Thursday, March 15, 2007
Christianity: Dealing With Skeptics
The past few days I have pondered how does a Christian deal with skeptics. I ran across a blog and a site dedicated to raising questions about Christianity. They are the Skeptics Annotated Bible and The Price of Rice. Interpretation questions can easily be explained away but the harder questions deal with slavery, rape, and murder found in the Bible. (ie. Exodus 21:7) It is clear that these are found in the Bible and even seem to be condoned by God. How does one deal with these skeptics or should we. I give no answers but maybe you the reader can formulate some answers to these questions.
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2 comments:
Ah... a blog that requires thinking. I love it. I shall take a stab at the slavery issue. You cited Ex. 21. It seems to me that slavery is condoned in Scripture. How else could we honestly answer this question. But the slavery in the Bible was heavily regulated. It could only last six years (Ex. 21:2) and the life of the slave was protected (21:20). The trouble we Americans have is getting past the word "slave." Our nation's history is marked by a sinful type of slavery (one based simply on race & one that didn't follow biblical standards). That does not mean that ALL slavery is sinful, though. Perhaps calling it indentured servitude is better. Either way, we must affirm that slavery is accepted in the Bible for certain reasons (see also 1 Pet. 2:18 & Titus 2:9-10). At the same time, we see that biblical standards do not allow a man to be a slave his entire life and that freedom is to be preferred (see Philemon). Also, 1 Tim. 1:10 condemns the act of enslaving (this is the practice of capturing people to sell them into slavery, the basis of American slavery). Thus, slavery is a complex issue, one that is condoned in Scripture, but not without heavy regulation. And we certainly know that all men are equal in Christ and that the first shall be last and the last, first in the New Heavens & Earth.
Yeah the blog definitely makes you think. That's what prompted this post. It definitely made me think a lot more than I had about certain passages which is good. Sometimes we read through the Bible without regard for what it is really saying. I agree with you assessment of slavery in the Bible. I think it is imperative that as a church we teach the people how to study the Bible so that when they come to hard texts they are equipped to tackle them instead of losing hope.
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