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honestly, i don't think humans function well with rule books. we either let them replace our thinking and mindlessly insist on the rules, or we spend all our time trying to outthink them and find loopholes. Or, a combination of the two. When applied to theology, that behavior is heresy, a combination of legalism or biblicism.
The bible is a recorded story of a faith community over generations...and there's a lot there. It's not supposed to be neat or easy. It's supposed to give you enough room to argue with it, agree with it, be comforted, be enraged, be assured, and be provoked. THe zen tradition has a line i think works:
"...a monk has what he believes is a breakthrough: a glimpse of nirvana, the Buddhamind, the big pay-off. Reporting the experience to his master, however, he is informed that what has happened is par for the course, nothing special, maybe even damaging to his pursuit. And then the master gives the student dismaying advice: If you meet the Buddha, he says, kill him.
Why kill the Buddha? Because the Buddha you meet is not the true Buddha, but an expression of your longing. If this Buddha is not killed he will only stand in your way. "
If you find yourself agreeing with the whole of scripture, you're reading it wrong.
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For God so loved creation, that God sent God's only Son that whosoever believed should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16
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