Everything In the Bible Should Be Taken Literally

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Many good people build their case against homosexuality almost entirely on the Bible. However, these people fail to take the rest of the bible as seriously or as literally as they do with this issue. When it comes to faith, you cannot pick and choose. Either you take the whole bible literally (such as believing that a TALKING snake peer-pressured Eve into eating the apple) or you realize that some things just can't be taken literally, and are utterly ridiculous. The con side is not against Christianity. It is just arguing that you can't possibly take the entire bible literally. Many people like the verses that say God loves them, but they dislike the verses that say God will judge sinners. But we simply can't pick and choose what we like about the Bible and throw the rest away. If the Bible is wrong about hell, for example, then who is to say it's right about heaven—or about anything else? If the Bible can't get the details right about creation, then maybe the details about salvation can't be trusted either. If the story of Jonah is a myth, then perhaps so is the story of Jesus. On the contrary, God has said what He's said, and the Bible presents us a full picture of who God is. "For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). In order for the Christian religion to be legit, Christians must realize that that cannot take the entire bible literally. C1: We must realize that the bible was copied, by hand, over and over and over again to get at what we have today. We don't have an original, or a copy of the original, or a copy of a copy of a copy of the original. In fact, before they were actually written, all of the books in the Old Testament. If you ever played the children's game 'Telephone', where you start with one sentence and whisper in a circle through 15 or 20 kids and than look at the first and last sentence, they are entirely different. We have the last little kids version of the Bible. C2: The bible was written by man, edited by man and interpreted by man. It starts with genesis; the world was created in 6 days. Science has shown that the earth was here billions of years before man. To God a year could be an anything, if that's true then every word in the bible could mean something else. C3: The Bible stands or falls as a whole. If a major newspaper were routinely discovered to contain errors, it would be quickly discredited. It would make no difference to say, "All the errors are confined to page 3." For a paper to be reliable in any of its parts, it must be factual throughout. In the same way, if the Bible is inaccurate when it speaks of geology, why should its theology be trusted? It's either a trustworthy document, or it isn't. C4: The Bible is a reflection of its Author. All books are. God Himself wrote the Bible as He worked through human authors in a process called "inspiration." Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (literally, "is God-breathed"). See also 2 Peter 1:21 and Jeremiah 1:2. We believe that the God who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is not simply "Does the Bible have a mistake?" but "Can God make a mistake?" If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is instead a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion. In other words, if Biblical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God. However, if the bible is not taken literally, and you consider my contention 2, then you realize that mistakes are permitted. So therefore, any good christen should vote con for this debate, to support their religion. C5: The bible has many passages that simply don't make sense, or that contradict itself. (Source: INTP Central) Subpoint A: The bible has many passages that are rather odd. Example #1: "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." Luke 19:27 That's not Herod, Hitler or a mad scientist bent on world domination talking, that's Jesus. Yes the compassionate, turn-the-other-cheek Jesus. Well at least it makes the KKK feel better. Example #2: "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things." Ecclesiastes 10:19 Materialism supported by the bible...? Example #3: "And the Lord was with Judah; and He drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but He could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." Judges 1:19 He = God he = someone else. So God has no power over iron? Did God become obsolete with the invention of the car or something? Example #4: Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men Mathew 2:19 This is the famous Herod the baby-killer story. But none of Herod's contemporary historians recorded this, not even Josephus, who chronicled Herod's life in full. It's not like you wouldn't notice the death of every child in and around a major city like Bethlehem. Example #5: And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. 2 Samuel 24:9 That's 1,300,000 fighting men. That doesn't include a population count of women or children either. That's a ridiculously high number of troops for two tribal armies in 1000 BC. The biggest military in the ancient world (Persia) only sent 250,000 on their first attempt to invade Athens and the rest of Greece, and that was a few hundred years later. In 2000 the US had about 1.37 million active duty troops. Example #6: "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." Psalms 137:9 Just weird. And a little creepy. Example #7: Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4 Oh, so that's why Bush constantly ignores international treaties! Example #8: "It was impossible for God to lie." Hebrew 6:18 He can create the universe and is generally regarded as omnipotent, but he can't lie? That's a weirder weakness than even that iron thing. Example #9: "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (Revelation 5:6) Everyone agrees that the slain lamb is a constant symbol for Jesus. So now Jesus has horns? Subpoint B: The bible, on multiple occasions, contradicts itself. Example #1: Does God want some people to go to Hell? Yes "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned." 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 "The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." Proverbs 16:4 No "God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved." 1 Timothy 2:3-4 "The Lord is ... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 Considering these points, I urge you to vote that not everything in the bible can be taken literally.