Using the bible as a reason?

Question

If you are Christian or practice another religion, can you explain why people pick and choose certain things to follow in the bible (or other religious document) and ignore others? I am not religious and this has always confused me.

My question: do you choose what you want to follow and what you ignore? And how do you pick and choose what to ignore and not follow?

Ie: will choose circumsion for religious reasons (the bible says so) but don't follow the belief to own slaves anymore...

Genesis chapter 17, verse 12:

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised.
In this passage God understands that people buy other people and, quite obviously, is comfortable with the concept. God wants slaves circumcised in the same way as non-slaves.

Thanks!

Answer

your confusing Judaism with Christians.  Yes in the old testament they owned slaves, they slept with mistresses and whores, they brought war and death, they made sacrifices of burnt offerings.  I cannot explain it to you, a scholar probably could. My priest once said the old testament is filled with very bad men.  And it is proof of God's love for us, his wisdom that he used these men to accomplish so many great things.
Most of the laws of the old testament were to distinguish jews from the rest of humanity.  That and many were just good advice for hygiene, like washing yourself before you eat or prepare food.
Once Jesus came the need for the old laws died.  we are to follow the new covenant.  the 10 commandments and love your neighbor.  most everything else is done out of tradition, including circumcision.

Answer

I dont follow.  I am a good person.  I do good things and my relationship with God is personal.  I don't buy into organized religion.

Answer

The answer is a little complex. I believe the Bible is inerrant and inspired by God, physically written by men. That means I believe that the original Greek and Hebrew words are from God. You have to look at what, specifically you are reading. For example, there are poetry books of the Bible, historical books of the Bible, books of old testament law, letters (epistles), and prophecy. You wouldn't interpret prophetical books the same way you would historical books, just as with any work of literature. Given that, the old testament was the law given to the Israelites in order to both protect them and keep them set apart from the pagan nations at the time. That meant their practices were quite thorough. Nobody could fully live up to the law, so they have sacrifices to atone for their sins. When Christ came, he fulfilled the law and was the perfect sacrifice. That meant that no longer did the letter of the law need to be followed, but what was required was trust on Christ as that sacrifice. I say all that to tell you that the old testament practices are no longer required of believers. Regarding slavery, God gave instructions for how to live/survive/be set apart at that time, during which slavery existed. That doesn't mean it is something God condones. We have to be careful applying he cultural stamp to all of the Bible though, and just saying that because it was written thousands of years ago, we can basically ignore it. The word and concepts continue. If a Christian only picks and chooses from the Bible, then who is to say which parts are true? It must be an all or nothing belief. Either all of it is God's word or none of it is. I don't know if that helps at all...

Answer

Jesus freed us from the mosaic law. So we follow the new testament. I feel very strongly in all or nothing. Being halfhearted isn't any good. God said he doesn't want us to follow some and practice others. So I decided to be all in. I follow all the guidelines set up in the new testament. Obviously I'm not perfect but I do my best.

Answer

God wasn't comfortable with slavery in fact he instructed his people and christains to release their slaves. The old testament was written to purposefully show people that they cannot reach God's standards and that's why he sent Jesus to show that everyone falls short of the glory of God and needs him. Most of Leviticus was written as a manual to prevent the spread of disease and such.

Answer

Thanks to all of you guys! You were all so respectful and explained things a lot better. :) I'm not against religious beliefs I was just genuinely curious and not versed well enough in any religion to fully understand! Thanks for taking the time to respond !

Answer

I don't follow religion at all & this very reason  is a large part of why I originally began stepping away.

Answer

Man is born sinners, its our duty to follow Gods/Allah's word and do it, but majority of man is hypocritical and then judge others for sinning too. I know I am not perfect but I try harder each day to be more in the image of Allah

Answer

If you ever take a religion class the first thing they teach you is that there are multiple sections in each religion. Meaning different paths with different rules that they follow.

Answer

A saint is just a sinner who fell down and got back up again, 
That means no one is perfect, we alm make mistakes, it's the sincerity of you striving not to make that same mistake over again, a sin is a sin, there is no sin greater than the other, that's why it's important not to judge we are born into sin, that's what repentance and prayers are for,

Using the bible as a reason?

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