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 The author argues that there are many meanings of the adjective 'biblical.'
November 17th, 2012
10:00 PM ET
My Take: The danger of calling behavior ‘biblical’
By Rachel Held Evans, Special to CNN On "The Daily Show" recently, Jon Stewart grilled Mike Huckabee about a TV ad in which Huckabee urged voters to support “biblical values” at the voting box. When Huckabee said that he supported the “biblical model of marriage,” Stewart shot back that “the biblical model of marriage is polygamy.” And there’s a big problem, Stewart went on, with reducing “biblical values” to one or two social issues such as abortion and gay marriage, while ignoring issues such as poverty and immigration reform. It may come as some surprise that as an evangelical Christian, I cheered Stewart on from my living room couch. As someone who loves the Bible and believes it to be the inspired word of God, I hate seeing it reduced to an adjective like Huckabee did. I hate seeing my sacred text flattened out, edited down and used as a prop to support a select few political positions and platforms. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter And yet evangelicals have grown so accustomed to talking about the Bible this way that we hardly realize we’re doing it anymore. We talk about “biblical families,” “biblical marriage,” “biblical economics,” “biblical politics,” “biblical values,” “biblical stewardship,” “biblical voting,” “biblical manhood,” “biblical womanhood,” even “biblical dating” to create the impression that the Bible has just one thing to say on each of these topics - that it offers a single prescriptive formula for how people of faith ought to respond to them. But the Bible is not a position paper. The Bible is an ancient collection of letters, laws, poetry, proverbs, histories, prophecies, philosophy and stories spanning multiple genres and assembled over thousands of years in cultures very different from our own. When we turn the Bible into an adjective and stick it in front of another loaded word, we tend to ignore or downplay the parts of the Bible that don’t quite fit our preferences and presuppositions. In an attempt to simplify, we force the Bible’s cacophony of voices into a single tone and turn a complicated, beautiful, and diverse holy text into a list of bullet points we can put in a manifesto or creed. More often than not, we end up more committed to what we want the Bible to say than what it actually says. Nowhere is this more evident than in conversations surrounding “biblical womanhood.” CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories Growing up in the Bible Belt, I received a lot of mixed messages about the appropriate roles of women in the home, the church and society, each punctuated with the claim that this or that lifestyle represented true “biblical womanhood.” In my faith community, popular women pastors such as Joyce Meyer were considered unbiblical for preaching from the pulpit in violation of the apostle Paul's restriction in 1 Timothy 2:12 ("I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent"), while Amish women were considered legalistic for covering their heads in compliance with his instructions in 1 Corinthians 11:5 ("Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head"). Pastors told wives to submit to their husbands as the apostle Peter instructed in 1 Peter 3:1, but rarely told them to avoid wearing nice jewelry as the apostle instructs them just one sentence later in 1 Peter 3:3. Despite the fact that being single was praised by both Jesus and Paul, I learned early on that marriage and motherhood were my highest callings, and that Proverbs 31 required I keep a home as tidy as June Cleaver's. Opinion: What all those Jesus jokes tell us This didn’t really trouble me until adulthood, when I found myself in a childless egalitarian marriage with a blossoming career and an interest in church leadership and biblical studies. As I wrestled with what it meant to be a woman of faith, I realized that, despite insistent claims that we don’t “pick and choose” from the Bible, any claim to a “biblical” lifestyle requires some serious selectivity. After all, technically speaking, it is “biblical” for a woman to be sold by her father to pay off debt, “biblical” for a woman to be required to marry her rapist, “biblical” for her to be one of many wives. So why are some Bible passages lifted out and declared “biblical,” while others are explained away or simply ignored? Does the Bible really present a single prescriptive lifestyle for all women? These were the questions that inspired me to take a page from A.J. Jacobs, author of "The Year of Living Biblically", and try true biblical womanhood on for size—literally, no “picking and choosing." This meant, among other things, growing out my hair, making my own clothes, covering my head whenever I prayed, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church (unless I was “prophesying,” of course), calling my husband "master,” even camping out in my front yard during my period to observe the Levitical purity laws that rendered me unclean. During my yearlong experiment, I interviewed a variety of women practicing biblical womanhood in different ways — an Orthodox Jew, an Amish housewife, even a polygamist family - and I combed through every commentary I could find, reexamining the stories of biblical women such as Deborah, Ruth, Hagar, Tamar, Mary Magdalene, Priscilla and Junia. My goal was to playfully challenge this idea that the Bible prescribes a single lifestyle for how to be a woman of faith, and in so doing, playfully challenge our overuse of the term “biblical.” I did this not out of disdain for Scripture, but out of love for it, out of respect for the fact that interpreting and applying the Bible is a messy, imperfect and - at times - frustrating process that requires humility and grace as we wrestle the text together. The fact of the matter is, we all pick and choose. We’re all selective in our interpretation and application of the biblical text. The better question to ask one another is why we pick and choose the way that we do, why we emphasis some passages and not others. This, I believe, will elevate the conversation so that we’re using the Bible, not as a blunt weapon, but as a starting point for dialogue. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rachel Held Evans. soundoff (4,659 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 Next »Post a comment
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Editor's Note: Rachel Held Evans is a 
Everyone from atheists to fundamentalists and all in between have recomended I read the Bible. I have tried. I don't understand it. Therefore, though I am almost forty years old, and one has been in my house most of my life I still don't know what is in it because it doesn't make sense to me as I read along. I have no anger toward religion or persons of faith I just can't seem to follow it. I'm sorry Christians (and atheists)...I tried.
if you just want to learn what the bible really teaches go to jw.org, talk to Jehovah's Witnesses the next time they visit or go to the local Kingdom Hall of JWs and they will teach you free of charge with no obligation to join or be responsible to anyone except yourself and your Creator if and when you become a believer.
TCT,
It may be because are right now you are reading someone else's mail.
@james- the JW are not the be-all end-all of Christianity. Yet another reason to keep religion out of government. The Bible says one thing if you read the old testament, and something else if you read the new. None of it should be applied to everyone.
Zoey; all I said about JWs was that they would teach the commenter the bible for free. something you could use since you seem quite misled about old and new testaments. the old was for the jews and they could not obey. Jesus came to fulfill that law and make it easier to obey. see Matt. 7:12 and 22:36-40. a good place to start. and if you knew anything about JWs you would know they have nothing to do with the governments of this world except to obey their laws when they do not conflict with Jehovah's laws. peace, j
I wonder
I wonder if we should be encouraging more Christians to become J Ws. They are a pretty docile sort: they don't get into politics – they don't even vote; they don't over-breed; they rarely take up spaces in college enrollment; and they don't compete much in the financial/economic/business world. Those pesky front-porch invasions are annoying, but perhaps are a useful trade-off to get them out of public government.
Heck, I'm about ready to start passing out tracts for them!
I wonder; i was thinking about the same thing and if everyone listened to you this world would have no more wars. j
Denomination affiliation is strikingly tied with intelligence, education and income levels. Fundamentalist cults attract the least intelligent, least-educated and least successful people. But as them thar fundamentalists like to jest... gawwwwwwwd must 'a loved tha poor man cuz he mad so many of 'em. uhhuh, uhhuh, uhhuh...
Do you have actual statistics to back this up, or is it just your opinion.
Fact or opinion:
http://goo.gl/04Gat
http://goo.gl/BnSOQ
Fundamentalists accept every literal word of the bible and don't believe they can pick and choose from it... they have to accept all of it? And wives are supposed to call their husbands master AND be submissive? Hahahahahahahaahahaha. Boy are they screwed (so to speak)...
It almost sounds like the bible was written by pervy old men... ahhhhm just a'sayin'. It's a good read if you like pervy books filled with murders, violence... you know, the kind of stuff Texans read to their kids....
Right on americultians, earth ain't biblical. To the moon, Alice!
Funny how the author missed the flip side of his argument that Republicans see a literal Bible. As Mike stated, a very broad brush. In those terms, Democrats can't see any rule, law or commandment that can't be rendered gray and subject to individual interpretation (see Bill Clinton). I guess that sounds a little judgemental, too.
What made you bring up Democrats and republicans? The author is writing about Evangelicals (and mentions John Stewart, whom I believe is a Jew). How did you get Bill Clinton out of that?
It is this kind of thinking that cause 'biblical' people to be scorned by others... rather than forgive like the message of Jesus was all about, you want to divide and condemn. Forgiveness is only for those found worthy by the self appointed Judges using their own cherry picked rules..
"Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (Luke 6:36-38 RSV)
I go though my life the way I hope and believe many Christians do. It's not my job to condemn others, to judge them, to force them to believe as I do, to tell them how to live their live. It's my job to love and try to understand them. I sometimes fail though.
When I see other "Christians" (metaphorically) take their bible and tie it to the end of a long pole and beat others with it. WHAP my book says you can't love who you want, WHAP my book says you are not worth as much because you are female, WHAP my book says you MUST believe EXACTLY what I believe or you are going to hell, WHAP my book says I am righteous and you are evil.
I find it hard to believe they are truly Christians, it seems to me they use the bible to hide behind. They fear anything different from them and hatred comes from fear.
In the end I wonder who will be judged more harshly, they people they condemn or the people doing the condemning.
@A true Christian – Awesome post.
"A true Christian", you'll find out, moron, and no Bible needed! BWhahahahah
I did read that book Holy Heresy. Un-freaking believable! I as a Catholic felt so good after reading it. Why can't priests be married? Why is the pope infallible? Why couldn't we eat meat on Friday? Why do we pay for the Church to get souls out of Purgatory? (contribution?) please read HOLY HERESY.
'Purgatory' cannot be found in the Bible and neither can 'Limbo.' Two ridiculous made up places that don't exist. Both are still money making opportunities for the Church even today! Recently someone I know, her grandmother died. I can't even begin to tell you how much money was donated to the Church on her grandmother's behalf. Only two people gave money to her family to help them defray the cost of the funeral, over 100 people gave monies to the Catholic Church instead.
Why did they give to the richest organization in the world instead of to the family in need? Because nothing has changed! The church may not be handing out guaranteed certificates of salvation any longer but the sentiment and antiquated belief system is still there, and the Church is still prospering just as they did in the Dark Ages even without their heavenly certificate of guarantee. Also another nice perk for the donor, it makes them look good to the Church, and who knows, maybe their donation might even help to ensure their own salvation in the end. What a scam!
This practice was-is just the opposite of what Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." In contrast, the Church taught, that the rich man could buy his way into heaven, whereas the poor man was left out in the cold....condemned to a life of limbo.....
Heaven and hell are also two ridiculous made up places that don't exist.
Which leads me to another thought, the immortality of the soul. Another fallacy the Catholic Church originated. The Bible does not teach that the soul is immortal. It says that the soul Can die. "The soul that is sinning it itself will die." Ezekiel 18:4. Why did the Church create the doctrine of the immortality of the soul? So they could create purgatory, and limbo, and even hell, so they could make more money! If the soul that is sinning dies then where was-is the money in that? There wasn't any! But...if the poor soul was stranded in purgatory or limbo in some conscious state of suffering then they could extract every penny from their grieving family to bail them out.
Biobraine: I agree with you that hell doesn't exist in the literal sense of eternal torment! As a believer in God, I do believe that heaven exists, but, I don't personally believe that I'm going there. I think God's original plan was for us to live here on the earth and I feel it still is. I guess one could argue that earth is in heaven:) So maybe we are already there....except....we are reminded every day that we're not....
There is zero evidence that any life on this planet possesses a soul. If you would like to undertake the mental gymnastics to explain why we are the only species that evolved to have one, when during our evolutionary history we first had one (or when God decided to give us one), and why it doesn't have energy or mass and there cannot be detected I would be interested in hearing it.
Animals have souls too! So do the "flying creatures of the heavens" and the fish of the sea. In Genesis God refers to them as "living souls". Our souls are our life force. The Bible says that our soul is in our blood, which is probably why God seems to feel that blood is so sacred. The soul is the energy, or life force, that vacates our bodies when we die.
So the soul has already seeped out by the time I take a bite of my burger? : ) Just teasing. I didn't expect you to tell me that all animals have a soul as well. I wonder how many people believe that. If a soul is a life force, why can we not measure it though? The only forces I know of are the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, and the strong and the weak force. All matter/energy in the universe interacts. If we had a life force it would need to interact with the matter of our bodies to be of any use and we would be able to observe it. If there was some life force in our bodies that came out when we died, we would be able to measure it. I am too skeptical to have your faith.
there is no soul. when you die – the electro-chemical energy that once "powered" all your nerves dissipates out into the surrounding system – like smoke... or any heat-energy. it obeys the laws of thermodynamics – plain and simple.
there is absolutely no mechanism to cause that energy to remain coherent.
when we die.. we cease to exist on any level in any form, forever.
deal with it
Take a look at the book Holy Heresy on Amazon... website holyheresy.com Says soooo much and answers so many questions.
just click Report Abuse and carry on.
THAT'S WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. WHAT PEOPLE DONT UNDERSTAND THEY CRITICIZE. I THANK GOD FOR THE FAITH AND COURAGE HE GAVE TO YOU TO KEEP ON UNTILLTHEY SEE THE TRUTH IN YOUR STORY AND REVELATION . NICE ONE KEEP IT UP. YOU PEOPLE WILL BURN>>>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Barely comprehensible gibberish with an aftertaste of hate . . . and you screamed it too. Well done!
Gioivanni: F you and your threats
Leck mich am Arsch!
RE: "YOU PEOPLE WILL BURN>>>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.."
This is the 'hope' that fundamentalists embrace. The mere thought of it fills your heart with glee?
negritos MIERDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this blog is horrible
Life is easy to live for a man who is without shame, a crow hero, a mischief-maker, an insulting, bold, and wretched fellow.
So therefore , brethren, let us joyfully shame them as is right before gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwds eyes...
Kin ahhhh heeeee-yarrrr an AMEN?????????????????
Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer.
So, ummmmm, why are YOU directing OTHERS? Are you a self-appointed fundamentalist 'authority' led by gawwwwwwwwd to moralize?
Tasiṇāya purakkhatā pajā parisappanti saso'va bādhito
Tasmā tasiṇaṃ vinodaye bhikkhu ākaṅkhī virāgamattano.
right on brother
164.
The foolish man who scorns the rule of the venerable (Arahat), of the elect (Ariya), of the virtuous, and follows false doctrine, he bears fruit to his own destruction, like the fruits of the Katthaka reed.
Can you help me find uran.us?
Behind all this is Satan
How do you know? Did gawwwwwd text you? Maybe he meant Santa and simply misspelled the word...
I believe it's spelled "S-t-a-n"
Kill blasphemers
One who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death. (NRSV)
Leviticus 24:16
How can one blaspheme a non-existent being? It's just another control mechanism – the religious leaders know the whole religion thing is so tenuous yet so lucrative for them, they have to keep control of it as long as they can.
why don't you believe, santa? what are you afraid of? you dont need to go to church, or even belong to a religion. just believe. it's harmelss.
In Santa we Trust: Which leads me to my next question: Why do Atheists celebrate Christmas? That is the ultimate form of hypocrisy! They don't believe in God, or in his Son, yet for some strange reason they still go through all the motions on December 25th! I've never met an Atheist yet living in the U.S. that didn't celebrate! My Atheist relatives all celebrate! Why is that? Because it's fun? Because All the Believing relatives expect it of you, so therefore, for that one day, you are willing to cast your convictions aside, cower down, and become a follower of something you don't really believe in?
Willing to celebrate and embrace a holiday that was stolen by the Catholics, from the Pagans, a ritual that has trickled on down to the Protestants over the last 300 years, which has more to do with ancient s-ex worship than with anything else! Even the Pope has finally come clean...well sort of....just the other day he announced that December 25 is Not the birthday of Jesus Christ! Something most people knew years ago! But at the same time, Knowing, that the celebration has Nothing to do with God, he encourages people to proceed as usual for the sake of tradition!
How offensive this must be to God! Not only to have a fake date attached to his Sons birth, but, a celebration stolen from the Ancient Egyptians, a date associated with their false gods, and their decadent s-ex worship! Early Christians never celebrated this and neither did the Puritans when it came to America, they saw it as Pagan.The Bible doesn't mention when Christ was born. Why? Because it wasn't a day we need to be focused in on. If it was, the Bible would have made it crystal clear. On the other hand, his death and his sacrifice Is to be remembered, and the Bible makes that perfectly clear. The Bible says that a man's death is far greater than his birth, why, because at birth no one knows what kind of person they will turn out to be.
df – i can only "speak" for myself... i do not "celebrate" xmass – however – i do observe the most excellent party season surrounding the "holidays" – the winter solstice (which xmass was originally) being the only one of which i recognize .
also – you suck at refuting failed biblical prophecies. i am giving you an F-.
p.s.
cha cha cha
dissintery–I LIKE. VERY WELL GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@dissident
Because your religion doesn't have a monopoly on Christmas. I'm an atheist, and I celebrate for a few reasons.
1) To show my parents that while I don't agree with the religious part, I respect that they hold those views.
2) To see family, eat and drink with them, swap stories, and generally have fun.
My parents do not push the religious side of it, and I don't bring up anything about atheism or religion. Your assertion of hypocrisy is ridiculous, and borne of complete ignorance. If you want to be so angry at people celebrating this time of the year, either out of tradition, belief, or any other reason, then don't do it here. Go preach to your church (of course if your a woman, the bible forbids that), and force those of your family that want to celebrate it to not, but don't pretend like you know the reasons for atheists to participate in some areas of the holiday season, and to call hypocrisy wherever you want to.
dissident. That just shows how powerless god is and that it cannot be the omnipotent being imagined in the bible. I "celebrate" christmas because it is a mandatory holiday despite separation of church and state – when in Rome ...
AnVil: I like your answer regarding x-mas, but, regarding the rest of the Bible prophecy discussion, I haven't had the chance to respond to it as of yet, but, I will, very soon, I promise. I know, you are going to say, if I had time to write what I just did then I could have answered you. In a way you are right but not really, to answer you takes more time.
Hawaii Guest: Who's angry? Certainly not me. I was just posing a few questions that's all. Turns out I was right regarding the "fun" part and pleasing "family" based on the answer that you gave, confirming what I suspected all along! Atheists that see it as fun are actually more innocent than Christians, who should see it, for what it is, not for what it isn't. At least Atheists are not claiming it to be something it's not. So I wasn't attacking Atheists. I was just asking out of curiosity more or less. As far as your dig about me preaching in a church goes.....I don't go to church! I do lots of independent research on my own:)
In Santa we Trust: Mandatory? Oh yes, that old antiquated law of holiday observance that must be obeyed or we shall receive 50 lashes, be subject to fines and imprisonment, brought before a firing squad, burned at the stake, and worst of all, face excommunication from the Church, as decreed by the Holy Roman Empire!
F the lord. Clear enough?
Buddhists believe that there are beings that inhabit the various celestial realms. These are variously called angels, spirits, gods and devas by various cultures. But do Buddhists believe that a God created everything and manipulate human lives? No, we do not. There are several reasons for this. Modern sociologists and psychologists, believed that religious ideas and especially the Creator-God idea have their origin in fear. The Buddha says:
"Gripped by fear men go to the sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines ~ Dhammapada 188"
I see in myself the tendency to rise firmly against opposition, unless that opposition is myself. No one has deceived, tricked, betrayed, harmed me more than myself. Now, if I attempt to fix myself, I run into a quagmire. The solution to the problem of me will not be more of me. But there's hope. It's not in medicine, numbness, neutrality, or intense behavior modification. My only hope is this King Jesus who came into the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome Him. He overcame the world. Forgiveness, healing, and power are mine because I am His, and His desire is for me.
Stella
There is only you. There never was any God or King Jesus. If you were able to solve your problems give yourself some credit; because it was you who did it.
I sense your negative energy
Your religion gives you the disease and then offers you the cure.
yes, wake up, sort of like your mother, as she infects the men she bangs with AIDS.
little paulo,
She infects them with HIV not AIDS. When you get to middle school you will learn that in your science class.