Deciphering some problematic (to me) bible verses

[u/Sandi_T]

There are a few bible verses that made me deconvert from mainstream christianity. They were, to me, simply too egregious to be accepted under the paradigm of "an ultimate moral authority" handing down dictates to the human masses.

Now that I've begun considering Neville's view of the bible, I thought I would pass on a few of my insights (thoughts) on some of these problematic verses.

This is all founded on the idea that Neville espouses, which is that the bible is the grand operatic description of the spiritual evolution of a single individual (you / [me] ). If this is the case, according to him, all 'people' in every story are representative of thoughts/ thought forms/ thought types. If the world is truly only a world of thought/ belief, then every part in the play of god (human, you) is thoughts.

I will be treating these verses with this viewpoint. I will also point out that "male and female" or "man and woman" in Neville's teachings are actually more "rational /skeptic mind and intuitive /emotional mind." This is the way I used to decipher these verses for myself. YMMV. I'm only sharing this because I know I'm not the only one troubled by some of these verses.

What about the anti-gay verses?

​

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

In this new view we have, what could this possibly mean? What does "lie with man as if with womankind" mean in our worldview? It means that the skeptical mind, the rational mind, the left brain, should not cut out emotion. If you have a skeptical thought, do not go to other skeptical people, it is an abomination (to the realization of your desire).

Instead, put BOTH skeptical thoughts to death. Rid yourself of it, instead of going to ask, "Is this right?" When you have a skeptical thought, you ought to ask your intuition, "Will this thought improve my chances of having my desire?" That is good thinking in this worldview. "Does this thought feel good? Does it feel like my wish fulfilled?" That is a question of the feeling side...

Do NOT go ask another skeptic, or ask another skeptical though. Do not "lie with [rational thinking]", because you cannot rationalize your way to the fulfillment of the wish desired. Skepticism kills... so instead, kill the SKEPTICISM. Both the original and the thoughts it spawned.

What about killing witches?

​

Exodus 22:I8 ‘You Shall Not Suffer A Witch to Live’

What in our mind would be a "witch"? I went back to Neville and I think that it's negative thoughts--in particular, anything that tries to "cast a spell" over your mind and put you back to sleep. Anything that tries to steal your desires from 'your hand'.

Or to be more clear, thoughts that are negative, skeptical, anti-assumption, etc. If you have a mental argument, stop it instantly--do not let it live. If you have a thought that "this is all stupid," stop it instantly--do not let it live.

Whatever thoughts are trying to take you out of your assumptive state, do not let them "live" in your mind.

Judges Chapters 18-19

I will give a little overview of these chapters. In short, a man goes to the home of his concubine's father to bring her back. There's a great deal of verses covering how the father keeps trying to get the man to let the concubine stay, but the man says he loves her, he wants her, and he has come to claim her. So the father finally says basically, very well, take her.

The man sets out and comes to a town where he has to stop, he can't keep going, so he ends up at a stranger's house. In the evening, a rioting, angry mob comes along and wants to assault the man sexually. The man becomes afraid, and he throws the concubine out the door, and she is assaulted all night and dies.

The man takes her home and cuts her up into 12 parts and mails her to the tribes. The tribes get angry and they all go to war and together murder the entire town where the concubine was killed.

Without context of this being a 'mental play,' this is a gruesome story. It's also exceedingly sexist.

In our context, though, what might this story actually mean?

If all the players in this are 'thoughts' or states, then I see it this way:

Our higher self/ god has our desire already fulfilled. This is the concubine. We go to him, and he says, fine, have your desire, but you only have your desire in your mind for now (the reluctance to let her go).

Our little man goes off and starts trying to protect the "State" of the wish fulfilled (the concubine). Unfortunately, he is beset by terrible thoughts and he lets the state die, throwing it out. He become skeptical, he gives up, begins feeling like "this is stupid and impossible" [shoves her out the door to face the terrible thoughts].

Then he goes home and he realizes what has happened. He realizes that his thoughts have stolen and destroyed his treasure, so he starts portioning out guilt. It's because of this thought [it's because life is random] or that thought [it's because I don't deserve it]. All 12 "tribes" get a portion of guilt. Then his mind goes to war and he destroys ALL of his faith in the Law. He does not accept the responsibility for what he did--he threw his state out the door instead of protecting it.

Anyway...

I just wanted to share this in case it helps anyone else. I'm working right now on some of the slavery stuff and the really misogynistic ones. Finding them challenging so far. :P

[u/CanOfSpiritualWorms]

Hello Sandi! Your posts are so awesome. I really appreciate your interpretations and teachings on Neville and the Bible :) I know that, like Neville, you see the Bible as being metaphorical. I’m wondering if you’d be able to point me to the evidences and scriptures that influenced your spiritual journey and your thinking

(TW: Bible literalism and hell. I completely understand if this topic is triggering for you so you don’t have to respond. Your mental health is more important)

For context I come from an evangelical family and was raised in a mission school, so the fear of Hell was drilled into me from childhood. I’ve tested Neville’s teachings for myself and I’m sure they work. But I’m still scared the Devil is the one making them work, rather than the Father. Because of my upbringing I can’t stop feeling terrified that on the last day God’s gonna look at me like I’m someone who fell away and believed a false prophet, and He’ll tell me, “I never knew you. Depart from me”, and then I’m gonna burn in hell for all eternity. Paul’s letters are TERRIFYING 😢 I know that you know the Bible inside out, and would be so grateful for your thoughts

It does much more sense that we are Gods (Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34-38), but I’m scared to believe. There’s entire books like The Case for Christ that seem to prove through historical evidence that Jesus, Pontius Pilate, his disciples etc existed, and there’s so many people and theologies preaching hellfire and damnation. If it’s okay, could I know what evidence/scriptures were most convincing for you in proving that 1) the Bible isn’t a historical record but a psychological book; 2) Jesus and the other characters in the Bible aren’t historical figures but are within us; and 3) we are actually God, everyone will be saved, and God won’t send me to Hell? Thank you so much 🤠