“Don’t Think, Just Believe” -WHAT???
Sometimes I encounter people who claim to approach the bible in a childlike manner, and invariably, that so should I! Just have blind faith and do what it instructs. Do not question God. But I just have a really hard time with that.
I mean, I disagree, but that’s besides the point. I don’t think it’s biblical, but most things aren’t. I have a hard time with it because I cannot even understand what those words are meant to imply, or how a person can think they think those words are true. Let me explain”
I understand theoretically how someone can approach the Bible in a trusting and blind sort of way. "I’m just going to blindly follow this" they would say as they begin to read the book.
But after you DO IT for a while it has to become less blind. What happens when the Bible makes allusions to Greek Mythology and expects you to be familiar with them? What about all the references to other books we don’t have like Paul’s "earlier letter" in First(!?) Corinthians or the "Annals of the Kings Of Judah" in First Kings? Did you read those? The Bible told you to.
And what about all the stuff that is not instruction? Or did you somehow manage to get through Psalms and Revelation without being the least bit curious why we needed that many words for God to say "Be good". If indeed, those books do a poor job of that, then what are they for? That requires thought.
Also, Leviticus is a thing. Do these people "blindly follow" Leviticus? If do do they also at the same time blindly follow the totally different organizational structure that it laid out in the Pastoral Epistles? How?
The Bible makes you think. It FORCES it. Trying to "Just believe" the Bible is like trying to "Just Believe" Shakespeare, or Mozart. It’s not just wrong, it’s incomprehensible.