How can a Christian reject part of the Bible and still call themselves a Christian?

[KUSA]

I can understand someone twisting the words around if it is something that is abstract.
However the Bible is very clear on what to do with homosexuals. It is clear about a lot of things. You can't twist it around and say that it doesn't really mean that they shouldn't die because they are an abomination to god.
There are probably three on this forum that might try though now that I think about it.

[Cato]

I don't like drone strikes that kill innocent people, but still consider myself an American.

The fact that there are over 30,000 denominations of Christians should make you realize that there will be differences in doctrines of faith, traditions and practices. I don't think you'll find very many Christians following all Mosaic Law, 619 or however many.

Believing the Bible to be the word of God isn't a necessary condition of being Christian. If faced with a similar conversation in the future, I recommend getting the other person to admit that the standard for good and evil is extra-Biblical.

[KUSA]

Being American doesn't mean you have to believe in all the laws, traditions, or the Constitution. Being a Christian means you believe in god and that the Bible is the living word of god. Disagreeing with any part of it is like telling god he is full of shit.

[Jackalope]

Being a Christian means you believe in god and that the Bible is the living word of god.

Really? I'd take issue with the latter, because there are a shit-ton of Christians who don't believe that at all.

[KUSA]

Exactly! They believe what suits them. I don't understand how they can do that.

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If someone can pick parts of the bible to reject then where do you stop?
To me it has to be all true or its all full of crap. You can't take a book that is the word of God and say that parts of it are not true. If a Christian can say that some of it is wrong then I can say all of it is wrong.

[Jackalope]

Exactly! They believe what suits them. I don't understand how they can do that.

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If someone can pick parts of the bible to reject then where do you stop?
To me it has to be all true or its all full of crap. You can't take a book that is the word of God and say that parts of it are not true. If a Christian can say that some of it is wrong then I can say all of it is wrong.

...or they can simply say it's not the word of god, but written by men.

You're creating a false dichotomy where none exists.

[Minimalist]

[YahwehIsTheWay]

I've often wondered the same thing.

Just consider that Michael Moore and Fred Phelps both consider themselves to be "Christian" and a follower of Jesus and yet they couldn't be worshiping gods that were more different if they tried. So many Christians seem to think they can pick and choose the Holey Word of Gawd as if it were some kind of buffet table.

Many more of them haven't even read the book. Can you imagine? They think this book is THE WORD and yet they haven't found the time to read it. What kind of priorities do these people have? They think the Creator of the entire freaking universe wrote a book and they haven't read it? Even forgetting about the whole salvation-and-torture-for-all-eternity-if-you-choose-the-wrong-god thing, just reading a book written by the Creator of Everything by itself should be enough motivation.

Just as yourselves, those of you heathen-unsaved-future-objects-of-the-righteous-Lord's-wrath, how many of you as atheists have found yourselves explaining to so-called "Christians" what's actually written in their own book? It would be like Christians explaining what Sagan said on "Cosmos" to you, and yet that's more often the case than not.

But instead of reading, never mind hearkening to and following, The Wholly Babble, these liberal sissy-Christians simply create a god that's little more than a glorified reflection of themselves.

Tell me what god you worship and I'll tell you all about you and what you want. That's why when most people talk of "God's will", it always seems coincidentally coincides with their own desires. (footnote paraphrased observation by Susan B. Anthony)

If only these people would just ask me. I'd be glad to tell them what the scriptures really mean. That's why I'm proud to be a True Christian ™ who has read the scriptures and I believe in every blessed word, even the parts that contradict each other and all the parts that make no sense at all.

Glory!

[Rahul]

A lot of Christians, especially women, reject the entire book of Paul in the Bible. *shrugs*

[Lek]

Exactly! They believe what suits them. I don't understand how they can do that.

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If someone can pick parts of the bible to reject then where do you stop?
To me it has to be all true or its all full of crap. You can't take a book that is the word of God and say that parts of it are not true. If a Christian can say that some of it is wrong then I can say all of it is wrong.

You're right. If you are a christian and believe that the bible is God's inspired word, you can't pick and choose. You need to know what it teaches in order to know if the person you're talking to does reject part though. As with the case of killing homosexuals in the old testament, Jesus abolished the old testament law and formed a new covenant. The old testament Jews were required to follow that law, but we're not. Homosexuality is still immoral, but it's dealt with differently by christian society. This is not changing morality, but changing rules. I find many non-christians referring to old testament requirements and asking why we don't do that today. What looks like we're not accepting something from the bible may not be that at all. Having said all that - many christians do not accept some parts of the bible - and they're wrong, but can still be christians.