I do my best, as someone studying it, to read it as an ancient Jewish reader would, as that’s the original, intended audience. That’s why my #2 and #3 is all about how the authors of the Bible saw contradictions and accepted them. That is absolutely more of an art than a science sometimes, but I try to remove my own perspective and desires for what I want the Bible to say as I read it, and then figure out what I want to do with that later.
The way I would personally weigh out an apparent contradiction is through study. How many times is a thing referenced? Does it contradict major themes or ideas? Is there any relevant historical context to this passage, such as it being a letter to a specific church? What’s the broader context of the passage itself, within the book and a few chapters around? Usually a “correct” answer becomes pretty clear through this process.
As for anyone justifying anything, they sure as hell can, and I’ve watched them do it. My #1 red flag, for anyone attending any church, is that any church worth its salt will encourage you to read the book yourself, ask questions, and that doubting and challenging things is encouraged. You cannot purely let someone else tell you what’s in there, because it’s a big book, and full of narratives of characters doing all sorts of things. The Bible is really meant to be understood as a whole work, and not cherry-picked passages.
It’s one book, and it isn’t even that long. You shouldn’t need to study it. Also, if a book has a ton of contradictions, then it basically says nothing.
As a whole, it’s a hateful book full of cruelty, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia. Or it’s not. It just depends where you read. Therefore, it will justify your good will to other people, or your worst instincts. Both supported by the word of God.
I do my best, as someone studying it, to read it as an ancient Jewish reader would, as that’s the original, intended audience. That’s why my #2 and #3 is all about how the authors of the Bible saw contradictions and accepted them. That is absolutely more of an art than a science sometimes, but I try to remove my own perspective and desires for what I want the Bible to say as I read it, and then figure out what I want to do with that later.
The way I would personally weigh out an apparent contradiction is through study. How many times is a thing referenced? Does it contradict major themes or ideas? Is there any relevant historical context to this passage, such as it being a letter to a specific church? What’s the broader context of the passage itself, within the book and a few chapters around? Usually a “correct” answer becomes pretty clear through this process.
As for anyone justifying anything, they sure as hell can, and I’ve watched them do it. My #1 red flag, for anyone attending any church, is that any church worth its salt will encourage you to read the book yourself, ask questions, and that doubting and challenging things is encouraged. You cannot purely let someone else tell you what’s in there, because it’s a big book, and full of narratives of characters doing all sorts of things. The Bible is really meant to be understood as a whole work, and not cherry-picked passages.
It’s one book, and it isn’t even that long. You shouldn’t need to study it. Also, if a book has a ton of contradictions, then it basically says nothing.
As a whole, it’s a hateful book full of cruelty, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia. Or it’s not. It just depends where you read. Therefore, it will justify your good will to other people, or your worst instincts. Both supported by the word of God.