And I understand where people read parts and say "God says this is wrong, so it's wrong" but within that same book, they ignore countless other rules because "they don't apply anymore" and THAT's where I have a huge problem with it.
I concede that it is a very difficult issue to deal with, and I in times past (and probably in the future as well) have been guilty of the very thing you criticize.
There are "laws" of the OT that do apply, and some that do not. It is a difficult and complex issue though, because it deals with a system of Covenants.
It's also an issue not all Christians agree with each other on, which compounds the issue even further. It gives the atmosphere that it is totally arbitrary, and in many cases it unfortunately is.
If the Lord truly doesn't want us to eat shellfish, wear clothes of 2 fibers, cut our lawn, eat, then fine.
I have the same attitude.
I will oblige, but to say "God didn't mean follow those rules because.....shut up." doesn't make sense.
If they do just say, "because, shut up"... that is a problem, absolutely. I think this compounds the issue further yet, because often people do decide arbitrarily, which leaves them with little to no explanation. On top of that, those who arn't totally arbitrary often refuse or simply do not posses something (whether it be knowledge or safistication, etc) to explain the matter.
If you don't agree with part of it, then how can you agree with other parts.
It depends on the "guiding principle" as I would call it, as far as approaching it from a logical stand point.
For example, if I say people should be able to eat pork because all food is okay to eat... then turn around and say, "hey, you can't eat beef! that's not okay to eat!" without any further explaination as to how that is not a contradiction, then I am just as puzzled as you are most times.
Again, not YOU specifically, but Christians in general.
I assumed as much, but thank you for the clarification.
Hence why I stated that No, Peter would not be Christian if he disagreed with parts of the Scripture. You can't agree with half of what God says and not the other half. Either it's ALL law EXACTLY as it's written, or it's ALL able to be interpreted and picked to pieces to determine which ones we actually HAVE to follow.
Some of this is valid, and some of it is not.
Your concern and criticism of picking and choosing in general, yes, totally agree. I do not believe, however, and I believe scripture supports my belief, that
all disagreements of scripture disqualify a person from being a Christian.
The easiest way I can put it is this:
There are primary issues, these are ones that if a person denis (such as the deity of Christ), then they are not a Christian.
Regarding deity of Christ:
1 John 2:23
No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
That I think should be a pretty clear cut verse, maybe tempered by it's context a bit more I will concede. That would be an example of a primary issue where scripture declares, "If you do not believe this, you are not a Christian."
There are secondary issues, these are issues that are very, very, very important but not necessarily at the point of disqualifying a person as a Christian.
An example of that would be some issues concerning soteriology, such as the old Calvinism Vs. Arminianism debate. Depending on how wrong someone is regarding soteriology (basically the mechanics of how one becomes saved), it could become a primary issue.
Then there are tertiary issues, that are important but not generally worth splitting a church over. What were the Nephilim? Is it pre-trib. or post-trib? Etc. etc.
It was never an issue of being a troll.
I will take your word for it and apologize. The problem is that whether you intend it or not, you often seem rather strongly to be trolling in certain issues. Especially those dealing with human sexuality and the like.
And I'll be honest, the fact that it took this long for you to answer a simple question- yes, it pissed me off to no end.
That was not my intention, for what it's worth.
Don't assume people are trolls just because they don't understand the entire universe and exactly how God's mind works.
I did not assume you were a troll for this reason.