It goes to show that if/when one reads the Bible, a lot of care...

It goes to show that if/when one reads the Bible, a lot of care needs to be taken.  I have read sections myself and I'd never recommned it to children or adolescents.  Some I understand as metaphors (which is fine).  Other parts describe norms for the time, like slavery and physical violence, etc.  But this is a book written by ordinary men.  Some parts appear to be inspired  (like the sermon on the mount), but a lot of it is utter crap.  I have a feeling that if Jesus himself wrote a book it would read very differently.

Read widely would be my advice.  Take nothing as truth.