Bizarre Bible Stories sold, in part I think, because the books included some of the Bible stories we would like left out of the Bible.
Did you know Thomas Jefferson made his own cut-and-paste Bible?
Well, not exactly, but close.
In 1819 Jefferson sat down with a bible, some glue, and a pair of scissors. He looked for the teachings of Jesus that he liked, and sliced them out. Then he glued them into a new book he called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. When done, I suppose he trashed the left-over bible, attempting to eliminate all of Christ’s miracles and any signs of His divinity. You can read a complete copy of the Jefferson Bible here (with links to what he took out.)
If you sat down to make a cut-and-paste Bible, what parts would you take out? I certainly have some parts I don’t like. Maybe a bit less about judgment would be nice; a kinder, gentler entrance into the Promised land would be easier to stomach; and was Song of Solomon really necessary?
However…
Cutting truth out of the Bible doesn’t remove the truth. It just removes the Truth from affecting our lives. It cuts truth out of us, not out of reality.
I believe God spoke to us, and He spoke without error, through His Word, the Bible.
God had it written for our benefit, as the means to the end of a relationship with the Author. Removing parts of the book removes its impact. We lose. Truth is unaffected. Unfortunately, we are too.
Paul told Timothy, All scripture is profitable. (2 Timothy 3:15-17) That includes the bizarre stories as well.
danielcooleyblog 
Interesting question. If I believed we could edit out portions that “bother” us, I’d want to ditch the whole book of Job! But, even though that story is sometimes hard to chew and digest, it has been a great comfort to me, at the same time, over the years. I talked with someone recently who told me she didn’t believe all the parts of the Bible. I shuddered to think that anyone would think that God was a liar when He said what you quoted in II Timothy 3. My whole Bible is a treasure to me. Thanks for reminding me of that.
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Funny you mention Job. I’d take out stoning rebellious youth (not like anyone followed that one anyway), and make God a bit more like Santa. Maybe a lot more like Santa.
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If God were like Santa, what would you get for Christmas? Certainly not the sacrifice of His Son, not forgiveness, and definitely not eternal life. No, I want my judge to be God, the righteous one, and not Santa who judges on mans standards.
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