I truly believe that the society in which we live has lost its fear of God. We are no longer allowing God to define what sin is, and therefore have labeled verses in the Bible are politically incorrect as “embarassing.” The website Ship of Fools has a debate called “Chapter and Worse” going on right now where members get to debate the “worst” or “most embarrasing” verses of the Bible.

Why are they doing this? Because in a book as broad as the Bible, they reason that some parts must be better than others. They go on:

We want you to tell us: which sacred text makes you reach for the red pen? Which hallowed verse makes you laugh for all the wrong reasons? Which blessed passage leaves you groaning with embarrassment? Which piece of holy writ troubles you at night, but at least keeps you awake in sermons?

The underlying pretext is that we could have done the Bible better than its original authors. The Bible is passe, outdated, and outmoded. Not only does this smack of cultural imperialism, but it reeks of blasphemy against the Holy Word of God.

Examining the verses that are nominated for worst Bible verse, it is painfully obvious why this is happening. Mankind is glorying in his shame; believing that he is superior to God. Who is God that he gets to make the rules?

I can’t seem to find the entire list, released yesterday and discussed by a panel of theologians, but I can list a few verses from the Times Online news service. Here they are:

1 Timothy 2:12: Here Paul is telling Timothy not to allow a woman to teach or have authority over a man. I don’t think that this is the blanket prohibition over female teachers, as there are numerous listed in the letters of Paul, but I think that it means that man is the optimal choice. He appeals to the original created order–man first, then woman. In that plan, the man and the woman were equals, but woman is subjected to man’s rule under the Curse (Gen 3:16c). It was never God’s intention that woman be subjected to man in this way, but that was part of her punishment for disobedience.

1 Samuel 15:3: God is ordering the genocide of the Amalekites. I’ve already answered this charge here.

Exodus 22:18: I’ve expounded this verse at length here.

Judges 19:20-25: Forgetting that just because something is in the Bible, doesn’t mean that God approves of the action. See the story in context from Glenn Miller.

Romans 1:27: Again seeking to be politically correct. I’ve written on the topic of homosexuality here. In the Bible, homosexuality is quite clearly a sin; you have to ignore an awful lot of verses to conclude otherwise.

And the list goes on from there! When we lose sight of what a sin really is, then society is in a heap of trouble.