Non-biblical Beliefs

Abortion. Most conservative Christians are against it. And yet, apparently, most conservative Christians barely pick up their Bible. Abortion as we know it did not exist in biblical times, so does it have anything to say about the topic?

Exodus 21:22 gives us a clear-cut description that if a man causes a woman to miscarry and does not cause her any other harm, then it is up to the husband and judges to determine an appropriate fine. A mere fine! The biblical consequence of murder was death! So obviously, the Bible does not consider a forced miscarriage (an abortion) to be murder. It considers it property damage. Since women are no longer considered property, if a woman wants a forced miscarriage, it is her decision.

There are many verses that corroborate this view. Children less than a month old were not even counted as people (Numbers 3:15). God had no qualms about killing all the first-born of Egypt, encouraging the dashing of infants against rocks or sending bears to slaughter 42 children for insulting his prophet. I may just be quoting the Old Testament, but even Jesus referenced the old laws when it came to putting children to death (Matthew 15:4). The belief that life truly begins at conception did not come from the Bible.

If abortion is not murder according to the Bible, then stem cell research is perfectly allowable. The knowledge gleaned from such research could help countless afflictions. But if dogma is continued to influence our decisions, we may never know.

Marriage is between one man and one woman. It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. As often as this cheesy rhyme is quoted, there is no biblical backing for monogamy, unless you want to quote obvious allegorical stories such as the garden of Eden. However, there are multiple instances of polygamy that God never condemns, even in the long Leviticus list of sexual laws: Genesis 4:19, Genesis 25:6, Genesis 26:34, 28:9, Genesis 29:11-30:24, Genesis 36:2-3, 1 Samuel 1:2, 2 Samuel 3:2-5, 2 Samuel 12:8, 1 Kings 11:1-3, 1 Chronicles 4:5, 2 Chronicles 11:21, 2 Chronicles 24:3. Even Jesus condones polygamy in his parable about the 10 virgin brides going to meet their groom. It seems the Bible is promoting one man and how ever many women he wants.
Hell does not exist. A properly translated Old Testament never mentions a fiery-pit known as Hell. It does contain a word for “grave” that was altered in the King James version. It was thought of as oblivion and not a place of eternal torment. The New Testament does have Jesus pointing out a landfill outside of Jerusalem called Gehenna where garbage was burned. Condemned criminals after their execution had the final dishonor of having their dead bodies tossed into this valley and burned with the rest of the garbage. All of Jesus’ mentions of Gehenna point to a local, national judgment. None of these Hell passages say that any one of our day can go to Hell. None of them associate Hell with Satan. None of them say that Satan’s domain is Hell. Though they speak of men being killed and destroyed in Gehenna, none of them speak of men being tormented there. This landfill quickly got converted into the Hell that is used to instill fear today. A garbage dump was turned into the legend it became through the efforts of the Christian founders. Fear is a lovely advertisement.

Those of you that call yourself Christians: Read your Bibles! And not just the verses your little devotional book advises. Do your research. This is a religion and philosophy that you’ve committed your life and thoughts to; make sure you know what it teaches. Do not just go to church on Sunday and sing the songs and say the traditional prayers. Think! Come to your own conclusions. If you do not believe a word I’ve said above, research it, open your Bible. I encourage it.

  • March 26, 2008