picking and choosing

It's a common complaint lodged by conservative Christians: liberals "pick and choose" from the Bible. It wouldn't bother me, except that these same conservatives claim that they don't pick and choose.

It seems to me that anyone who has read the whole Bible would see the folly in this line of reasoning.

Can we accept the following verses at face value?

"Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh." - 1 Peter 2:18

"For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil." - 1 Corinthians 11:6

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep." - Luke 6:24-25

"[God] said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’" - Genesis 22:2

"If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his town, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death." - Deuteronomy 21:18-21

If every word of the Bible truly reflects God's will, then we would have to say, based on the above sample, that God:

• isn't bothered by slavery or even by the mistreatment of slaves


• thinks it is disgraceful when women do not cover their faces


• despises money, food, and even laughter


• tells people to kill their children

And there are many more troubling passages throughout the Bible. Personally, I think it is dishonoring to God to say the Bible is perfect.

Jesus told us he would give us the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth. He didn't say that our guide to all truth would be leatherbound, printed on acid-free paper, with words of Christ in red.