Sharlet says scripture shock is a common theme of Christian history, which is surely true, at least wherever and whenever there have been literate Bible readers. I know I’ve experienced it, and I know few Christians who haven’t. He also says it is likely to inspire either death (as with his strange story of Abigail Hutchinson, a congregant of Jonathan Edwards, which appears in full form in Sharlet’s The Family), disbelief, or unquestioning belief. 

I’m not so sure about death, but disbelief? Certainly. Unquestioning belief? Sadly. The other option is what we might call “critical belief,” which is where I’ve landed–I’ve made a certain sense of some of those passages, and others still floor me when I come across them. Those passages of scripture are a kind of litmus test for where a believer ends up on the long continuum from fundamentalist to critical Christian to unbeliever. (Call it the Ken Ham–Scot McKnight–Bart Ehrman sliding scale.) 

I’d love to hear from anyone who is willing to share their stories of scripture shock. Has it inspired total disbelief? Resolute faith–“I just accept it as the Word of God”? Something in between? If you are a Christian, have you developed any particular solutions to certain Bible stories that have troubled you in the past? Or, if you are not a believer, have certain stories been the source of your particular spiritual discouragement? I’ll be happy to repost the most interesting and helpful stories you place in the comments below.