual parts. “The Bible Timeline” study by Jeff Cavins is one resource for such guidance.

And still, you’ve only succeeded in chipping a ten-foot thick wall. I’ll stand by what I said earlier: the Scriptures are a vast mine. I know this kinda sounds pessimistic, but there’s no way we’ll be able to fully exhaust or comprehend it. But that’s fine: we all need our share of ambiguity and mystery.

As to the qustion in the title of the post, the Bible is holy not becuase it was delcared so by men, but because it is of divine origin. Our declaration of the sacredness of Scripture is only our recognition of an objective truth. The Bible is holy whether we declare it to be or not.

Asking if parts of it should remain or be removed is like asking if the roots or leaves of a tree should be removed - it ceases to be a tree if those parts are removed.

-Tim-

Amen!

 

[patrick457]

The verses I mentioned portray something which looks like an unjustness did against innocent beings. That is their context.
They do not show for example, an atrocity made against the evil, to destroy the evil.

Real life doesn’t always work that way, does it? I think it’s pretty much established that many good people suffer. On the contrary I think that is really the good thing about the Bible. There is actually a Jewish saying which goes, “Turn the Torah over and over for everything is in it.” In a sense I agree: the Scriptures are a sort of microcosm, a mirror of the universe, containing every perspective and viewpoint within it.

And BTW, let’s face it. Most of the writings many religions consider to be ‘sacred’ don’t look so ‘holy’ or ‘inspiring’ at first glance.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Real life doesn’t always work that way, does it? I think it’s pretty much established that many good people suffer. On the contrary I think that is really the good thing about the Bible. There is actually a Jewish saying which goes, “Turn the Torah over and over for everything is in it.” In a sense I agree: the Scriptures are a sort of microcosm, a mirror of the universe, containing every perspective and viewpoint within it.

And BTW, let’s face it. Most of the writings many religions consider to be ‘sacred’ don’t look so ‘holy’ or ‘inspiring’ at first glance.

The Bible shows life as it is. It doesn’t try to sanitize it or dress it up. Who, other than a Christian, would believe that God would choose to come to this earth as a baby, to a non-descript place like Israel, and be born in a manger with a bunch of stinky farm animals as “witnesses”?