Top 10 worst Bible passages

Readers of the humorous Christian website shipoffools.com were asked to submit their ‘favourite’ worst verses to compile the list, in a light-hearted project called Chapter & Worse.

Full Telegraph Article

But if you are just interested in the verses themselves, here you go:

The list was unveiled at the Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham on Monday evening.

This is the top 10 list in full:

No. 1:St Paul’s advice about whether women are allowed to teach men in church:

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” (1 Timothy 2:12)

No. 2: In this verse, Samuel, one of the early leaders of Israel, orders genocide against a neighbouring people:

“This is what the Lord Almighty says… ‘Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:3)

No. 3: A command of Moses:

“Do not allow a sorceress to live.” (Exodus 22:18)

No. 4: The ending of Psalm 137, a psalm which was made into a disco calypso hit by Boney M, is often omitted from readings in church:

“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)

No. 5: Another blood-curdling tale from the Book of Judges, where an Israelite man is trapped in a house by a hostile crowd, and sends out his concubine to placate them:

“So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up; let’s go.’ But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.” (Judges 19:25-28)

No. 6: St Paul condemns homosexuality in the opening chapter of the Book of Romans:

“In the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:27)

No. 7: In this story from the Book of Judges, an Israelite leader, Jephthah, makes a rash vow to God, which has to be carried out:

“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt-offering.’ Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, ‘Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’” (Judges 11:30-1, 34-5)

No. 8: The Lord is speaking to Abraham in this story where God commands him to sacrifice his son:

‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ (Genesis 22:2)

No. 9: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

No. 10: “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.” (1 Peter 2:18)

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3 Responses to Top 10 worst Bible passages

  1. kilron says:

    At a glance 60% were nailed to the cross with Jesus- gone save for Pauls exceptions (for instruction etc.) Christians not bound to them.
    Jesus knew slavery would go away and anyway, what was he supposed to say,"Rise up and rebel!"- assuring an agonizing death by crucufixion? Also, he preached and taught over and over about not getting caught up in this world and the reward waiting for those persecuted in his name.

  2. dan says:

    I admit I never spent the time trying to find out how fundamentalist reconcile these Divinely inspired passages as a guide to the world we live in today. I guess we could say that they have to be understood in context with the times in which they were written. But to me that means that the bible has to be interpreted. Has God ordained anyone to be his official, inspired interpreter? Much harm can be done by those who live strictly by an inerrant belief in bible.

  3. Brent says:

    Of course the Bible needs to be interpreted! Most ordained clergy are required to take courses in Biblical interpretation as part of their studies in seminary or its equivalent. One of the main thrusts of the Reformation was that there is not one official, inspired interpreter of God's word, but that all believers should be able to read, study and understand the Scriptures on their own. While I agree that much harm can be done by incorrectly teaching the Bible, I would argue that a belief in the inerrancy of Scripture does not exclude the need for solid Biblical interpretation. I firmly believe in both. And I would also argue that much more harm is done by those who live as if the Bible has no impact whatsoever on how humanity should live our lives.

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