I haven't seen anyone answer LinearAQ's questions above and I really would like to see some answers here. He said:
I have not been able to tell which rules are ordinances, laws or statutes.
I have not been able to determine the parameters under which a particular ordinance or statute may be ignored, because, in every case, God seems to be quite serious about our obeying them.
Do you have a method for determining which rules are inviolate and which are not? Additionally, what do you use to determine when a particular ordinance or statute is no longer valid?
This is not about whether we can be forgiven for breaking a law, ordinance or statute. It is about whether doing something counter to a particular rule in the Bible is a sin or not.
This is what I was asking myself, though admittedly he's phrased it more precisely.
The same source which tells Bex that homosexuality and withcraft are evil/abominations/etc (the book of Deuteronomy) also states:
You are not supposed to eat animals that chew the cud, or pigs, and nothing from the water which doesn't have fins and scales, and various kinds of birds, and "every creeping thing that flieth." (Deut. XIV:7-19) Muslims and Jews follow the rule about eating pork; why don't Christians?
You are also told (Deut. XVI:1):
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Jews celebrate the passover. Why don't Christians? The Bible tells you to do so.
I believe this has already been cited on this forum at some point. Deut. XXI:18-21 says:
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey yhe voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
It also says in Deut. XXIII:2:
A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.
There's lots more there about God telling them to kill people and take what they want, but I've seen people here claim that this is OK because the heathens deserved it, so I won't quote those bits.
In response to my questions above, why are certain commands from this same book preached today as righteous, while others such as the above are not? Someone please explain the logic to this system, and how there is no interpretation involved.
