Bishop: Time to rethink Bible's same-sex portrayal (From This is Hampshire)

I always find it curious how on the one hand so many Christians say the Bible is the Word of God, and yet how many pick and choose which bits should apply to themselves to others.

So which is it: is it not the word of God? Is God fallible? Or is it just a book like any other book, that people can choose to read as history or self help guide or ignore.

After all, what is Christianity if not the Bible? If you cannot rely on the Bible, what credibility does it have? Do you need faith? If so, faith in what?

It is perhaps foolish to suggest that the Bible is infallible, that the Bible is the Word of God - do you know the early history of the church, how much debate there was in the early church ? How many parts of the bible have been taken out as the church didnt agree on them? The Bible is a product of committees of men, presenting the church how they wanted to present it. Christianity is whatever the hegemonic view of the current leaders of that branch of the church believe it to be.

It is similarly baseless to believe that Popes are infallible, Just read the history and controversies around the Popes if you think that.

There were many sects of Christianity which had different beliefs, here are a few, and most would have considered the each other's beliefs to be heretical:

Sabellianism: believed the father, son, and holy ghost are three modes, roles, or faces of a single person, God. This, of course, implies that Jesus Christ was purely divine, without humanness, and therefore could not truly have suffered or died.

Docetism says that Christ was not a real human being and did not have a real human body. He only seemed to be human to us, ie there was Christ only, no Jesus.

Monophysites believe that Jesus Christ was a joining of the eternal Logos with the human person Jesus, which occured at incarnation. He therefore is two separate natures joined in one body. Monophysitism is very much alive in several present-day Egyptian and Middle Eastern sects of Christianity.

Adoptionism says that Jesus was a human being who was "adopted" by God at his conception, at which point he developed a divine nature, ie Jesus became Christ

Nestorius, Patriarch of Antioch didnt believe in the Virgin Birth.

Apollinarianism says that Jesus Christ was not a real man, but not totally divine either. Apollinarians suggested that he had a human body and a human soul, but his mind was taken over by the eternal Logos.

Arianism: Arianism is named after Arius (c. 250 - c. 336), a priest in Alexandria. Jesus Christ was thought of as a special creation by God for man's salvation. Arianism was the form of Christianity that the Goths adhered to, and it was popular in all the areas they conquered, including Italy, Spain, and Africa.

Socianism: A version of Arianism called Socianism (from the Latin socius, meaning "companion), simply says that Jesus was an extraordinary man. This heresy still lives on in two very different forms, the Unitarians and the Jehova's Witnesses. ie There was only Jesus, no Christ.

So where does that leave religion? Is there a God? If so is she Christian? After all, if you belong to one religion and believe all the others are wrong, then you have to question why you believe in your religion, and whether it was just an accident of birth which led you to your chosen faith. If you had been born somewhere else to different parents would you have a different religion, so is religion purely a cultural phenomenon? These are uncomfortable questions for many.

Such a shame so many wars have been fought over religion, and so many people have been persecuted. For what?