Greetings, good people of Landover Baptist Church -
I am here as a humble information seeker because the True Christians of Landover Baptist Church seem to be the only ones who believe what they say they believe and behave accordingly.
Although I have read the Bible multiple times and consistently score well on Landover's Bible quizzes, I respectfully seek your help clarifying the occasional point on which even well-meaning followers misinterpret scripture.
The church I grew up in did not believe the Bible literally; nor did they teach it fully. So I was rather surprised when a very dear friend of mine, who calls himself a Tea Party Christian, recently told me that I must believe the Bible literally. That started me reading the text more seriously and more frequently than I had ever done before.
However, my good-hearted, well-meaning friend does not appear to believe what he claims he believes.
For example, he believes that space travel occurs exactly as NASA and others describe, despite the apparent contradictions with the Biblical "snow globe" model of the universe (Genesis), in which the earth is flat (a square circle, if you consider all of the verses describing it), the sky is hard, and outer space consists of water rather than vacuum, as scientists claim. Although my friend is a creationist, he believes that the earth and the universe are billions of years old. Furthermore, he rejects slavery as an objective moral good, and he claims to believe that men and women are equal.
You should have heard him screaming that I don't know the Bible when I explained to him that the Bible clearly says that women are worth less than men (1/2 to 3/5, depending on age), that women are the property of men (too many verses to list), and that men can sell their daughters into sexual slavery (Exodus 21:7). He waffled something about the Bible being literally true because those words were literally on the page (!) and then started screaming threats at me. Being quite a bit taller than he and a lot more muscular, I did not hesitate to reply that several Old Testament verses clearly state that God's law is unchanging and forever binding (Deuteronomy 7:9, 11:1, 11:16-28; Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 119:151-2 and 60; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Malachi 4:4, to name a few) and that Jesus Himself and Paul both confirm this (for example, Matthew 5:18-19; Luke 16:17, 19:16-17; Romans 2:13, 3:31). Even if you believe Jesus and Paul when they imply that the law is no longer binding (Luke 16:16; Romans 3:28, 6:14, 7:4 and 6, 10:4; Galatians 3:13 and 24-25, 5:18; Ephesians 2:15; and Colossians 2:14), you must believe that the law is binding forever because that's what the Bible says.
Like the church people I grew up with, my poor friend lives in denial of his bad behaviors and blames his victims and everyone around him for what he himself does wrong. I suspect that his inconsistent behavior is due, at least in part, to the mismatch between what he claims to believe and what he really does believe. So, even though he is quite right that the Bible clearly says that one must believe it literally, without interpretation, I am concerned that the rest of his information may be suspect and would rather ask you True Christians when I have a question regarding the Bible--provided that it not be an imposition upon you.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
I am here as a humble information seeker because the True Christians of Landover Baptist Church seem to be the only ones who believe what they say they believe and behave accordingly.
Although I have read the Bible multiple times and consistently score well on Landover's Bible quizzes, I respectfully seek your help clarifying the occasional point on which even well-meaning followers misinterpret scripture.
The church I grew up in did not believe the Bible literally; nor did they teach it fully. So I was rather surprised when a very dear friend of mine, who calls himself a Tea Party Christian, recently told me that I must believe the Bible literally. That started me reading the text more seriously and more frequently than I had ever done before.
However, my good-hearted, well-meaning friend does not appear to believe what he claims he believes.
For example, he believes that space travel occurs exactly as NASA and others describe, despite the apparent contradictions with the Biblical "snow globe" model of the universe (Genesis), in which the earth is flat (a square circle, if you consider all of the verses describing it), the sky is hard, and outer space consists of water rather than vacuum, as scientists claim. Although my friend is a creationist, he believes that the earth and the universe are billions of years old. Furthermore, he rejects slavery as an objective moral good, and he claims to believe that men and women are equal.
You should have heard him screaming that I don't know the Bible when I explained to him that the Bible clearly says that women are worth less than men (1/2 to 3/5, depending on age), that women are the property of men (too many verses to list), and that men can sell their daughters into sexual slavery (Exodus 21:7). He waffled something about the Bible being literally true because those words were literally on the page (!) and then started screaming threats at me. Being quite a bit taller than he and a lot more muscular, I did not hesitate to reply that several Old Testament verses clearly state that God's law is unchanging and forever binding (Deuteronomy 7:9, 11:1, 11:16-28; Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 119:151-2 and 60; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Malachi 4:4, to name a few) and that Jesus Himself and Paul both confirm this (for example, Matthew 5:18-19; Luke 16:17, 19:16-17; Romans 2:13, 3:31). Even if you believe Jesus and Paul when they imply that the law is no longer binding (Luke 16:16; Romans 3:28, 6:14, 7:4 and 6, 10:4; Galatians 3:13 and 24-25, 5:18; Ephesians 2:15; and Colossians 2:14), you must believe that the law is binding forever because that's what the Bible says.
Like the church people I grew up with, my poor friend lives in denial of his bad behaviors and blames his victims and everyone around him for what he himself does wrong. I suspect that his inconsistent behavior is due, at least in part, to the mismatch between what he claims to believe and what he really does believe. So, even though he is quite right that the Bible clearly says that one must believe it literally, without interpretation, I am concerned that the rest of his information may be suspect and would rather ask you True Christians when I have a question regarding the Bible--provided that it not be an imposition upon you.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.

and than you for your proper (even if on a bit lengthy side) introduction!




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