Question for non-Christians-your views on the old testament.

Ive always heard people complain about how "violent and evil" God seemed in the Old Testament, but Ive read parts of the OT, and most of the violence in it is just nations fighting wars to defend themselves against attack-Gideon, Samson, King David, Asa, Saul. Those men and their armies killed thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of people-but they were just defending their nation from attack.

So, which parts of the Old Testament violence do you find to be morally wrong?

 

I'm not a Christian, but I've never complained about the Old or the New Testament, so I won't be much help to you on that snivel. I think the bible is a great work of philosophy, far surpassing any other work of its nature, in both complexity and internal consistency, and given the alternatives at the point in history where Christianity began it's rise and spread it's by far the best thing to happen to the West, a paradigm shift of incalculable benefit. It took a long time to get here, and still has far to go, but it's still moving forward; currently it's growing quickly in Asia, particularly Red China, even as it has declined in the West. Here's to hoping for it's success in reforming Red Chinese culture and politcs.

 

Judges chapter 19.

 

It may be true for "most violence", but a god worth the name should not have to concern itself with statistics and generalisations to justify its morality.

There is no theological problem with an unjust or outright evil God. The problem associated with the morality of God is that if either the Bible or the individual christian is wrong about God's morality, then everything else that person or book says is called into doubt (the method by which it claims to get truths is wrong). And you only need a single instance of cruelty to justify arguments against omnibenevolence. If you have a soldier who fights a just war and then goes home and beats his wife, the fact that he sometimes is engaged in just war does not make his beating his wife good.

 

There were never huge armies or even huge populations in Palestine... and none of the Canaanite towns that have been excavated show signed of warfare, looting or sudden abandonment. The OT is real big on grandiose exaggerations and outright lies.

 

What biblical evidence do you have that God approved of what happened, during Judges 19?

 

There is no evidence that God approved save for self aggrandizing Hebrew writers.

 

10 plagues on egypt. Including killing of the 1st born son.
Wiping out an entire planet but for ark things.

Verses written about being jealous and vengeful.

 

It's part of the Bible so God is stuck with it.

 

Knowingly and purposely killing children is plainly evil to any who have a moral compass. How about a supposedly all knowing God testing Abraham by ordering him to kill his son. Why would an all knowing God need to test anyone's faith in that manner? "Kill your son... just a second... I was just testing you... allow Isac to live". Sounds evil to me.

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Sounds like the Bible is more powerful than God.

 

God can't defeat iron chariots.

 

how about the flood Jesus was said to have used to kill all those people?

how about the laws Jesus made to stone people to death that pick up sticks on the weekend?

some day Christians will learn they can believe in God without believing in the bible

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