I was raised as a Christian and embraced the faith for many years. During this time, I read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, rejecting all other religions as bogus, believing that Christianity was the only true pathway to God and salvation.
It was while studying at the University of the West Indies that I began to question the rationality of my beliefs. The churches that I had attended were Anglican and Missionary, and the doctrines of many other denominations were alien to me. So I invited Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons into my home and engaged them in conversations regarding their beliefs, as well as entertaining dialogue with Roman Catholics, Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals and others. What I found to be amazing was the diversity of beliefs among persons claiming to follow the same deity. If you place the Holy Bible on a table and invite members of the abovementioned denominations to discuss various issues, you will never attain full concordance.
So if this is the 'Word of God', why is it not straightforward, but open to so many different interpretations, resulting in division, acrimony, bigotry, a sense of entitlement, intolerance, human-rights abuses and even war?
If you ask
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The God of the Bible gave instructions not to "plant your field with two kinds of seed" or "wear clothing woven of two kinds of material", but had no issue with slavery, which most Christians will agree is barbaric and cruel. There is nowhere in the Bible where God condemns it. As a matter of fact, He gives guidelines regarding how slaves should be managed. God is also referred to as being merciful. But reading the Bible will reveal instances of Him mercilessly slaughtering millions of people, even more than Satan. We are then taught that Jesus is God, but these actions are incongruous with Jesus Christ's edict to treat others the way you want to be