Uninspired: The Human Origins of Bible Doctrines

In Romans 1, Paul betrays certain assumptions about same-sex activity that were common to the Greco-Roman and Jewish culture of his day. These are that he believes same-sex activity is: A Choice A sign of excessive lust A crime against nature, and therefore God (See Joe Miller, Jr  Homosexuality: A Scriptural Way Forward for the United Methodist Church . 2015, p106-120)     " 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."   ~ Romans 1:26-27 (NIV) A choice – Paul says women “ exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones”, and the men “ abandoned natural relations with women”. This reads like sexuality is something people can freely take up or drop at will. A sign ...

We have been looking at how the Bible contains errors, owing to the writers’ human limitations of knowledge, and their cultural influences. We now come to consider the women’s head covering of 1 Corinthians 11 as being based in scientific error, and ultimately, how it relates to Paul’s attack on homosexuality in Romans 1. The following interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 was endorsed by the late Christian scholar  Dr Michael Heiser . However, he does not draw the same conclusion as I do with respect to it falsifying the divine authorship of this passage. The late scholar maintained the Bible was divinely inspired despite containing scientific errors. Here is Dr Michael Heiser's interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, using the same pre-scientific viewpoint as I will take in this chapter (although you can read the chapter first): (See also Chapter 8 of Reversing Hermon by Dr Michael S. Heiser) The passage about the women's head covering in 1 Corinthians 11 is known for bei...

The following interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 was endorsed by the late scholar  Dr Michael Heiser . Although, it should be pointed out that the man himself was a Bible-believing Christian who supported the biblical stance on homosexuality. He does not draw the same conclusion I do about the Bible being irrelevant to God's views on gay sex, but he still holds Leviticus 18:19-23 is founded in ancient, pre-scientific thought. In the video below, Dr Heiser begins talking about Leviticus 18 v21-23 at around 48:45 minutes, sharing his view on the pre-scientific thinking of these verses at around 55:00 minutes (you can follow the rest of this chapter without viewing though): Leviticus 18:22 is a clear prohibition of all homosexual sex under the Mosaic Law. While the neighbouring countries to Israel sanctioned some forms of homosexual sex, Israel is unique in that it places a outright ban on all forms of same-sex activity within its law. The reason for this prohibition may be seen direc...

Old Testament Slavery If you confront a Christian about Old Testament slavery, most of the time, they have been told it was more like indentured servitude, designed to give the poor food and board. This is true in itself, but is only half the truth: Hebrew slaves were to serve as hired servants, but the foreign slaves were kept much like the chattel slavery of recent history. Here is the main passage:      "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. “ ‘ If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you ; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves...

The Bible, without doubt, contains many healthy and enriching ideas that have the power to transform people’s lives. However, there are elements to the biblical text which seem out of place in a book that purports to be inspired by a perfect God. Two examples of this are its endorsement of slavery and anti-homosexual stance, which we will take up in detail in this work. The former seems morally dubious at best, and the latter seems to fly in the face of more rational and modern conceptions of sexual proclivity and orientation. Both of these are examples of teachings which don’t seem to comport with a God who is all-loving and all-knowing. If the Bible permits things like slavery- which we can all say is wrong- then it contains moral errors . If (as we shall discover) the Bible’s reasoning for homophobia is rooted in primitive ancient thought, then it contains scientific errors . Moral errors within God’s flawless text would make God less than perfectly good . Similarly, scientific erro...