Don't Christians Just Pick and Choose What They Want to Believe in the Bible?

“Christians are inconsistent. They ignore lots of Old Testament texts against pork or garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what you want to believe from the Bible?”

As a believer, have you found yourself stumped by such an objection? What kind of response can we give?

Tim Keller suggests this: "Are you asking me to deny the very heart of my Christian beliefs?”

The very heart of our faith is Christ, and Keller says his coming changed (1) how we relate to the ceremonial laws and (2) how we rely on the state to enforce the moral laws:

Because of Christ, the ceremonial law is repealed. Because of Christ the church is no longer a nation-state imposing civil penalties. It all falls into place. However, if you reject the idea of Christ as Son of God and Savior, then, of course, the Bible is at best a mish-mash containing some inspiration and wisdom, but most of it would have to be rejected as foolish or erroneous.

Read the whole thing.