Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg: ‘There Are So Many Things in Scripture That Are Inconsistent’
By Heather Clark on November 30, 2019

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who identifies as Episcopalian, asserted that “there’s so many things in Scripture that are inconsistent internally, and you’ve got to decide what sense to make of it.”

Buttigieg had been asked what he feels about the contention that so-called “progressive Christians” are disregarding the Bible because of their liberal views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality. He himself is homosexual and believes that women should have the “right” to choose abortion.

“Well, I think for a lot of us — certainly for me — any encounter with Scripture includes some process of sorting out what connects you with God versus what simply tells you about the morals of the times when it was written, right?” he responded.

The South Bend, Indiana mayor pointed to the penal law under the Old Testament, claiming that it required a man to personally kill his sister if she was unfaithful to her husband. Buttigieg said the punishment “found its way” into the Bible because it was considered a just criminal statute at the time.

“For example, the proposition that you should execute your sister by stoning if she commits adultery. I don’t believe that that was right once upon a time, and then the New Testament came and it was gone. I believe it was always wrong, but it was considered right once, and that found its way into Scripture,” he opined.

“And to me that’s not so much cherry-picking as just being serious, because of course there’s so many things in Scripture that are inconsistent internally, and you’ve got to decide what sense to make of it,” Buttigieg continued.

“Jesus speaks so often in hyperbole and parable, in mysterious code, that in my experience, there’s simply no way that a literal understanding of Scripture can fit into the Bible that I find in my hands.”

As he did in September, the presidential candidate alleged that there are “so many parts of the Bible that associate the beginning of life with breath that there’s plenty of Scriptural basis to reach different conclusions about that [and abortion].” He said that it shouldn’t be the government’s job, however, to decide where life begins, no matter one’s view.

“[Republicans] hold everybody in line with this one piece of doctrine about abortion, which is obviously a tough issue for a lot of people to think through morally. Then again, there’s a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath, and so even that is something that we can interpret differently,” Buttigieg stated at one point during a Sept. 6 appearance on “The Breakfast Club” radio show.

As previously reported, Rhyan Glezman, an evangelical pastor who is also Buttigieg’s “brother-in-law,” has repeatedly spoken out against the Democratic candidate’s views on the Bible and morality.

“Pete, I would really like to know one verse that supports the killing of God’s greatest creation. It’s outlandish to say that the Bible (God’s word) supports the killing of babies at any stage of life,” he Tweeted on Sept. 22.

1 Peter 1:20-21 reads, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 similarly says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”