"But It takes a much more refined, deep thinking mind to dissect a book and find the quality of its content between things that you may not agree with."
It seems to me that dissecting the book and only accepting those things you agree with negates faith. Only by accepting and finding quality in the entire book, even the parts that you personally abhor, can you be said to have faith.
Imagine having to teach the story of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac to a fourth-grade Sunday-School class. How would you deal with this passage and its ramifications? The story is well known, but not often discussed in any great detail. In Genesis 22, God “tests” Abraham, saying to him:
“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 upon one of the mountains of which
I shall tell you.”
Most of us have read the story, and know how it will turn out: an angel will interfere at the last moment, applaud Abraham for his faith, and then provide a ram for a sacrifice. God’s message seems to be: “Just testing you Abe, sorry about all the anguish I caused you—just needed to make sure you were for real.”
Søren Kierkegaard, in Fear and Trembling, uses the story of Abraham as a springboard for a discussion of faith; he considers the ingredients of Abraham’s faith, and what the story means to our understanding of Abraham as the ultimate example of what it means to “have faith”.
thewissahickon.com
If you would not follow in Abraham's footsteps, and trust the word of God, then what is the point of the whole thing? You can't pick and chose which of God's words you will follow and which you won't. You are either all in, or you aren't. |
