Obscenities, vulgarities and disgusting things

[1over137]

So,it happened that I read a list of such things in the Bible and am disgusted. I will not post the list here. As a Christian I need to go through the whole Bible and am not gonna like such things. Just expressing my feelings. How you cope with that?

[neo-x]

bible is history, if you have ever studied history you will not like it. just read the holocaust for instance and you may be put off by it. I read it for what it is trying to keep my emotional reaction away as that would be injustice to the text.

[Icthus]

Could you name a few of the obscenities, vulgarities, and disgusting things?

[1over137]

Let's start with the following:

Song of Solomon 2:3
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 “[a]Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the [c]young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet to my [d]taste.


Judges 19:22-29
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

22 While they were [a]celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have [c]relations with him.” 23 Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. 24 Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them [d]whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. 26 [e]As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

27 When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up and let us go,” but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his [f]home. 29 When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

Isaiah 13:16

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.

[Icthus]

Let's start with the following:

Song of Solomon 2:3
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 “[a]Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the [c]young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet to my [d]taste.


Judges 19:22-29
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

22 While they were [a]celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have [c]relations with him.” 23 Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. 24 Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them [d]whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. 26 [e]As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

27 When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up and let us go,” but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his [f]home. 29 When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

Isaiah 13:16

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.

I might be dense, but I don't see what's vulgar or obscene about the Song of Solomon quote. As for the passage from Judges, people did (and still do) horrible things. The Bible doesn't shy away from reporting this. Even the 'heroes' of the Bible like King David do some pretty bad things, and it is important to remember that just because something evil is done in the Bible doesn't mean that God condones it. The Isaiah passage works similarly. Often times, this (looting, killing civilians, and raping) was (and still is) a part of war. In the ANE international relations could be brutal. Israel, during the times recorded in the OT had to deal with invasions from neighboring countries and nomadic peoples whose methods of waging war included destroying Israel's crops to starve the country, carrying off women and children, etc. While Israel remained faithful to God, he protected them, but when they rejected them, he left them to deal with their problems alone, though he was always eager to forgive them and take them back. Passages like these simply state the harsh reality of the world, a reality Israel didn't have to face, if only they'd remain faithful.

[1stjohn0666]

Cannibalism and eating poop is in the bible. LOL

[PaulSacramento]

It is important to understand the world that the Israelis lived in, that kind of civilizations that they were surrounded by and how ( at time) contaminated they became.

[Jac3510]

I might be dense, but I don't see what's vulgar or obscene about the Song of Solomon quote. As for the passage from Judges, people did (and still do) horrible things. The Bible doesn't shy away from reporting this. Even the 'heroes' of the Bible like King David do some pretty bad things, and it is important to remember that just because something evil is done in the Bible doesn't mean that God condones it. The Isaiah passage works similarly. Often times, this (looting, killing civilians, and raping) was (and still is) a part of war. In the ANE international relations could be brutal. Israel, during the times recorded in the OT had to deal with invasions from neighboring countries and nomadic peoples whose methods of waging war included destroying Israel's crops to starve the country, carrying off women and children, etc. While Israel remained faithful to God, he protected them, but when they rejected them, he left them to deal with their problems alone, though he was always eager to forgive them and take them back. Passages like these simply state the harsh reality of the world, a reality Israel didn't have to face, if only they'd remain faithful.

Quoting for agreement.

It is important to understand the world that the Israelis lived in, that kind of civilizations that they were surrounded by and how ( at time) contaminated they became.

Ditto.

To answer your question, I'll give you a broad principle I often make use of. When you come across something in Scripture (or theology or philosophy) you don't understand, bracket it out, note it, and move on. When you get some time (and maybe that moment), go back and research it. You may find that some things can't be cleared up until you discover later things, and because of that, when you bracket some things and continue studying, you may find when you revisit those issues that you forgot why you saw them so difficult given your now deeper understanding. I'm forever putting things on my list and striking them off.

More specifically, to echo the two comments quoted above, remember that there is a distinction between prescription and description. The Bible can describe a lot of events without endorsing them (i.e., Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter in Judges 11:29-40, which I take to be a literal human sacrifice). The other thing to remember here is that God, being gracious, tends to work with people where they are and guide them forward incrementally. That's true both on an individual level and on a corporate level.

What the above ideas cannot excuse is clearly immoral things commanded by God. If, for instance, God were to command someone to do something evil (which never happens), you would have a real issue on your hands. Recognizing that, most non-Christians harp on things like Joshua's Conquest or God's testing of Abraham as examples of immoral divine commands. As you study those issues, though, you will find what I take to be very good explanations of such things, and God is (not surprisingly) vindicated in the end.

Theological concerns aside, from a strictly pastoral perspective, I would make an entirely different suggestion: ask yourself what in the text is bothering you so bad. Sit with that for awhile. What emotions can you identify, and ask yourself where that comes from. That's such a powerful question we tend not to ask ourselves--"Where is this coming from?" Go deeper than just the immediate cause. Why is this particular thing raising this issue for you. Self-reflection can reveal a lot about yourself you didn't know. It may be helpful here to dialogue with someone about the issue--not trying to figure out what the passage is really saying, as this isn't so much a search for truth, but rather a search for why it is that you are reacting as you are. In doing so, you can place yourself in a position of vulnerability to the text, placing yourself under its authority. It's an uncomfortable place to be, but it's powerful. For in doing that, you cease to be the judge of Scripture and let it judge you instead.

Of course, in doing such theological reflection, you will discover some assumptions you are making about the text. Perhaps those assumptions are incorrect. Check them out. Is the text saying what you are thinking it does? Is it saying it to you or someone else? If someone else, what is the underlying universal principle? Is it an "endorsed principle" or is it merely an objective report. These types of questions are hard and some of them may require assistance, but that's where things like commentaries and other Christians can prove useful. I just want to emphasize, though, that while this process of exegesis is absolutely necessary, be cautious against doing exegesis in such a way that you justify the text in light of what you already believe rather than letting the text speak honestly for itself. The theological reflection I suggested above is where you let the text direct you rather than vice-versa.