Frustrated...

This post is going to sound like an angry tirade. It may well be a tirade, but I'm really not angry. I'm merely frustrated. My frustration is with those people who glibly and piously proclaim, "The Bible Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It." Bumper sticker theology is all this is. And it may indeed sound good, but it isn't true.
Now, let me say right up front that I believe the Bible is indeed and "inspired" collection of writings. I believe it does contain all things necessary to point us toward salvation, and to guide us in the practice of our faith. I believe the authors of the Bible were people who struggled to find words to describe their experience of the Holy. I believe the Bible is a product of a particular culture and time in history. And I believe that we must be willing to take into account this historical setting when we read and study this collection of writings. The Bible is a book which contains timeless truths, but it was the product of a particular time.
My frustration with people who hold to bumper sticker theology is the fact that they don't believe everything they read in spite of what they have to say. For instance, they love to quote 1 Timothy 2:11-12, which states, "Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent."
Yet I never hear a sermon on this passage from the same letter, "No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments." 1 Timothy 5:23.
Or, how about this, "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard the master as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed." 1 Timothy 6:1. Does this mean you endorse the owning of slaves? Are you willing to purchase another human being to tend your yard or garden? Are you willing to approve of the eighty thousand women and girls who end up as sex slaves each year throughout the world? It must be okay as long as the slaves are willing to honor their master, right?
How about 2 Corinthians 3, where Paul announces in no uncertain terms that the law of Moses is null and void in the Christian life. Why then, do you insist on putting the Ten Commandments on the walls of schools or courthouses?
Jesus said that when we pray we were to enter into our closets and pray in private to our Father. So how can you insist that the removal of prayer from school has led to our moral decline? Isn't it possible that you have spent far too much time whining in the public square and not enough time in your prayer closet is the real reason for our moral decline. I think the far better answer is that we have spent much more time believing in Jesus than we have believing Jesus. We spend far more time arguing about proper doctrine instead of following the man.
Do you really want to get into the Old Testament? A brief tour of the laws will indicate there is much there we don't believe. Or if we do we don't practice them. How about the ban on eating pork, shellfish, catfish, and other assorted animals? The Bible says "Don't eat." Do you? How about the wearing of clothes which contain more than one kind of fabric? The Bible says "Don't." Do you?
Please, don't give me that tired argument about the so-called "Perfect" original autograph. The writings we call the Bible are a collection from various sources. The only original sources we could name would be some of the letters. There never was a single perfect source. And even if there were, we don't have it. What we have is the texts at hand. And it contains many things we don't believe nor practice.
All I'm asking you to do is be honest. Admit that there are some time bound ideas in the Bible which are better off treated as a lesson from history which does not apply to us. Jacob with two wives, Rachel and Leah, and two lovers bearing children, is not an acceptable practice today. Do you really believe that the Jesus who went to the cross to die for the sin of the world would order the destruction of every man, woman, and child in a certain village?
I want you to admit that your literalism is selective. You do this and I will stop being frustrated. How about a new bumper sticker which says, "The Bible is inspired and inspiring, enough said."