Voices: Watering down the Bible

May 01, 2008 10:00 pm

— Aside from the comics and the downsized news events in the first section of the Globe, I like to check the Voices section for the latest letters sent in by the concerned public.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people are ready to cut scriptures out of the Holy Bible and turn them 180 degrees to falsely prove some personal opinion. Most of the time the reasoning to do so is to “water” down the text and ease the written condemnation of plain human sin.
For instance, you have all heard the phrase “God hates the sin and not the sinner.” While it is true God desires all who would trust in his Son to do so, he also has a limit to the amount of sinful living that goes by seemingly unpunished. The New Testament reveals that God has given some up to their reprobate minds and he will never seek their souls (Romans 1).
The Old Testament declares that God hates seven physical attributes of the human body, not only the sin that is committed by them (Proverbs 6).
Recently, one of the letters in Voices quoted some New Testament scripture from the book of Matthew without including the whole context of Jesus’ commandments, which appear in the accompanying text. God doesn’t want you to literally hate your sister, brother or parents. He wants you to love him more than you love your family. In the same book, Jesus is asked which is the “Great Commandment”? And Jesus replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” Jesus went on to say, “And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” With those two commandments in mind, anyone older than 3 years old should realize God doesn’t want you to hate anyone. (I was surprised that no area clergyman had sent in a rebuke to this person.)
The truth boils down to this: Man likes to sin and doesn’t want anyone to reveal the consequences of sin or any law that prohibits his actions. That is why those of different “lifestyles” or beliefs refuse to recognize the King James version of the Holy Bible.
It’s nice to know there are believers like Mr. Shirley in the area who will make a stand for the tenets of the Word and relentlessly shrug off the biased and unbiased criticism that is so prevalent in today’s society.
Steven Wells
Fort Scott, Kan.