Discrimination.

                            

Many Christians will tell you to read your Bible.

But the Bible must be read with discrimination.

Violent, perverse, legalistic, contradictory, judgemental, moralistic, and ideological passages must be questioned, even ignored.

This is in conflict with Fundamentalists who claim that the Bible is the literal word of God.

But the Bible is not infallible.
Many passages contradict each other.
Some passages are repeated.
Others are missing.

This is because the Bible is a library of writings collated over hundreds of years.

Each passage is written by an author who can only relate what he himself understands.

Therefore the image of God in the Bible evolves over time.

From the primitive tribal god Yahweh to the Universal God of Jesus.

And many of the words put into the mouth of God in the Old Testament must be considered suspect.

The new revelation of Jesus that God is our loving Father and we are His children transcends the Old Testament God of vengeance and judgement.

And now we are realizing that God does not punish us at all.

Therefore there can be no hell.

A father does not condemn his own children.

The carrot and stick religion of heaven and hell is designed to keep the masses under control.

It is not an aspect of God at all.

"'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the City that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.'"  Matthew 23;37 (NRSV)

Jesus said that the world did not know God.

And it still does not.

The vision is granted to a precious few.

And their vision is soon corrupted.

So read your Bible with discrimination.

And collect the fragments of light from among the shards of pottery that contained them.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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