Dear BChristianK:
This should not surprise you.
It doesn’t, but it should.
And, it's no different than what anyone does, it's only difficult for you to see it in print.
No, it is quite different from what anyone else does. There are scores of books written on the principles designed to determine what texts can be determined to be accurate and which have interpolations, redaction and errors. None of those books advocate picking and choosing what is historically accurate and what isn’t
on the basis of wishful thinking.
Your method is the embodiment of a logical fallacy “appeal to consequences.�
Chew on it for a while and you will realize that EVERYONE does this.
No, everyone does not. And if everyone did, then everyone would be committing a logical fallacy. So even if everyone did it, it would still be moronic.
You're getting testy again.
Why, because I am disagreeing with you? Look, there are just some things that one cannot sugar-coat. This is one of them. Actually, I think I was being kind by jovially dealing with the issue instead of pointing to the gravity of your method.
God does not take well to His word being perverted. It really shows a fundamental lack of respect for God’s word to interpret it in such a haphazard manner. Such a method not only betrays a lack of studiousness but also flies in the face of the common sense.
Furthermore, it really is a slap in the face of those who spend countless hours doing anything and everything to correctly understand those ancient words, with the guiding help of the Holy Spirit, so that they might love their God with their heart, soul, mind and strength, and do so with more than just empty words, but holding God’s word in their hearts with all seriousness and respect.
I know of many men and women who study endlessly, diving into the original languages, searching though scholarly material, I know many seekers of truth who spend sleepless nights trying to understand the truth as God has communicated it, not wasting one second on the foolish thought of how they can make it fit their silly notions of how things out to be – I know many godly men and women who have spent hours on their knees asking God to reveal to them the truths in that book so that they can hide it in their hearts and treasure it.
And it offends me more than words can say that you would think that you have the right to interpret the bible frivolously to meet your own ends.
Just in case no one has yet told you.
The bible is not your book.
You do not have the right to change it to fit your desires or to ignore the parts you don’t like.
If you do change it to fit your own desires then you do so to your own detriment. If you teach others to do so, you do so to your own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16).
Don’t think I say such stern warnings joyfully, I desire none of these things for you, but I would be no friend if I let you mislead yourself or others while I stay silent.
You asked me.
Is it worth the grief? God knows, I ask myself that same question.
Maybe you should ask yourself the same question regarding your method of biblical interpretation.
Grace and Peace