When did it become acceptable to hate? Maybe that’s the wrong question. There’s been a long history of hate within Christianity for a long time. It probably goes back as far as when the church became culturally acceptable when Constantine was emperor. You know, when you have the authorities and leaders on your side, you can start to look down on others who don’t. Maybe the question should be, why has it taken Christians so long to figure out this out?
Why do you quote some bible passages and not others? Is it because you want God to fit your worldview? Do you realize that for every bible verse you pull out of context, I can find one opposing your view, also out of context – regardless of the topic? Do you not know that the bible raises more questions than it answers…and that’s a good thing? Why do you think the bible is an answer book which answers all your questions?
Why do claim to interpret the bible literally, but then come up crazy ideas that literally aren’t in the bible? For example Rapture. It’s not there. Never has been. Never will be. You can’t randomly pull scripture, tell me that weeks actually mean years, tell me what the weeks mean without it being there and in the same breath tell me that you interpret the bible literally. You aren’t even following your own rules. Why should I?
Why do you endorse and support a candidate for office who has been married multiple times, cheated on those spouses, flip flops on social issues you care about, is full of pride and arrogance, contradicts Jesus on the idea of neighbors, seeks revenge, doesn’t think he needs forgiveness, believes military force will solve problems, puts his faith in himself and in country over God and misquotes scripture? How do you rationalize the conflict between what you claim to stand for with a candidate who is polar opposite?
Why do you think you have been appointed the culture police? Where do you get the notion that the culture should match your interpretation of the bible and Christianity?
Why do you push away other Christians? Why is your version of authentic Christianity right? Why do you not recognize that interpretation is imprecise? Why do you think people will be convinced of how right you are by you yelling at them and telling them they better get on board or else?
Why do you think the most important part of being a Christian is about being right and have the right beliefs? What about the commands of Jesus who told us to go and make disciples and to go take care of poor, homeless, visit those in prison, and share Good News.
Why?
Laced up Lutheran 
It’s all in the interpretation. In 1978, the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy was drafted and signed by over two hundred members of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy.
The idea of ‘weeks’ comes from one of Daniel’s visions in chapter 9; since it’s talking about the end times, then it’s used to interpret the timeline of the book of Revelation. The rapture is from Matthew 24.
It helps to understand that in recent years, systematic theology has taught people to think in this way: if they want to understand about the end times, then they should take every passage in Scripture talking about the end times and read them together as pieces of God’s promises stitched together from various chapters and verses. They can do this because the Bible is authoritative and inerrant, so it must all be true.
As a result, when Christians say hateful or hurtful things, they are speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15) in an attempt to turn them from the error of their ways (James 5:20). They view themselves as being brutally honest for the sake of their friend’s soul, because it’s preferable to be offensive if it gets him saved than to do nothing and let him go to Hell.
Everything they do has a verse taken out of context to back up what they think and what they say. They could point to Isaiah 3:12 as well as to Deborah who was chosen a Judge of Israel to shame them because no suitable man could be found to say that for this reason, Trump should be the president as Clinton would be fulfilling this verse and be a shameful leader. There’s really no other way to interpret most verses other than literally – they often say: “when the plain sense of scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense”.
They would say that anyone who doesn’t agree with them doesn’t have the ‘high view’ of Scripture they do, and doesn’t believe the Word of God is authoritative and therefore isn’t standing on the promises of God. That’s how they have interpreted things and taught generations of people to interpret them likewise, so it results in fruit that seems prideful, hateful, and arrogant to anyone who just doesn’t understand the scriptures as they were taught them because they see themselves as loving, patient, kind, and honest.
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Jamie, thanks for your insights. There’s a lot there. In a sense, and maybe I should have clarified, I wasn’t looking for specific answers, but an understanding of a way of thinking. For example, I know the history and arguments for Rapture, but it is contradictory at best, pulls scripture out of context, assumes an English language understanding of scripture, assumes that Daniel is talking about the end of all time, makes assumptions about Matthew 24 that are weak at best, etc.
I think you hit it well in your last paragraph. I also think it points to the idea being that being right is the most important thing. And so a person can get away with a great deal of things if it is in the defense of being right. I’m just not sure how that is any different than how the Pharisees justified their actions.
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You forgot to mention a presidential candidate who has a long history of lying (I am sorry, sharing half-truths), harboring greed, selfishness, is full of pride and arrogance, and will also just pull out faith and maybe scripture for her own benefit and not because of deep faith? Just saying…..
I like what you write, but shouldn’t we be equal in our “calling out”? Of course, if we go to the pride and arrogance accusation, is any candidate “not guilty”?
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I agree actually. I’ve been a bit concerned that I haven’t been even-handed on it. At first I wasn’t sure which candidate you were talking about because they all seem to fit the description. I am certainly not a fan of either of the two major candidates. I see serious flaws in both of their characters and at this point can’t bring myself to vote for either one. I will try to do a better job of calling out both sides when necessary. Thanks for the reminder.
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Hey. I was just being cranky. I have no one to vote for…except to write in your name
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I haven’t seen any posts from CR lately. I’m starting to wonder what happened. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
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