I do not idolize the bible

Hebrews 6: Once you are saved, if you fallen away from enlightenment, it is impossible to be saved again. If this were true, none of the eleven would have been saved, particularly Peter who denied Jesus three times (remember the chicken crowing?).

"4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned."

James 2:17 and 2:24: Regardless of your faith, if you do no good deeds, you cannot be saved. This is directly contrary to the concept of grace as touted by Paul (re: Ephesians 2:8,9 and Romans 11:5,6) and contrary to the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. 

...faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

1 Timothy 2:14: Women are the sinners, not men. This is contrary to the message and actions of Jesus. His first missionary was a Samaritan adulteress.

"And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner."

1 Corinthians 5:12,13: In Romans 14:3,5 Paul states "...for God has accepted him. Who are who to judge someone else's servant?" He goes on then to judge harshly in 1 Cor 5.

"12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”"

I could go on, but there really isn't any point. Someone who believes that every word in the bible is sacrosanct won't listen anyway and will judge me just as I am judged because I am gay. Did I take some of my references out of context? Of course I did! That's what we do in the bible to make our point isn't it? 

The only way to read the bible in context is to read it in the context of the words in red; the words of Jesus!

Jesus was constantly disappointed in and discouraged by His disciples. Phrases such as "Oh ye of little faith", "you unbelieving and perverse generation", "could you not watch with Me one hour?", "you do not want to leave too?", and "get the behind Me Satan" are sprinkled throughout the gospels.

Peter, arguably His favorite, ended up with only a few pages out of several hundred in the New Testament and was rebuked by Paul in Galatians "because he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising [the Gentiles]." The men referred to were sent by James, who arguably knew Jesus pretty well.

Paul was a misogynist and a homophobe. I don't feel it necessary to justify this statement; Google 'Paul misogynist homophobe' and you get over a hundred thousand hits. This is a topic that has been discussed.

The only way to understand the message given to us by the disciples/apostles is to read it in the context of the words in red; the words of Jesus!

The disciples/apostles contradicted themselves, fought among themselves, and had repeatedly disappointed Him (those who "walked with him, talked with him, heard his parables and sermons. They are the first hand witnesses of the Living God!" Paul bragged about having spent little time with the disciples before he began to proselytize, probably because, as he showed later, he disagreed with their teachings! He went on to contradict himself and make some of the most judgmental passages in the New Testament, meanwhile exhorting his audience not to judge and to forgive!

The word of the living God is best captured by the words in red, the words of Jesus of Nazareth. We have good evidence that these words were captured in a reasonably accurate manner and, as the message is very coherent, we can assume that we can accept them as what He intended. I take a position that the words of Jesus are the central message of the word of God in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8, Jeremiah 31) and should therefore be a filter through which we read the rest of the bible, particularly the New Testament.

I realize this is a position that is completely contrary to modern evangelical Christianity, which I feel would be better named 'Paulianity'. I think that most of us on this forum are quite comfortable taking a position outside the scope of the writings of Paul (Paulianity). Most of us are gay. Most of us don't believe that it is a disgrace for women to speak in church or to teach and that they do not need to cover their heads. feel free to read Paul's thoughts on these.

Honestly, I do not like calling myself a 'Christian' and associating myself with two millenia of hatred and persecution of the most vile nature. I feel more comfortable referring to myself as a 'Pre-Constantine' Christian, but that still associates me with the misogyny and homophobia of Paul. 

I am a follower of the message of Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter, teacher, Son of Man, Son of God. Perhaps that makes me a 'Jesus of Nazarethian'?

No, I am not wiser than Jesus. If I believed I were, then I might take what Paul, James, and Peter said without the same scrutiny that He did. Perhaps I might be willing to treat women as slaves. Perhaps I might be willing to excommunicate those who disagreed with my interpretation of His words. But I'm not. 

I follow the words and message of Jesus. Sometimes that contradicts the words of Peter, Paul, James, etc. When in doubt; I follow Jesus.

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King, Jr.