“Satan knows the Bible, too.”
I was told that at a young age, maybe five or six. We read Bible stories in Church, and they told us how Satan tempted Jesus. How he tried to use Bible verses against him, how he twisted it to say what he wanted. How Jesus won because he knew what the Bible meant by those words, while Satan just wanted to us it for himself.
“Satan will tempt you with the Bible,” they said. “He will twist God’s words. So you have to know what they mean.”
They preach that, but they don’t practice.
Because they know words. They know enough words to justify what they do. They tell us how these verses condemn homosexuality, not knowing or caring that this verse was about sexual slavery and the other was mistranslated. They tell us how women must serve their husbands, not understanding that they’ve taken a verse out of context of a metaphor. They tell us that they know what they’re talking about, it’s right there in the Bible.
They used to tell us it was alright to own slaves. Long ago, they’d point to verses and say that God was telling slaves to serve their masters, not thinking about how in their context, “slave” referred to an indentured servant, one who was paying off debts and could be set free soon, one who wasn’t beaten and dragged and sold. They might have known the original context. They might not have cared.
They say that Jesus hates us for loving, because of a mistranslation or a confused context. They say that God can’t make mistakes, ignoring how if he can put a baby in a barren woman or raise a man from the dead, he can certainly give a woman the body society assumes is a man’s, or vice versa, if it was part of one of his plans. They say that some books’ rules must be followed, ignoring how those books were written for specific societies, written for other cultures, or how some rules are more ritual than ethical.
They say we should follow our leader, because we must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but our leader goes against God. He claims he doesn’t, but he lies. He lies, he steals, he rips families apart, and he claims it’s because of God. And they listen. Because he tells them it’s alright to hate. It’s alright to judge and persecute. Nevermind that Jesus was an immigrant. Nevermind that Jesus drove moneymakers out of his Father’s temple with a whip. Nevermind that Jesus gave to the poor and told us to give up all Earthly possessions. They’ll take any excuse to hate. Because they know that Jesus told us to love our neighbors. They just don’t listen.
They told me that Satan knew the Bible, too, that he’d twist the words to suit himself and lead people astray.
And never once do they wonder if the version of God’s word they use to justify hate is the version that was twisted.
fuckin PREACH OP
As a Christian myself, shit like this is why I hate Christianity. Because first, any discussion of right or wrong immediately comes to “Don’t question God.” Don’t question His motives or His reasoning, because you won’t understand it. It’s supposed to be reassuring, saying how He has a plan for each of us and wants to work with us to succeed.
Too often though, it’s used to insult and demean and shut down people. Judgemental Christians (oh believe me, I’ve spent enough time in the church to tell you they are everywhere) will immediately go something along the lines of “oh, so you think you know more than God?” And it’s an instant win for them, a catch-22. If you claim to know more than God, you’re immediately ostracized for blasphemy. If you recognize you don’t (and to be perfectly honest, no one knows more than God, that’s physically impossible, no human brain can hold infinite knowledge), then you’re immediately told you’re stupid for asking these questions and wanting to know more.
So I say to you, ask questions! Find fellow believers and ask them about hard topics! Will most of us be able to answer them well? No, because very few people in the church know anything about apologetics. Even pastors may not know. They’re just as human as you are, they won’t know everything. Heck, you can message or ask me if you want a jumping off point! But keep digging for answers. You’ll find them someday. The door opens to those who knock, and knowledge comes to those who search it out. I believe in you. 🙂
good post
Love Your Neighbor
Published
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