Disappointment in Scripture

[Bobbie Steinhauer]

There are moments when we've all been a bit disappointed in what we have seen or not seen in scripture. I saw one person posted his disappointment in the contradictions. In our BoF groups two disappointments have come up:

1 - Why on Earth were the best storytellers not the ones who had the skills to write the Bible? It was the record keepers. They just don't tell a story with the same flare and tend to leave out the story portion, but include the lineage.

2 - The women's stories are often lacking. I just wish that I knew more, or say anything, about the midwife who caught Jesus. We'll never know, but I'm disappointed that we don't.

Has anyone else run across disappointments in the stories or the writing or other issues? How do we teach people to work through them?

The two I mentioned above are my own and it's led me on a path of study and discovery, as well as writing.

[Pastor Justin Johnson]

Hey there,

I have taken a small break from the site due to the workload that I have had piled up on me, but Perry's last entry moved me to jump back into the conversation.

I am interested in your wording of "win debates" and of course since you were dismissive of my profession and our education, I felt the need to respond.

What intrigued me was the thought that you were "winning" debates because the thread that I have been reading and somewhat engaged in, is not so much of a debate, but rather a question and then you dismissing the answer because you (Perry) don't like it without having a reply. I know personally, I replied to your question of hell. I replied that it was a complete separation of God and that yes due to the free will we have, some people will choose that over God. It seemed you didn't like the answer, so you dismissed it, rather than engaging with another question.

The other discouraging thing is that your story has changed slightly. Now maybe it is wording or what, but originally you said you have been searching for God for 30 years, now you have said that you have held a belief similar to Rollie's for 30 years. So, I am wondering which it is, have you been searching or defending?

To an outsider who can only go by what has been written here, it seems like you have a definition of what God should be and how God should act. The only reason why I am writing this is because you keep saying you wish God would answer you and your questions. Which means that the answers you have been getting are not fitting your box. So, what would it take from God? This is not meant to be a snide question, but an honest one. It isn't people reaching out to you, it isn't a supporting community of faith, and now it isn't a web site, so what is it that you are looking for from God?

[Book of Faith Social Network]

Greetings to all of you who are participating in the Book of Faith Social Network discussions.

This site has been established as a place for sharing all that is happening across the ELCA in relation to the Book of Faith Initiative.

As one of the posters has pointed out, a good relationship is built upon mutual respect. While we do encourage discussion and conversation, this particular thread has moved beyond that to the point of what can only be seen as disrespectful personal attacks. As such, we have decided to close this thread.

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