Is man created on God's image?
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Peace,
In order to understand that concept, you have to understand what the Torah means when it says that man was created in the "image" of G-d... Here's a commentary on Torah that I found pretty interesting in this respect
In the Image of God
The Bible states that humanity was created in the image of God, but what does it mean to be created in the image of God?
Clearly, we are not created in the physical image of God, because Judaism steadfastly maintains that God is incorporeal and has no physical appearance. Maimonides points out that the Hebrew words translated as "image" and "likeness" in Genesis 1,27 do not refer to the physical form of a thing. The word for "image" in Genesis 1,27 is "tzelem", which refers to the nature or essence of a thing, as in Psalms 73,20, "you will despise their image (tzel'mam)". You despise a person's nature and not a person's physical appearance. The word for physical form, Maimonides explains, is "to'ar", as in Genesis 39,6, "and Joseph was beautiful of form (to'ar) and fair to look upon". Similarly, the word used for "likeness" is "demut", which is used to indicate a simile, not identity of form. For example, "He is like (dimyono) a lion" in Psalms 17,12 refers not to similar appearance, but to similar nature.
What is it in our nature that is God-like? Rashi explains that we are like God in that we have the ability to understand and discern. Maimonides elaborates that by using our intellect, we are able to perceive things without the use of our physical senses, an ability that makes us like God, who perceives without having physical senses.
That's taken from the Mishne Torah commentary, and even though I disagree with some of their concepts (mostly based on the Talmud's Gemarra), this one seems to be on point... G-d doesn't have a physical body or senses like we do, yet He can discern all things. We are in His image because we can also discern things without using our physical senses, a major factor that separates us from animals.
Well said. I believe that God made us in his "spiritual" image, he gave us all the emotions and senses we have. He (or she) has no need for arms, legs, gender, colour, etc. God just IS
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I think your congregation should run as fast as they can. God said you can see My the back of Me but not My Face. God has a Face. Yes God is Spirit but God has a Spirital body and is still on His Throne. the saved ones in Heaven have a spirital body too until they are reunited with their new Glorified bodies at the Rreserection. You do not sound like you preach the Truth. Unless you preach Christ reserected and unless the cross is preached your on your way to hell and let me tell you God will not be present at your church nor will He listen. the cross has to be preached, and if your not doing that your church is dead.
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My God, your God, everyones God, is a God of love and understanding, I believe you are wrong to condemn anyone just because they do not believe exactly the same as you do. As long as we all believe and worship the same God there should be no problem.
God bless you
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You mean the ORIGINAL bible in its ORIGINAL language?
translations are based on interpretationsThe books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek, the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. . .Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representative of the original.
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The books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek, the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. . .Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representative of the original.
That must have meant that the Bible was translated from one language to another a few times until it was translated into English, right?
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Dark side of God
Without any conceivable doubt, I firmly believe that the God of the Torah is the most evil character of all time. Starting with the book of Bereshis (Genesis), we learn that hes an insanely angry deity. Of the many atrocities committed in the Torah, God is usually the sole participator. The authors record the first such instance in chapters 6-8 as the account of Noahs flood.
The reason that God decides to drown the entire world, killing nearly every living person and animal on earth, is his belief that people are evil and unworthy of existence (Genesis 65). So what if they were evil? The fault lies with the manufacturer! God allegedly created humans, yet he faults us for being guided by our desires, instincts, and natural tendencies. Since hes supposedly omniscient (all knowing), God realized how we were destined to turn from the beginning. He must also have realized that his lament would fuel the urge to destroy his precious creations, only to leave himself back where he started. Even so, he creates Adam, yet hundreds of years later, he drowns nearly all the men, women, and children on the face of the earth because he deliberately chose not to make us to his liking the first time.
Even if we suppose the adults deserved to die slow and torturous deaths, what association could we conceivably make between their decisions and the adolescent victims of the flood? Couldnt God have just placed the innocent children and animals aside for a while so that they wouldnt drown? If not, how about a humane death at the very least? Drowning is a horrible way for people to die. As a result of hopelessly treading water for hours, their muscles burned due to large amounts of lactic acid production. Once they finally gave up, went under, and held their breaths, acidic carbon dioxide eroded their lungs until the unbearable pain forced them to inhale where there was no air for them to breathe. The water brought into their lungs robbed their bodies of oxygen, causing them to go numb. As water violently rushed in and out of their chests, the currents eventually laid their heavily breathing, slowly dying bodies at the bottom of the ocean. The inhaled water caused their lungs to tear and bleed profusely. As their blood supply dwindled, their hearts slowly came to a halt. Even so, their brains continued to process information for another couple of minutes. They were patently aware that death was imminent, yet they could do nothing to speed it or prevent it. I imagine that their final reflections would have been on what they did to deserve such treatment.
As you see, drowning is not a quick and painless death. Regardless, this is what God did to every man, woman, child, baby, and animal on earth because he made a mistake! To make matters disgustingly worse, the flood accomplished nothing! The omniscient God realizes after the flood that a mans imagination is evil from youth (Genesis 821). He seemingly allows us to be evil to this day, just like those he purportedly drowned in the flood. Even if this was the sole befuddled and immoral act carried out by God, Im positive that I couldnt bring myself to worship him. However, this is only the beginning of his mass-murdering spree.
Another genocidal operation courtesy of God takes place in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Above these cities, he creates a rain of burning sulfur to kill every inhabitant, save Lot and his family, because theyre deemed evil by the almighty judge, jury, and executioner (Genesis 1924-25). Now, refer back to the points illustrated in the previous paragraph. God should have assumed the responsibility of taking measures to prevent these actions from somehow becoming necessary. He even remembered that men were evil by nature after the flood. Did he suddenly forget his opinion when he destroyed two entire cities of men, women, and children? Again, we should sincerely hope that this all-knowing deity would learn to take some of the blame in these situations. Like drowning, burning is not a quick and painless death. Fortunately, these people didnt truly feel any pain because the tale is an obvious work of fiction. If you travel to the locations around which historians believe these cities are based, youll effortlessly discover balls of sulfur forming naturally on the ground. In other words, as is the case for Noahs flood, we have the likely inspiration for the imaginative tale.
Another Planned Genocide
In the meeting among Moses, Aaron, and the Pharaoh, God doesnt want his Israelites to go free without a fight. Instead, God instructs Moses and Aaron on exactly what steps to take so that the Pharaoh will initially become too stubborn to allow the people to leave. Obviously, God only wants an excuse to bring forth armies against Egypt in order to punish the entire country for the decisions of one man to hold his chosen people as slaves (Exodus 71-14).
The plagues that God carried out against Egypt as a result of the Pharaohs decision were turning the river to blood; sending an abundance of frogs, lice, locusts, and flies; killing every cow belonging to the people; inflicting boils upon all the citizens; creating a hailstorm to destroy their crops; instituting three days of darkness; and killing the firstborn male child in every household across the country. The darkness, boils, frogs, lice, locusts, and flies were quite punishing, but they wouldnt necessarily ruin anyones life. The cattle slaughter, river of blood, and downpour of hail ruined the Egyptians sole water and food sources. Worst of all, God once again feels the necessity to eradicate thousands more innocent babies, children, and animals because one man was too stubborn to free his slaves.
On the escape route, Moses miraculously parts the Red Sea and crosses safely. When the Egyptian army pursues, the waters regroup to drown the soldiers and horses (Exodus 7-14). The omnipotent (all powerful) Hebrew god could have easily freed the people and spared thousands of lives, but, of course, he doesnt do things this way. One can only assume that he took sinister pleasure in murdering Egyptian soldiers for following orders from their superior officers. Modern scholarship tells us that these events never took place either.
God revisits the plague concept when he dishes one out on his chosen people for following Aarons orders to worship a golden calf (Exodus 3235). Recall, however, that Aaron was one of the two men to whom they owed their freedom. Why would God punish his people for actions that they didnt realize were wrong, especially when they had implicitly learned to trust the person giving the orders? This debacle seems to have shifted Aaron over to Gods bad side because God later kills his two sons for building a strange fire (most likely meaning that they let a forbidden item burn) Vayikra (Leviticus 101-2). No matter how many times I read passages like this, Im always amazed how God kills people because they do something silly like build a displeasing campfire, but as we will soon see, he allows them to rape female prisoners of war.
On the subject of fire, God later sets some of the desert wanderers ablaze for complaining about their difficulties Bamidbar (Numbers 111). Keep in mind that they were now wandering around the desert for decades doing absolutely nothing after having been slaves in Egypt for centuries. When they complain about having no meat for nourishment, God provides them with a circle of quail three feet high and a days journey wide but immediately plagues and kills a handful of them for grumbling (Numbers 1131-34). Later, the people become increasingly irritated over being homeless. In fact, circumstances are so miserable that they actually want to return to Egypt as slaves. Subsequently, Korah leads a group of 250 other upset individuals to stand up to Moses. Needless to say, they all pay for their mutiny. God opens the ground under Korahs household and sucks everything he has, family and all, into the depths of the earth (Numbers 1631-33). The remaining council of 250 are burned alive (Numbers 1635). Does the punishment fit the so-called crime? Does God have any compassion for their situation? Obviously not, on both accounts.
When the Israelites were upset that Moses caused those 250 people to die, God sends a plague to slay an additional 14,700 (Numbers 1641-49). To close out the Pentateuch, God exterminates a number of his people who fall down and worship the gods of Baalpeor. A subsequent plague kills another 24,000 (Numbers 251-9). At least these people may have had some idea that what they were doing would result in a punishment
For The Sins Of Another
Gods episodes of murdering innocent individuals for the faults of their leaders, fathers, or other ancestors are not uncommon in Tnach. Jephthah asks for Gods assistance in killing the children of Ammon and promises him the first person out of his house upon his return as a burnt sacrifice if he will agree to aid with the massacre. God concurs and lethally delivers the children of Ammon into Jephthahs hands. When Jephthah returns, his daughter, an only child, makes her way outside to welcome him home. Two months later, Jephthah regretfully fulfills his promise by burning his daughter as a sacrifice to God (Judges 1129-39). Why would God allow a man to offer an innocent person as a reward unless God also intended for certain people to be mere possessions?
While David is King, he decides to conduct a census a horrendous sin in Gods eyes. As punishment for his poor decision, he is to select among seven years of famine, three months of fleeing from his enemies, and three days of pestilence. Unable to choose from the offered catastrophes, God picks the three days of pestilence that result in the deaths of 70,000 men. Women and children werent mentioned, not that the Bible considered them to have any real value in the first place. Again, God murders enough people to fill a sizable city for the sin of one man. David subsequently cries out to God and asks him why he wants to murder innocent people who had nothing to do with the decision to execute a census. Of course God doesnt provide an impossible answer for this sensible question, but his reasons scarcely seem morally or ethically justifiable (2 Samuel 2410-17).
David also desires a woman named Bathsheba even though shes married to one of Davids soldiers. Driven by his lust, David orders her husband to the front lines of a battle so that the enemy will take care of his problem. God then becomes extremely angry with David for this relatively petty crime. Once the new couple has a child, God afflicts it with illness for a week before watching it die (2 Samuel 11, 1214-1. Yet again, God exterminates an innocent baby for the actions of the father.
At one point, God sends a famine upon Davids followers. When he makes an inquiry to God for a justification, hes told, It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 211). Saul died years ago, yet God just now decides to punish people who had nothing to do with the decisions of their former leader.
Davids new son, Solomon, turns away from the Hebrew god and decides to worship other deities. Solomons decision infuriates God, but he isnt punished because God recently came to like David. Instead, he punishes Solomons son by taking away part of his land when he comes to power (1 Kings 119-13). Once again, we see the impossibility of being free from Gods anger even when living in total obedience to him. In essence, Solomons son was divinely punished before he was ever born.
Next in the line of father-son reprimands is the account of King Josiah. And like unto him was there no King before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrathbecause of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal (2 Kings 2324-26). The passage speaks for itself. Yet again, God punishes a seemingly perfect person for someone elses transgressions.
Gods Novel Method of Murder
Instead of directly murdering people or using his followers to execute similar commands, the apparently insatiable God begins sending animals to kill those who displease him. On one occasion, he has a lion kill a man because he refuses to hit someone (1 Kings 2035). God sends his lions out again to kill a group of people who were new to Samaria. The reason for this atrocity is their lack of worship, even though they were never informed of the proper worship methods (2 Kings 1724-26). However, this supposedly insignificant detail didnt halt God from killing them. He had to have known that he would eventually murder this party, but instead of properly instructing them, God just kills them. Theres not even a miniscule resemblance of justice in the Israelite god.
In an exploit of inconceivable irrationality, God sends forth two bears to kill forty-two children for making fun of Elishas bald head (2 Kings 223-24). Why would the omnibenevolent God feel the necessity to have two bears viciously maul little children for acting likechildren? This is supposed to be the same wonderful and loving God who promises us eternal life, but an entity capable of these inane activities could certainly change his mind and banish all of his worshippers to Hell. Most orthodox Jews and Christians never have to justify such passages because, like yeshivas I attended, we were encouraged not to ever read them!
A Few More For Good Measure
God commits another reprehensible act when Abraham and Sarah are journeying through Egypt. According to the story, Abraham knows that if the Egyptians see him with his beautiful wife, theyll have to kill him so that she wont have a defense when they rape her. To avoid such an incident, Abraham devises a plan in which Sarah is to proclaim that theyre only siblings. Thus, they can have their way with her while sparing Abrahams life. The Pharaoh eventually has a sexual encounter with Sarah, provoking God to send plagues upon him as punishment for sleeping with another mans wife (Genesis 1211-17). How, exactly, did God expect the Pharaoh to know she was a married woman? Was he supposed to be omniscient as well?
Later in Genesis, we learn of a man named Judah who has three sons Er, Onan, and Shelah. Seeing as how Er is wicked in the sight of the Lord, God kills him. For what reason God found him too evil, we could only speculate. Of course, theres no reasonable guarantee that Er would have incurred a death sentence from an impartial jury. Following the slaying, God dictates Onan to impregnate and marry Ers wife in order to continue Ers family line. Since Onan seemingly believes in freewill and doesnt feel that he should be required to do something he doesnt want to do, he spills his seed on the ground instead of finishing intercourse inside of her. And the thing he did displeased the Lord wherefore he slew him also (Genesis 387-10). Again, the omniscient God should have known that Onan would fail to comply. Because God should have also realized that he would have to kill the disobedient Onan, why did he order him around in the first place? Does he now feel the need to have an excuse before murdering an innocent person? Was Onan destined to exist only as Gods slave? Are we all Gods oppressed pawns, created only to be shifted around for his amusement? Onans fate hardly seems just by enlightened standards.
The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred item that God demanded everyone to refrain from touching. The ancient Hebrews commonly believed that God even played the part of a genie by residing in the ark on occasion. Thus, when the Philistines steal this precious piece, God obviously becomes enraged. As theyre carrying it through different cities, God inflicts severe cases of hemorrhoids on all the inhabitants. Why God doesnt just zap these thieves and return the ark to the Israelites without harming additional innocent bystanders is beyond me. Unbelievably, 50,070 people eventually die at the hands of God because they simply look into the ark (1 Samuel 4-6). Thats the equivalent of a moderately sized modern city dropping dead just for looking at something God didnt want them looking at. Its difficult to imagine a creature that can unleash punishments more evil than that, but God is continuously setting new standards for himself.
Once we see the ark in transit again, the cart and oxen transporting it move over a rough spot in the path and nearly shake the prized object to the ground. Out of what we could only consider pure reflex, Uzzah, who was accompanying the ark, places his hand on it to keep it steady. Uzzahs instinctive, split-second decision to prevent Gods home from falling angers God enough to eradicate him from the earth (2 Samuel 66-7).
Since God commits scores of violent acts randomly throughout the remainder of the Tnach (old Testemant), lets look at a few examples. After delivering the Amorites into the hands of Joshua, he sends down a hailstorm in order to kill a large portion of the people who flee from battle (Joshua 108-11). God assists in the war between Barak and Sisera by surrounding Siseras army and forcing them to dismount from their chariots. Because of his intervention, Siseras entire army faces imminent death at the hands of Barak (Judges 414-15). God causes the Midianites to kill one another (Judges 722-23). He confuses the Philistines and causes them to kill one another (1 Samuel 1420-23). He inflicts a number of people with blindness because Elisha asks him to do so (2 Kings 61. He causes a seven-year famine without specifying a reason (2 Kings 81). God kills Jeroboam because hes the leader of the enemies (2 Chronicles 1320). He kills Nabal without specifying a reason, but its probably because David desires his wife and other belongings (1 Samuel 253. God sends an angel to kill 185,000 men in an Assyrian camp because theyre enemies of his people (2 Kings 1931-35). He plagues Azariah, a man labeled as a good King, with leprosy for the remainder of his life because he allows people to burn incense in a location displeasing to God (2 Kings 151-5). This is another great example of an overbearing punishment for breaking an asinine law. Some of our fellow humans were obviously destined to meet death early in life without any chance of redemption in Gods eyes.
Counting just the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Red Sea incident, the ark gazers, the plagues, the census, and the battles in which God directly participated, I estimate that this terrible creature claims to have murdered one to two million people. Regrettably, we still havent discussed any of the instances in which God orders his people to kill others or when he delivers armies into the hands of the Israelites to be annihilated in battle. By this point in our discussion, God has already joined the elite company of Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Zedong as the largest mass murderers in history.
Following Gods Alleged Commands
When God wished certain people dead thousands of years ago, he was never confined to his own omnipotent powers. You might even agree that God was at his worst when he recruited others to assist with the scores of slaughters in the Old Testament. As initially difficult as it might be to accept, God often provided his followers with orders leading to outcomes even more horrific than before. This section will discuss the specific commands given by God and the consistently tragic results that follow. Try to keep everything in perspective. These arent numbers; theyre human beings.
Recall the setting of God dishing out a plague over the golden calf worship. Immediately prior to the plague inflicted upon his people, God had ordered Moses and his loyal followers to slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. Three thousand men died at the hands of their peers in addition to those killed by the second punishment (Exodus 3226-2.
Later on, a group of followers from Moses camp observes a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Since such a despicable act was illegal in those days, they escort him back to Moses and inquire how they should handle the incident. Moses answers them by declaring that God is proclaiming, the man shall be surely put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones. Following what they gullibly assume are Gods commands, Moses cult members take him outside the camp and stone him to death for picking up sticks on a day that he wasnt permitted to do any work (Numbers 1532-36). As you will soon realize, God encourages the Israelites to beat their slaves and rape women captured in warfare; picking up sticks on the Sabbath, however, will anger him enough to warrant a death sentence. Astounding!
God advises Moses on a number of matters related to his appointed leadership. He is to cast any menstruating or leprous person out of the camp because God doesnt want to be around those dirty people when he descends for a visit (Numbers 51-3). In other words, God wants no association with those who are more likely to need assistance, medical or otherwise. God also orders Moses to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before destroying their possessions (Numbers 3350-52). However, he should offer the people of distant cities a chance to become his slaves before killing them. If they refuse, the Israelites have the duty to kill the men and take the remaining people as plunder for themselves. In the cities that God delivers as inheritances, Moses should save alive nothing that breatheth because the helpless victims were taught to worship other gods (Deuteronomy 2013-1.
In two subsequent pillages, God delivers Sihon, King of Heshbon, into the hands of Moses at the battle of Jahaz. The Israelites murder him; conquer all of his cities; and murder every man, woman, and child residing within those cities per Gods instructions (Deuteronomy 232-35). Likewise, God delivers Og, King of Bashan, into the hands of Moses at the battle of Edrei. The Israelites faithfully obey their orders by murdering all the inhabitants so that they could acquire the land (Deuteronomy 31-4). This noble god orders Moses to kill anything that moves, and as the incredible list of wars in the Old Testament takes place, Gods followers would continue to do exactly as their unimaginably harsh leader commands them.
When Joshua informs the Israelites of Gods decision to deliver the city of Jericho over to them, they topple its walls and kill every living thing in the city, except for a single harlot on espionage missions, before burning it to the ground (Joshua 616-24). Afterwards, God orders Joshua to infiltrate the city of Ai because hes delivered it in likewise fashion. The Israelites also set Ai on fire and kill the 12,000 inhabitants running for their lives. The King of Ai is taken prisoner and later hanged (Joshua 819-29). Following the victories at Jericho and Ai, God commands Joshua to go on an unbelievable killing spree. The Israelites subsequently murder all the men, women, and children in Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish (along with the King of Gezer and his armies assisting Lachish), Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Not a single life was spared during these invasions (Joshua 1028-40).
When word spreads of Joshuas rapid conquests, a considerable number of cities combine their armies to attempt a victory over Joshua and Israel. The number of resistance forces is as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, but God promises to deliver them all to Joshua. Indeed, God remains true to his word and They smote them, until they left them none remaining. Joshua then burns their chariots and brutally cuts the hamstrings on their remaining horses (Joshua 111-9). After the battle, the Israelite army marches into all the unprotected and defenseless cities that had offered their armies in resistance and kills every living man. In Hazor, the army kills every man, woman, and child before setting the city ablaze. One can only speculate on how many hundreds of thousands of lives God orders Joshua to take in these assuredly disputable accounts.
Following Joshuas death, God proceeds with his war strategies when the Israelites face Benjamins army. As a result of Gods unorthodox command, 22,000 of his own people die in the first battle. The next day, he orders them to face Benjamin once again. This time, they suffer an additional 18,000 casualties. Phinehas, feeling a bit hesitant to lead another hopeless skirmish, asks God if he should take command in another attack against Benjamin. God affirms Phinehas inquiry and promises him a solid victory. In the ensuing battle, the Benjamites suffer 25,100 casualties (Judges 20). In this short series of campaigns, God orders his own troops into two battles that his omniscience tells him they wont win. On the first two days of this monstrous war, during which he wasnt about to lift a finger to help, he saw to it that 40,000 of his own people would become casualties of needless warfare. Incidentally, the death of a single person initiated these hostilities.
Centuries later, when God remembers what the Amalekites did hundreds of years prior to Sauls leadership, he orders Saul to journey to Amalek where he is to decimate every living thing in the city. Saul only partially obeys by killing every person but saving a few of the best animals for himself. My guess is that he was unaware of how enraged God becomes over such trivial matters. God subsequently revoked Sauls crown because of his unwillingness to follow exact orders (1 Samuel 15). To me, however, the issue of Sauls crown isnt the one of major importance. Personally, I feel that the omnibenevolent God should not have held the people of Amalek responsible for the enterprises of their distant ancestors, but God and I are obviously in constant disagreement.
In a series of miscellaneous ethnic cleansings, God delivers Jerusalem to Judah and the Israelites. They kill 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites in Bezek (Judges 12-. Later, God accompanies Judah when he destroys the cities and kills the inhabitants of Zephath, Gaza, Askelon, Ekron, and Luz (Judges 117-26). When Ehud announces that God has delivered the Moabites into the hands of his chosen people, they march to Moab and slay 10,000 men (Judges 326-29). God delivers Sihon and the Amorites to be murdered by Jephthah and the Israelites (Judges 1121-23). God delivers twenty men to be slaughtered by Jonathan (1 Samuel 1214). As God orders David to exterminate a few Philistines delivered into his hands, David does so and takes their cattle as well (1 Samuel 232-5). As God orders David to kill more Philistines recently delivered into his hands, David accepts Gods gift once again and kills more Philistines in two additional battles (2 Samuel 519-25). God delivers the Syrians to the people of Israel in order for them to murder 100,000 foreigners. Twenty-seven thousand Syrians escaped but were killed when a wall fell on them (1 Kings 2028-30)! Likewise, God delivers the Moabites into the hands of Israel once again. The army of Israelites destroys the city of Moab along with an unknown number of its inhabitants. These instigations force the King to kill his own son as an offering in order for the hostilities to cease (2 Kings 1827)
When God witnesses certain members of Israel turning from him, he decides to assist the tribe of Judah. God then kills the King of Israel and enables Judah to kill 500,000 Israelite men because the Judeans relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. Abijah, their leader, takes the cities of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephrain (2 Chronicles 1315-20). The supreme being forces Abijahs son, Asa, to face Zerah and his staggering army of one million Ethiopians. Asa asks for Gods help, which is willingly provided. In the battle, God strikes down great numbers of the Ethiopians, perhaps killing some himself, and forces the rest to make a full retreat. Asa then chases them back into their homeland and plummets all their cities (2 Chronicles 148-15).
God later becomes angry with his followers when they ridicule his messengers. As punishment, he sends the army of Chaldees to kill all the occupants of Jerusalem. Control of the region now falls to Persia (2 Chronicles 3615-23). Why does God force his worshippers to suffer through all this needless trouble when hes just going to hand the land over to someone else?
As you may have already guessed, God didnt confine the impact of his seemingly perpetual rage solely on humans. Animal sacrifices seemed particularly important to this fiendish character. Strangely enough, this is one deity out of many that seems pleased with aromas emitted by burnt flesh (Genesis 820-21). In fact, Leviticus chapters 1-9 are thorough instructions on how to perform animal sacrifices. The graphic details contained therein are potentially nauseating and not for the weak of stomach.
For every category of sin, God has a specific ritual that he wishes us to perform. His authors tell the readers how to break animal necks, what parts of the animal to burn, what organs to extract, where to sprinkle the blood, how much God thoroughly enjoys the spectacle, etc. If youre genuinely interested in how gruesome the Bible can be, I would encourage you to read the first nine chapters of Leviticus. There are several additional passages throughout the Bible providing complete and ridiculous instructions for these crucially important animal sacrifices, but this lengthy manual definitely serves as the most memorable example. Numbers 1819 further declares that animal sacrifices should be performed forever. Have Christians finally appreciated the insanity of God, or do they just not read their Bibles anymore?
An estimate on the number of victims who paid the ultimate price in wars that are claimed to be instigated by God is hard to determine, but I would imagine its somewhere in the neighborhood of two or three million. All together, God may have been personally responsible for as many as five million needless murders. Im sure there are several battles and/or plagues that I omitted, but I trust you get the general message of this section. The Hebrew god is a mass murderer, plain and simple. Moreover, these estimates still dont include all the deaths resulting from petty religious bickering that continues to this day. On the brighter side of things, however, theres no reason to mourn for the previously mentioned victims of Gods brutality because the vivid human imagination was certainly the source from which the authors derived all these accounts. Thus, these slaughters were extremely unlikely to have taken place as recorded in the Bible. Again, we will see overwhelmingly persuasive evidence to defend this position in Moses And Other Historical Fabrications.
Gods Rules And Regulations
In addition to all the previously mentioned atrocities, God hands down a nightmarishly inhumane code for his creations to live by. In fact, there would literally be millions of murders committed every day if God still had his way. Ill certainly admit that a few of the more sane guidelines are acceptable, but many are definitely not within the bounds of justice and humanity. Those are the ones in need of a serious impartial review. A few examples allegedly handed down by God follow.
Anyone who goes uncircumcised is to be exiled from his people (Genesis 1714).
If a man has sex with a menstruating women, both are to be exiled (Leviticus 201.
A man who marries a mother and daughter must burn in a fire (Leviticus 2014).
If two men have sexual relations, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2013).
If a mother and son have sexual relations, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2011).
If a man and daughter-in-law have sex, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2012).
If a man has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2015).
If a woman has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2016).
Anyone who attacks his mother or father must be put to death (Exodus 2115).
Anyone who curses his mother or father must be put to death (Leviticus 209).
Anyone who commits murder must be put to death (Leviticus 2417).
Anyone who commits adultery must be put to death (Deuteronomy 2222).
Anyone who commits perjury must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1918-19).
Anyone who commits kidnapping must be put to death (Exodus 2116).
Anyone who disobeys a judge or priest must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1712).
Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death (Exodus 352).
Anyone who does not worship God must be put to death (2 Chronicles 1513).
Any strangers approaching a sanctuary must be put to death (Numbers 177).
Any prophet who tries to turn you against God must be put to death (Deuteronomy 135).
Any prophet who makes a wrong prediction must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1820-22).
Family members who tempt you with other gods must be put to death (Deuteronomy 131-5).
If an ox gores someone, the ox and its owner must be stoned to death (Exodus 2129).
Anyone who claims to talk with spirits must be stoned to death (Leviticus 2027).
A stubborn and rebellious son must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 2118-21).
Any woman who has had premarital sex must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 2221).
Anyone who worships another god must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 172-7).
Anyone who curses or blasphemes must be stoned to death (Leviticus 2414-16).
Break the neck of your donkeys firstborn or kill a lamb instead (Exodus 3420).
If a city worships other gods, kill everyone in it and burn it (Deuteronomy 1312-16).
Lets begin by considering the adultery law. While cheating on a spouse is certainly one of the most selfish acts a person can commit, being unfaithful is nothing deserving of death. Suggesting that this would upset a supernatural entity, one wise enough to create the universe in a week, only demonstrates the unenlightened beliefs held by that party. About 25% of men are uncircumcised. For what possible reason would God ever care what a mans penis looks like? one can only assume that God finds it aesthetically pleasing.
As for killing men who lay with other men, I really couldnt spend enough time explaining the absurdity in such a rule. The desire for the practice most likely originates at the genetic level; and, as was the case for heterosexual couples, a gay couples sex life should remain their own business.
All sons are rebellious at some point, but common decency tells us that this isnt a sufficient reason to stone a child to death because such circumstances are perfectly normal during the maturation process. If the situation warrants a stern response, children should be disciplined not barbarically executed.
We shouldnt needlessly kill animals because some wacko has sex with them. The helpless creatures obviously lack the capacity to make an informed choice in the matter. Many employees work on the Sabbath every week, a realistic necessity for a variety of professionals who preserve life and maintain order. Killing your family because they worship a different god isnt a justifiable reason for homicide; thats why its illegal!
The last time I checked, 67% of the world doesnt believe that the Bible is the word of God, and about 45% of the world doesnt even have the Old Testament in their preferred religion. Consequently, how many billions of people does God want us to kill now? If we are to murder someone who believes in a different god or a different interpretation of God, the Jews are to kill Muslims and Christians, the Muslims are to kill Christians and Jews, and the Christians are to kill Jews and Muslims. In essence, we cant necessarily fault Islamic extremists for their radical actions because theyre obviously following what theyve been thoroughly conditioned to believe are paramount, unquestionable orders. Of course, priority would dictate that all these killings should take place after those three religious sects take care of Buddhists, Hindus, and members of the minor world religions. Now that God has had his way, no ones left alive to worship him. This deity was clearly an insanely reckless invention with a poorly conceived design.
These rules do not include any of the horrendously unconscionable restrictions placed on women. Theres such an extraordinary amount of unimaginable injustices against woman.
As you can tell from the list provided, God wants you dead for just about anything you do. While the courts carried out some of the sentences due to undoubtful acts of immorality, the punishments are extremely harsh and rarely reflect the severity of the infraction committed. Killing someone for murder and killing someone because his ox gores a bystander are two entirely different instances to consider. Of all the worthwhile messages that God could have included in the Torah to help us through life, he settles on a number of nonsense rules and regulations that he knew hardly anyone would still follow a short while later. Are these the likely decisions of an omniscient creator, or are they the likely product of a group of superstitious individuals playing on the gullibility of superstitious audiences?
Gods Psyche
While it may seem that the preceding sections were a sufficient analysis of the oft-ignored alter ego of God, we still have quite a bit more ground to cover in order to comprehensively investigate this cauldron of evil. The focus will now shift from Gods allegedly observable physical manifestations to the declarations and interpretations of divinely inspired poets and prophets contemporaneous with the Old Testaments creation. Well try to tackle such issues as the human personality of God, his childish necessity to make threats, and the dark future according to this being.
We can answer many questions concerning the nature of humans by studying the things we say and do, and theres no reason that we cant apply this same principle to God if we give him the benefit of behaving in a remotely logical fashion. Moreover, this is especially true if he is, indeed, merely the product of human creation. Lets reflect on the Old Testament once again to review some of Gods alleged statements and opinions in order to see what they might reveal about his personality.
He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins (Joshua 2419). Consider this observation God becomes jealous when we do not pay him enough attention or when we like other gods better than him. If you are guilty of either of these transgressions, he wont forgive you for making him angry. If we transpose God into a more human setting, we realize that his behavior is like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum when you wont look to see what hes doing. This fair assessment is undeniably consistent with the remainder of Gods curiously immature actions throughout the Old Testament.
God places the iniquity of the fathers upon the childrenunto the third and fourth generation (Exodus 347). As you read the Old Testament, you should take careful notice of the aforementioned recurring theme of God forcing children to pay for the sins of their ancestors. Ive probably worn the topic out by now, but this cannot possibly be considered a fair way of treating people. Thus, we can only conclude that God receives a sense of sadistic enjoyment from punishing people for things they didnt do because theres no true justification for anyone, deity or not, to treat others this way. Proverbs 164 even confirms this hypothesis by telling us that God made evil people so that he could punish them at some point in the future. Its an incomprehensibly evil undertaking for God to make people behave a certain way just so he can entertain himself by torturing them for eternity. Furthermore, the excessive boasting and power flaunting by God literally adds insult to injury.
God goes so far as to place equivalent monetary values on human life for an offering that he requires everyone to provide (Leviticus 271-. This is another prime example of the total disregard God reserves for his creations. We may not be omnipotent and omniscient, but most of us would never attempt to place a specific price on the value of a human life. Incidentally, were worth very little to him. This notion is especially true when you consider how readily he commands thousands of us to our deaths in the Old Testament. If youre interested, men are worth approximately $100 US while women are only worth about $60 US in modern currency equivalents. If you want to know why women are less valuable than men, youll find out in the next equally disturbing chapter.
Job is an odd book in an odd place. While its believed to have been written in an era concurrent with the Pentateuch authorship, the fable appears much later in the Bible with the books of poetry. As a literal work, its a wonderful glimpse into the mind of the most primitive form of the Hebrew god. In the ridiculous tale, God allows Satan to torment the innocent Job by utilizing various methods of torture. All of this is just to prove to Satan that he couldnt make Job curse the name of God. How nonsensical is that? Gods ego drives him to watch a good man be tortured because he feels the need to prove a point to an inferior entity of evil.
The authors of Psalms often glorify God for a number of despicable acts. The authors exalt God for giving knowledge on how to kill enemies in battle (1834-42) and for literally bashing people who dont worship him (29). The authors admire God for his plans to burn some of his creations to death (219-10) and for the murder of every firstborn male child in Egypt (1358, 13610). The authors praise God for his intentions to tear disbelievers into pieces (5022) and for making a spectacle out of people who worship other gods (525-7). Why would anyone sing praises of such abominations except to score points out of obvious fear? This thought reminds me of the Iraqi government officials who started praising Saddam Hussein in July of 1979 as he read a list of traitors who were to be executed. Because members of the audience obviously didnt want to be among those facing an imminent death sentence, they publicly demonstrate their loyalty to Saddam by shouting praises in order to preserve their own lives. The method works wonderfully now, and it seemingly worked many centuries ago.
Just Empty Threats?
God invariably makes threats that if you do this, he will counter with that. Lets look at a few examples and determine if his retaliations are justifiable. The first of which would be to not harass any widows or orphans because God will kill you with a sword (Exodus 2224). As in the previous section, we see a continuity of God administering unfit punishments for minor crimes. If you try to rebuild Jericho, your oldest and youngest son will die (Joshua 626). While such an extreme measure of revenge could hardly be warranted, God affords everyone ample opportunity to avoid his insane wrath in this instance. If you dont worship God, hell sever your arm, revoke your eyesight, and curse you with a premature death (1 Samuel 231-33). Similarly, hell wipe you off the earth if you observe other gods (Deuteronomy 614-15). If you take it as far as hating God, hell totally destroy you (Deuteronomy 710). I think these punishments are starting to creep over that arbitrary boundary known as fairness.
Thankfully, we can safely conclude that theres no connection between reality and these transcendental threats because its obvious that God isnt currently enforcing these punishments. Since unfortunate episodes perpetually manifest across the religious spectrum, its also safe to conclude that they arent transpiring due to the absence of God in the victims lives. Since the Hebrews contemporaneous with these threats lived in an unscientific and superstitious era, they gullibly but wholeheartedly believed that these events had a divine cause and effect relationship. As an obvious consequence of that unenlightened belief, the population rarely challenged these frightening warnings. What can we surmise about these intimidating statements? Two words scare tactics.
God exposes his childish behavior by listing a long series of punishments for failing to follow his commandments and not paying him enough attention. Why is God overly concerned with how we act and how we choose to worship? Since this cruel deity supposedly made us exactly how he anticipated, he should definitely know what actions were imminently going to take. Its now obvious that our existence is nothing but a game to him, and it should leave the reader to wonder why he would subject us to this exhibition when he already knows the outcome.
The God Of The Future
It would be quite negligent for me to approach a somewhat comprehensive piece on this perspective of God but not include references for the hundreds of evil operations that the prophets claim he will implement sometime in the future. Theres such a wealth of despicable activities carried out or silently observed by God that I must once again force myself to share only a small portion of the most horrendous, inventive, or entertaining ones. Common examples of Godly justifications usually fall into one of the following categories he has angry desires for revenge, people will turn their backs on him, or his followers will sin by finding new gods to worship. While most of the foretold events are yet to come, apologists must accept the prophecies as part of an unchangeable future because the passages are part of the inerrant, unalterable word of God. Since these promised catastrophes are imminent in their arrival, we can treat these events as though theyve already materialized for the purpose of analyzing the moral justifications, or lack thereof, that God offers for his actions.
God will kill men, have their children smashed, and have their wives raped (Isaiah 1315-16).
God will punish children for the iniquities of their fathers and distant ancestors (Isaiah 1421).
God will lay waste to entire cities and make the lands desolate (Jeremiah 47).
God will set people, animals, and even plants on fire because of his anger (Jeremiah 720).
God will send so much evil that people would rather be dead than suffer (Jeremiah 83).
God will give away the property of men, including their wives, to other men (Jeremiah 810).
God will kill young men, and their children will die from a famine (Jeremiah 1122).
God will cause everyone to become drunk so father and son will kill one another (Jeremiah 1314).
God will not hear the cries of the people or acknowledge their sacrifices (Jeremiah 1412).
God will make people hungry enough to eat their own children and friends (Jeremiah 199).
God will burn entire cities with the inhabitants still inside (Jeremiah 5032).
God will break peoples bones and knock their teeth out with stones (Lamentations 31-16).
God will force fathers and sons to eat each other and scatter their remembrance (Ezekiel 510).
God will be comforted by killing everyone with pestilence, plagues, and swords (Ezekiel 512-13).
God will lay dead bodies around idols and spread their bones around the alters (Ezekiel 65).
God will kill righteous men and forget their good deeds if they ever turn to sin (Ezekiel 1824).
God will turn daughters into whores and wives into adulterers (Hosea 413).
God will kill children when they come out of their mothers wombs (Hosea 1014).
God will tear people apart and devour them like a lion (Hosea 13.
God will kill children and unborn fetuses because their parents worship other gods (Hosea 1316).
God will sell the children of Israel into slavery in a far away land (Joel 3.
God will kill inhabitants of entire cities if they have a corrupt government (Micah 39-12).
God will consume every living thing from the face of the earth (Zephaniah 12-3).
God will send people to steal Jerusalem, rape the women, and enslave the rest (Zechariah 142).
God will send plagues on people and animals to rot away tongues and eyes (Zechariah 1412-15).
God brings people into this world without a choice in the matter and expects us to do certain things, otherwise hell punish us severely without rest for an eternity. Gods omniscience must necessarily allow him to know which names will not be included in his book of life. Therefore, we can only conclude that he purposely brings people into the world with zero chance of avoiding Hell. Any deviation from this predetermined course would make God wrong, but since God cannot possibly be wrong, its impossible for us to deviate from the absolutely unalterable plan that he has already envisioned. This heartless exercise of brutality can only be the single most hateful crime any being could ever commit.
Now that Ive had time to reflect upon these considerations, if I believed for one moment that it was possible for this god to exist, I would be the first person in Shul (Synagauge) on Shabbas (Saturday) and the last person out the door . I would swallow my disgust and worship the deity that I detested in order to accept the slightly more agreeable punishment of eternal praise over eternal agony. In our universe bound by reality, however, such a personality can only be a ridiculous creation from a deceitful set of individuals who were sadly unaware of the vicious monster they created.
The God Worshipped By Two Billion
God barbarically killed millions of people in the Old Testament because they werent fortunate enough to belong to the Israelite tribe. Had these alleged victims belonged to the lineage of Jacob, they obviously wouldnt have suffered the full wrath of God. However, what chances did they realistically have of converting to worship the Hebrew deity when their own parents conditioned them to think according to their local customs?
What logic is there in the fact that the being who promises us eternal life because of his love for all humankind is the same entity who orders us to kill a variety of people for morally bankrupt reasons? The biblical god is not wonderful and loving . The God of the Old Testament, is pure evil and full of perpetual anger; he even admits as much. No one who creates and needlessly kills millions of people can honestly be called wonderful and loving, deity or not. Certainly, most people wouldnt think it was fair if they saw their fellow man being tortured just because his parents raised him with a different version of the creator. God even takes enjoyment in the fact that many people will never make it into Heaven. Regardless of your position on the issue, I believe we can all agree that God has quite a unique character about him, to say the least.
Weve also come to realize that we can observe the following qualities of God he exhibits immature rage when no one pays attention to him; he makes people suffer for what others have done; he has no regard for human life; and he tortures decent people for such reasons as winning bets with Satan. If we were to extract this behavior into human terms, we would most likely draw a comparison with that of a spoiled child. Because of an obvious state of fear and panic over similar reports heard by authors of the ancient Hebrew scriptures, they wrote and sang praises to this terrible creature thinking that such measures might assist in helping them escape his unconscionable wrath.
To top it all off, God conveniently ceased his murdering and slave driving when modern philosophers, enlightened thinking, and accurate historical records began to appear. Something is definitely wrong here.
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Dark side of God
Without any conceivable doubt, I firmly believe that the God of the Torah is the most evil character of all time. Starting with the book of Bereshis (Genesis), we learn that he?s an insanely angry deity. Of the many atrocities committed in the Torah, God is usually the sole participator. The authors record the first such instance in chapters 6-8 as the account of Noah?s flood.
The reason that God decides to drown the entire world, killing nearly every living person and animal on earth, is his belief that people are evil and unworthy of existence (Genesis 65). So what if they were evil? ?The fault lies with the manufacturer!? God allegedly created humans, yet he faults us for being guided by our desires, instincts, and natural tendencies. Since he?s supposedly omniscient (all knowing), God realized how we were destined to turn from the beginning. He must also have realized that his lament would fuel the urge to destroy his precious creations, only to leave himself back where he started. Even so, he creates Adam, yet hundreds of years later, he drowns nearly all the men, women, and children on the face of the earth because he deliberately chose not to make us to his liking the first time.
Even if we suppose the adults deserved to die slow and torturous deaths, what association could we conceivably make between their decisions and the adolescent victims of the flood? Couldn?t God have just placed the innocent children and animals aside for a while so that they wouldn?t drown? If not, how about a humane death at the very least? Drowning is a horrible way for people to die. As a result of hopelessly treading water for hours, their muscles burned due to large amounts of lactic acid production. Once they finally gave up, went under, and held their breaths, acidic carbon dioxide eroded their lungs until the unbearable pain forced them to inhale where there was no air for them to breathe. The water brought into their lungs robbed their bodies of oxygen, causing them to go numb. As water violently rushed in and out of their chests, the currents eventually laid their heavily breathing, slowly dying bodies at the bottom of the ocean. The inhaled water caused their lungs to tear and bleed profusely. As their blood supply dwindled, their hearts slowly came to a halt. Even so, their brains continued to process information for another couple of minutes. They were patently aware that death was imminent, yet they could do nothing to speed it or prevent it. I imagine that their final reflections would have been on what they did to deserve such treatment.
As you see, drowning is not a quick and painless death. Regardless, this is what God did to every man, woman, child, baby, and animal on earth because he made a mistake! To make matters disgustingly worse, the flood accomplished nothing! The omniscient God realizes after the flood that a man?s imagination is evil from youth (Genesis 821). He seemingly allows us to be evil to this day, just like those he purportedly drowned in the flood. Even if this was the sole befuddled and immoral act carried out by God, I?m positive that I couldn?t bring myself to worship him. However, this is only the beginning of his mass-murdering spree.
Another genocidal operation courtesy of God takes place in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Above these cities, he creates a rain of burning sulfur to kill every inhabitant, save Lot and his family, because they?re deemed evil by the almighty judge, jury, and executioner (Genesis 1924-25). Now, refer back to the points illustrated in the previous paragraph. God should have assumed the responsibility of taking measures to prevent these actions from somehow becoming necessary. He even remembered that men were evil by nature after the flood. Did he suddenly forget his opinion when he destroyed two entire cities of men, women, and children? Again, we should sincerely hope that this all-knowing deity would learn to take some of the blame in these situations. Like drowning, burning is not a quick and painless death. Fortunately, these people didn?t truly feel any pain because the tale is an obvious work of fiction. If you travel to the locations around which historians believe these cities are based, you?ll effortlessly discover balls of sulfur forming naturally on the ground. In other words, as is the case for Noah?s flood, we have the likely inspiration for the imaginative tale.
Another Planned Genocide
In the meeting among Moses, Aaron, and the Pharaoh, God doesn?t want his Israelites to go free without a fight. Instead, God instructs Moses and Aaron on exactly what steps to take so that the Pharaoh will initially become too stubborn to allow the people to leave. Obviously, God only wants an excuse to ?bring forth armies? against Egypt in order to punish the entire country for the decisions of one man to hold his chosen people as slaves (Exodus 71-14).
The plagues that God carried out against Egypt as a result of the Pharaoh?s decision were turning the river to blood; sending an abundance of frogs, lice, locusts, and flies; killing every cow belonging to the people; inflicting boils upon all the citizens; creating a hailstorm to destroy their crops; instituting three days of darkness; and killing the firstborn male child in every household across the country. The darkness, boils, frogs, lice, locusts, and flies were quite punishing, but they wouldn?t necessarily ruin anyone?s life. The cattle slaughter, river of blood, and downpour of hail ruined the Egyptians? sole water and food sources. Worst of all, God once again feels the necessity to eradicate thousands more innocent babies, children, and animals because one man was too stubborn to free his slaves.
On the escape route, Moses miraculously parts the Red Sea and crosses safely. When the Egyptian army pursues, the waters regroup to drown the soldiers and horses (Exodus 7-14). The omnipotent (all powerful) Hebrew god could have easily freed the people and spared thousands of lives, but, of course, he doesn?t do things this way. One can only assume that he took sinister pleasure in murdering Egyptian soldiers for following orders from their superior officers. Modern scholarship tells us that these events never took place either.
God revisits the plague concept when he dishes one out on his chosen people for following Aaron?s orders to worship a golden calf (Exodus 3235). Recall, however, that Aaron was one of the two men to whom they owed their freedom. Why would God punish his people for actions that they didn?t realize were ?wrong,? especially when they had implicitly learned to trust the person giving the orders? This debacle seems to have shifted Aaron over to God?s bad side because God later kills his two sons for building a ?strange fire? (most likely meaning that they let a forbidden item burn) Vayikra (Leviticus 101-2). No matter how many times I read passages like this, I?m always amazed how God kills people because they do something silly like build a displeasing campfire, but as we will soon see, he allows them to rape female prisoners of war.
On the subject of fire, God later sets some of the desert wanderers ablaze for complaining about their difficulties Bamidbar (Numbers 111). Keep in mind that they were now wandering around the desert for decades doing absolutely nothing after having been slaves in Egypt for centuries. When they complain about having no meat for nourishment, God provides them with a circle of quail three feet high and a day?s journey wide but immediately plagues and kills a handful of them for grumbling (Numbers 1131-34). Later, the people become increasingly irritated over being homeless. In fact, circumstances are so miserable that they actually want to return to Egypt as slaves. Subsequently, Korah leads a group of 250 other upset individuals to stand up to Moses. Needless to say, they all pay for their mutiny. God opens the ground under Korah?s household and sucks everything he has, family and all, into the depths of the earth (Numbers 1631-33). The remaining council of 250 are burned alive (Numbers 1635). Does the punishment fit the so-called crime? Does God have any compassion for their situation? Obviously not, on both accounts.
When the Israelites were upset that Moses caused those 250 people to die, God sends a plague to slay an additional 14,700 (Numbers 1641-49). To close out the Pentateuch, God exterminates a number of his people who fall down and worship the gods of Baalpeor. A subsequent plague kills another 24,000 (Numbers 251-9). At least these people may have had some idea that what they were doing would result in a punishment?
For The Sins Of Another
God?s episodes of murdering innocent individuals for the faults of their leaders, fathers, or other ancestors are not uncommon in Tnach. Jephthah asks for God?s assistance in killing the children of Ammon and promises him the first person out of his house upon his return as a burnt sacrifice if he will agree to aid with the massacre. God concurs and lethally delivers the children of Ammon into Jephthah?s hands. When Jephthah returns, his daughter, an only child, makes her way outside to welcome him home. Two months later, Jephthah regretfully fulfills his promise by burning his daughter as a sacrifice to God (Judges 1129-39). Why would God allow a man to offer an innocent person as a reward unless God also intended for certain people to be mere possessions?
While David is King, he decides to conduct a census a horrendous sin in God?s eyes. As punishment for his poor decision, he is to select among seven years of famine, three months of fleeing from his enemies, and three days of pestilence. Unable to choose from the offered catastrophes, God picks the three days of pestilence that result in the deaths of 70,000 men. Women and children weren?t mentioned, not that the Bible considered them to have any real value in the first place. Again, God murders enough people to fill a sizable city for the ?sin? of one man. David subsequently cries out to God and asks him why he wants to murder innocent people who had nothing to do with the decision to execute a census. Of course God doesn?t provide an impossible answer for this sensible question, but his reasons scarcely seem morally or ethically justifiable (2 Samuel 2410-17).
David also desires a woman named Bathsheba even though she?s married to one of David?s soldiers. Driven by his lust, David orders her husband to the front lines of a battle so that the enemy will take care of his problem. God then becomes extremely angry with David for this relatively petty crime. Once the new couple has a child, God afflicts it with illness for a week before watching it die (2 Samuel 11, 1214-1. Yet again, God exterminates an innocent baby for the actions of the father.
At one point, God sends a famine upon David?s followers. When he makes an inquiry to God for a justification, he?s told, ?It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites? (2 Samuel 211). Saul died years ago, yet God just now decides to punish people who had nothing to do with the decisions of their former leader.
David?s new son, Solomon, turns away from the Hebrew god and decides to worship other deities. Solomon?s decision infuriates God, but he isn?t punished because God recently came to like David. Instead, he punishes Solomon?s son by taking away part of his land when he comes to power (1 Kings 119-13). Once again, we see the impossibility of being free from God?s anger even when living in total obedience to him. In essence, Solomon?s son was divinely punished before he was ever born.
Next in the line of father-son reprimands is the account of King Josiah. ?And like unto him was there no King before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath?because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal? (2 Kings 2324-26). The passage speaks for itself. Yet again, God punishes a seemingly perfect person for someone else?s transgressions.
God?s Novel Method of Murder
Instead of directly murdering people or using his followers to execute similar commands, the apparently insatiable God begins sending animals to kill those who displease him. On one occasion, he has a lion kill a man because he refuses to hit someone (1 Kings 2035). God sends his lions out again to kill a group of people who were new to Samaria. The reason for this atrocity is their lack of worship, even though they were never informed of the proper worship methods (2 Kings 1724-26). However, this supposedly insignificant detail didn?t halt God from killing them. He had to have known that he would eventually murder this party, but instead of properly instructing them, God just kills them. There?s not even a miniscule resemblance of justice in the Israelite god.
In an exploit of inconceivable irrationality, God sends forth two bears to kill forty-two children for making fun of Elisha?s bald head (2 Kings 223-24). Why would the omnibenevolent God feel the necessity to have two bears viciously maul little children for acting like?children? This is supposed to be the same ?wonderful? and ?loving? God who promises us eternal life, but an entity capable of these inane activities could certainly change his mind and banish all of his worshippers to Hell. Most orthodox Jews and Christians never have to justify such passages because, like yeshivas I attended, we were encouraged not to ever read them!
A Few More For Good Measure
God commits another reprehensible act when Abraham and Sarah are journeying through Egypt. According to the story, Abraham knows that if the Egyptians see him with his beautiful wife, they?ll have to kill him so that she won?t have a defense when they rape her. To avoid such an incident, Abraham devises a plan in which Sarah is to proclaim that they?re only siblings. Thus, they can have their way with her while sparing Abraham?s life. The Pharaoh eventually has a sexual encounter with Sarah, provoking God to send plagues upon him as punishment for sleeping with another man?s wife (Genesis 1211-17). How, exactly, did God expect the Pharaoh to know she was a married woman? Was he supposed to be omniscient as well?
Later in Genesis, we learn of a man named Judah who has three sons Er, Onan, and Shelah. Seeing as how Er is ?wicked in the sight of the Lord,? God kills him. For what reason God found him too evil, we could only speculate. Of course, there?s no reasonable guarantee that Er would have incurred a death sentence from an impartial jury. Following the slaying, God dictates Onan to impregnate and marry Er?s wife in order to continue Er?s family line. Since Onan seemingly believes in freewill and doesn?t feel that he should be required to do something he doesn?t want to do, he spills his seed on the ground instead of finishing intercourse inside of her. ?And the thing he did displeased the Lord wherefore he slew him also? (Genesis 387-10). Again, the omniscient God should have known that Onan would fail to comply. Because God should have also realized that he would have to kill the disobedient Onan, why did he order him around in the first place? Does he now feel the need to have an excuse before murdering an innocent person? Was Onan destined to exist only as God?s slave? Are we all God?s oppressed pawns, created only to be shifted around for his amusement? Onan?s fate hardly seems just by enlightened standards.
The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred item that God demanded everyone to refrain from touching. The ancient Hebrews commonly believed that God even played the part of a genie by residing in the ark on occasion. Thus, when the Philistines steal this precious piece, God obviously becomes enraged. As they?re carrying it through different cities, God inflicts severe cases of hemorrhoids on all the inhabitants. Why God doesn?t just zap these thieves and return the ark to the Israelites without harming additional innocent bystanders is beyond me. Unbelievably, 50,070 people eventually die at the hands of God because they simply look into the ark (1 Samuel 4-6). That?s the equivalent of a moderately sized modern city dropping dead just for looking at something God didn?t want them looking at. It?s difficult to imagine a creature that can unleash punishments more evil than that, but God is continuously setting new standards for himself.
Once we see the ark in transit again, the cart and oxen transporting it move over a rough spot in the path and nearly shake the prized object to the ground. Out of what we could only consider pure reflex, Uzzah, who was accompanying the ark, places his hand on it to keep it steady. Uzzah?s instinctive, split-second decision to prevent God?s home from falling angers God enough to eradicate him from the earth (2 Samuel 66-7).
Since God commits scores of violent acts randomly throughout the remainder of the Tnach (old Testemant), let?s look at a few examples. After delivering the Amorites into the hands of Joshua, he sends down a hailstorm in order to kill a large portion of the people who flee from battle (Joshua 108-11). God assists in the war between Barak and Sisera by surrounding Sisera?s army and forcing them to dismount from their chariots. Because of his intervention, Sisera?s entire army faces imminent death at the hands of Barak (Judges 414-15). God causes the Midianites to kill one another (Judges 722-23). He confuses the Philistines and causes them to kill one another (1 Samuel 1420-23). He inflicts a number of people with blindness because Elisha asks him to do so (2 Kings 61. He causes a seven-year famine without specifying a reason (2 Kings 81). God kills Jeroboam because he?s the leader of the enemies (2 Chronicles 1320). He kills Nabal without specifying a reason, but it?s probably because David desires his wife and other belongings (1 Samuel 253. God sends an angel to kill 185,000 men in an Assyrian camp because they?re enemies of his people (2 Kings 1931-35). He plagues Azariah, a man labeled as a good King, with leprosy for the remainder of his life because he allows people to burn incense in a location displeasing to God (2 Kings 151-5). This is another great example of an overbearing punishment for breaking an asinine law. Some of our fellow humans were obviously destined to meet death early in life without any chance of redemption in God?s eyes.
Counting just the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Red Sea incident, the ark gazers, the plagues, the census, and the battles in which God directly participated, I estimate that this terrible creature claims to have murdered one to two million people. Regrettably, we still haven?t discussed any of the instances in which God orders his people to kill others or when he ?delivers armies? into the hands of the Israelites to be annihilated in battle. By this point in our discussion, God has already joined the elite company of Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Zedong as the largest mass murderers in history.
Following God?s Alleged Commands
When God wished certain people dead thousands of years ago, he was never confined to his own omnipotent powers. You might even agree that God was at his worst when he recruited others to assist with the scores of slaughters in the Old Testament. As initially difficult as it might be to accept, God often provided his followers with orders leading to outcomes even more horrific than before. This section will discuss the specific commands given by God and the consistently tragic results that follow. Try to keep everything in perspective. These aren?t numbers; they?re human beings.
Recall the setting of God dishing out a plague over the golden calf worship. Immediately prior to the plague inflicted upon his people, God had ordered Moses and his loyal followers to ?slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.? Three thousand men died at the hands of their peers in addition to those killed by the second punishment (Exodus 3226-2.
Later on, a group of followers from Moses? camp observes a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Since such a despicable act was illegal in those days, they escort him back to Moses and inquire how they should handle the incident. Moses answers them by declaring that God is proclaiming, ?the man shall be surely put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones.? Following what they gullibly assume are God?s commands, Moses? cult members take him outside the camp and stone him to death for picking up sticks on a day that he wasn?t permitted to do any work (Numbers 1532-36). As you will soon realize, God encourages the Israelites to beat their slaves and rape women captured in warfare; picking up sticks on the Sabbath, however, will anger him enough to warrant a death sentence. Astounding!
God advises Moses on a number of matters related to his appointed leadership. He is to cast any menstruating or leprous person out of the camp because God doesn?t want to be around those ?dirty? people when he descends for a visit (Numbers 51-3). In other words, God wants no association with those who are more likely to need assistance, medical or otherwise. God also orders Moses to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before destroying their possessions (Numbers 3350-52). However, he should offer the people of distant cities a chance to become his slaves before killing them. If they refuse, the Israelites have the duty to kill the men and take the remaining people as plunder for themselves. In the cities that God delivers as inheritances, Moses should ?save alive nothing that breatheth? because the helpless victims were taught to worship other gods (Deuteronomy 2013-1.
In two subsequent pillages, God delivers Sihon, King of Heshbon, into the hands of Moses at the battle of Jahaz. The Israelites murder him; conquer all of his cities; and murder every man, woman, and child residing within those cities per God?s instructions (Deuteronomy 232-35). Likewise, God delivers Og, King of Bashan, into the hands of Moses at the battle of Edrei. The Israelites faithfully obey their orders by murdering all the inhabitants so that they could acquire the land (Deuteronomy 31-4). This noble god orders Moses to kill anything that moves, and as the incredible list of wars in the Old Testament takes place, God?s followers would continue to do exactly as their unimaginably harsh leader commands them.
When Joshua informs the Israelites of God?s decision to deliver the city of Jericho over to them, they topple its walls and kill every living thing in the city, except for a single harlot on espionage missions, before burning it to the ground (Joshua 616-24). Afterwards, God orders Joshua to infiltrate the city of Ai because he?s delivered it in likewise fashion. The Israelites also set Ai on fire and kill the 12,000 inhabitants running for their lives. The King of Ai is taken prisoner and later hanged (Joshua 819-29). Following the victories at Jericho and Ai, God commands Joshua to go on an unbelievable killing spree. The Israelites subsequently murder all the men, women, and children in Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish (along with the King of Gezer and his armies assisting Lachish), Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Not a single life was spared during these invasions (Joshua 1028-40).
When word spreads of Joshua?s rapid conquests, a considerable number of cities combine their armies to attempt a victory over Joshua and Israel. The number of resistance forces is ?as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude,? but God promises to deliver them all to Joshua. Indeed, God remains true to his word and ?They smote them, until they left them none remaining.? Joshua then burns their chariots and brutally cuts the hamstrings on their remaining horses (Joshua 111-9). After the battle, the Israelite army marches into all the unprotected and defenseless cities that had offered their armies in resistance and kills every living man. In Hazor, the army kills every man, woman, and child before setting the city ablaze. One can only speculate on how many hundreds of thousands of lives God orders Joshua to take in these assuredly disputable accounts.
Following Joshua?s death, God proceeds with his war strategies when the Israelites face Benjamin?s army. As a result of God?s unorthodox command, 22,000 of his own people die in the first battle. The next day, he orders them to face Benjamin once again. This time, they suffer an additional 18,000 casualties. Phinehas, feeling a bit hesitant to lead another hopeless skirmish, asks God if he should take command in another attack against Benjamin. God affirms Phinehas? inquiry and promises him a solid victory. In the ensuing battle, the Benjamites suffer 25,100 casualties (Judges 20). In this short series of campaigns, God orders his own troops into two battles that his omniscience tells him they won?t win. On the first two days of this monstrous war, during which he wasn?t about to lift a finger to help, he saw to it that 40,000 of his own people would become casualties of needless warfare. Incidentally, the death of a single person initiated these hostilities.
Centuries later, when God ?remembers? what the Amalekites did hundreds of years prior to Saul?s leadership, he orders Saul to journey to Amalek where he is to decimate every living thing in the city. Saul only partially obeys by killing every person but saving a few of the best animals for himself. My guess is that he was unaware of how enraged God becomes over such trivial matters. God subsequently revoked Saul?s crown because of his unwillingness to follow exact orders (1 Samuel 15). To me, however, the issue of Saul?s crown isn?t the one of major importance. Personally, I feel that the omnibenevolent God should not have held the people of Amalek responsible for the enterprises of their distant ancestors, but God and I are obviously in constant disagreement.
In a series of miscellaneous ethnic cleansings, God delivers Jerusalem to Judah and the Israelites. They kill 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites in Bezek (Judges 12-. Later, God accompanies Judah when he destroys the cities and kills the inhabitants of Zephath, Gaza, Askelon, Ekron, and Luz (Judges 117-26). When Ehud announces that God has delivered the Moabites into the hands of his chosen people, they march to Moab and slay 10,000 men (Judges 326-29). God delivers Sihon and the Amorites to be murdered by Jephthah and the Israelites (Judges 1121-23). God delivers twenty men to be slaughtered by Jonathan (1 Samuel 1214). As God orders David to exterminate a few Philistines delivered into his hands, David does so and takes their cattle as well (1 Samuel 232-5). As God orders David to kill more Philistines recently delivered into his hands, David accepts God?s gift once again and kills more Philistines in two additional battles (2 Samuel 519-25). God delivers the Syrians to the people of Israel in order for them to murder 100,000 foreigners. Twenty-seven thousand Syrians escaped but were killed when a wall fell on them (1 Kings 2028-30)! Likewise, God delivers the Moabites into the hands of Israel once again. The army of Israelites destroys the city of Moab along with an unknown number of its inhabitants. These instigations force the King to kill his own son as an offering in order for the hostilities to cease (2 Kings 1827)
When God witnesses certain members of Israel turning from him, he decides to assist the tribe of Judah. God then kills the King of Israel and enables Judah to kill 500,000 Israelite men because the Judeans ?relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.? Abijah, their leader, takes the cities of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephrain (2 Chronicles 1315-20). The supreme being forces Abijah?s son, Asa, to face Zerah and his staggering army of one million Ethiopians. Asa asks for God?s help, which is willingly provided. In the battle, God strikes down great numbers of the Ethiopians, perhaps killing some himself, and forces the rest to make a full retreat. Asa then chases them back into their homeland and plummets all their cities (2 Chronicles 148-15).
God later becomes angry with his followers when they ridicule his messengers. As punishment, he sends the army of Chaldees to kill all the occupants of Jerusalem. Control of the region now falls to Persia (2 Chronicles 3615-23). Why does God force his worshippers to suffer through all this needless trouble when he?s just going to hand the land over to someone else?
As you may have already guessed, God didn?t confine the impact of his seemingly perpetual rage solely on humans. Animal sacrifices seemed particularly important to this fiendish character. Strangely enough, this is one deity out of many that seems pleased with aromas emitted by burnt flesh (Genesis 820-21). In fact, Leviticus chapters 1-9 are thorough instructions on how to perform animal sacrifices. The graphic details contained therein are potentially nauseating and not for the weak of stomach.
For every category of sin, God has a specific ritual that he wishes us to perform. His authors tell the readers how to break animal necks, what parts of the animal to burn, what organs to extract, where to sprinkle the blood, how much God thoroughly enjoys the spectacle, etc. If you?re genuinely interested in how gruesome the Bible can be, I would encourage you to read the first nine chapters of Leviticus. There are several additional passages throughout the Bible providing complete and ridiculous instructions for these crucially important animal sacrifices, but this lengthy manual definitely serves as the most memorable example. Numbers 1819 further declares that animal sacrifices should be performed forever. Have Christians finally appreciated the insanity of God, or do they just not read their Bibles anymore?
An estimate on the number of victims who paid the ultimate price in wars that are claimed to be instigated by God is hard to determine, but I would imagine it?s somewhere in the neighborhood of two or three million. All together, God may have been personally responsible for as many as five million needless murders. I?m sure there are several battles and/or plagues that I omitted, but I trust you get the general message of this section. The Hebrew god is a mass murderer, plain and simple. Moreover, these estimates still don?t include all the deaths resulting from petty religious bickering that continues to this day. On the brighter side of things, however, there?s no reason to mourn for the previously mentioned victims of God?s brutality because the vivid human imagination was certainly the source from which the authors derived all these accounts. Thus, these slaughters were extremely unlikely to have taken place as recorded in the Bible. Again, we will see overwhelmingly persuasive evidence to defend this position in Moses And Other Historical Fabrications.
God?s Rules And Regulations
In addition to all the previously mentioned atrocities, God hands down a nightmarishly inhumane code for his creations to live by. In fact, there would literally be millions of murders committed every day if God still had his way. I?ll certainly admit that a few of the more sane guidelines are acceptable, but many are definitely not within the bounds of justice and humanity. Those are the ones in need of a serious impartial review. A few examples allegedly handed down by God follow.
Anyone who goes uncircumcised is to be exiled from his people (Genesis 1714).
If a man has sex with a menstruating women, both are to be exiled (Leviticus 201.
A man who marries a mother and daughter must burn in a fire (Leviticus 2014).
If two men have sexual relations, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2013).
If a mother and son have sexual relations, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2011).
If a man and daughter-in-law have sex, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2012).
If a man has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2015).
If a woman has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 2016).
Anyone who attacks his mother or father must be put to death (Exodus 2115).
Anyone who curses his mother or father must be put to death (Leviticus 209).
Anyone who commits murder must be put to death (Leviticus 2417).
Anyone who commits adultery must be put to death (Deuteronomy 2222).
Anyone who commits perjury must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1918-19).
Anyone who commits kidnapping must be put to death (Exodus 2116).
Anyone who disobeys a judge or priest must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1712).
Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death (Exodus 352).
Anyone who does not worship God must be put to death (2 Chronicles 1513).
Any strangers approaching a sanctuary must be put to death (Numbers 177).
Any prophet who tries to turn you against God must be put to death (Deuteronomy 135).
Any prophet who makes a wrong prediction must be put to death (Deuteronomy 1820-22).
Family members who tempt you with other gods must be put to death (Deuteronomy 131-5).
If an ox gores someone, the ox and its owner must be stoned to death (Exodus 2129).
Anyone who claims to talk with spirits must be stoned to death (Leviticus 2027).
A stubborn and rebellious son must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 2118-21).
Any woman who has had premarital sex must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 2221).
Anyone who worships another god must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 172-7).
Anyone who curses or blasphemes must be stoned to death (Leviticus 2414-16).
Break the neck of your donkey?s firstborn or kill a lamb instead (Exodus 3420).
If a city worships other gods, kill everyone in it and burn it (Deuteronomy 1312-16).
Let?s begin by considering the adultery law. While cheating on a spouse is certainly one of the most selfish acts a person can commit, being unfaithful is nothing deserving of death. Suggesting that this would upset a supernatural entity, one wise enough to create the universe in a week, only demonstrates the unenlightened beliefs held by that party. About 25% of men are uncircumcised. For what possible reason would God ever care what a man?s penis looks like? one can only assume that God finds it aesthetically pleasing.
As for killing men who lay with other men, I really couldn?t spend enough time explaining the absurdity in such a rule. The desire for the practice most likely originates at the genetic level; and, as was the case for heterosexual couples, a gay couple?s sex life should remain their own business.
All sons are rebellious at some point, but common decency tells us that this isn?t a sufficient reason to stone a child to death because such circumstances are perfectly normal during the maturation process. If the situation warrants a stern response, children should be disciplined not barbarically executed.
We shouldn?t needlessly kill animals because some wacko has sex with them. The helpless creatures obviously lack the capacity to make an informed choice in the matter. Many employees work on the Sabbath every week, a realistic necessity for a variety of professionals who preserve life and maintain order. Killing your family because they worship a different god isn?t a justifiable reason for homicide; that?s why it?s illegal!
The last time I checked, 67% of the world doesn?t believe that the Bible is the word of God, and about 45% of the world doesn?t even have the Old Testament in their preferred religion. Consequently, how many billions of people does God want us to kill now? If we are to murder someone who believes in a different god or a different interpretation of God, the Jews are to kill Muslims and Christians, the Muslims are to kill Christians and Jews, and the Christians are to kill Jews and Muslims. In essence, we can?t necessarily fault Islamic extremists for their radical actions because they?re obviously following what they?ve been thoroughly conditioned to believe are paramount, unquestionable orders. Of course, priority would dictate that all these killings should take place after those three religious sects take care of Buddhists, Hindus, and members of the minor world religions. Now that God has had his way, no one?s left alive to worship him. This deity was clearly an insanely reckless invention with a poorly conceived design.
These rules do not include any of the horrendously unconscionable restrictions placed on women. There?s such an extraordinary amount of unimaginable injustices against woman.
As you can tell from the list provided, God wants you dead for just about anything you do. While the ?courts? carried out some of the sentences due to undoubtful acts of immorality, the punishments are extremely harsh and rarely reflect the severity of the infraction committed. Killing someone for murder and killing someone because his ox gores a bystander are two entirely different instances to consider. Of all the worthwhile messages that God could have included in the Torah to help us through life, he settles on a number of nonsense rules and regulations that he knew hardly anyone would still follow a short while later. Are these the likely decisions of an omniscient creator, or are they the likely product of a group of superstitious individuals playing on the gullibility of superstitious audiences?
God?s Psyche
While it may seem that the preceding sections were a sufficient analysis of the oft-ignored alter ego of God, we still have quite a bit more ground to cover in order to comprehensively investigate this cauldron of evil. The focus will now shift from God?s allegedly observable physical manifestations to the declarations and interpretations of ?divinely inspired? poets and prophets contemporaneous with the Old Testament?s creation. We?ll try to tackle such issues as the human personality of God, his childish necessity to make threats, and the dark future according to this being.
We can answer many questions concerning the nature of humans by studying the things we say and do, and there?s no reason that we can?t apply this same principle to God if we give him the benefit of behaving in a remotely logical fashion. Moreover, this is especially true if he is, indeed, merely the product of human creation. Let?s reflect on the Old Testament once again to review some of God?s alleged statements and opinions in order to see what they might reveal about his personality.
?He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins? (Joshua 2419). Consider this observation God becomes jealous when we do not pay him enough attention or when we like other gods better than him. If you are guilty of either of these transgressions, he won?t forgive you for making him angry. If we transpose God into a more human setting, we realize that his behavior is like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum when you won?t look to see what he?s doing. This fair assessment is undeniably consistent with the remainder of God?s curiously immature actions throughout the Old Testament.
God places ?the iniquity of the fathers upon the children?unto the third and fourth generation? (Exodus 347). As you read the Old Testament, you should take careful notice of the aforementioned recurring theme of God forcing children to pay for the sins of their ancestors. I?ve probably worn the topic out by now, but this cannot possibly be considered a fair way of treating people. Thus, we can only conclude that God receives a sense of sadistic enjoyment from punishing people for things they didn?t do because there?s no true justification for anyone, deity or not, to treat others this way. Proverbs 164 even confirms this hypothesis by telling us that God made evil people so that he could punish them at some point in the future. It?s an incomprehensibly evil undertaking for God to make people behave a certain way just so he can entertain himself by torturing them for eternity. Furthermore, the excessive boasting and power flaunting by God literally adds insult to injury.
God goes so far as to place equivalent monetary values on human life for an offering that he requires everyone to provide (Leviticus 271-. This is another prime example of the total disregard God reserves for his creations. We may not be omnipotent and omniscient, but most of us would never attempt to place a specific price on the value of a human life. Incidentally, we?re worth very little to him. This notion is especially true when you consider how readily he commands thousands of us to our deaths in the Old Testament. If you?re interested, men are worth approximately $100 US while women are only worth about $60 US in modern currency equivalents. If you want to know why women are less valuable than men, you?ll find out in the next equally disturbing chapter.
Job is an odd book in an odd place. While it?s believed to have been written in an era concurrent with the Pentateuch authorship, the fable appears much later in the Bible with the books of poetry. As a literal work, it?s a wonderful glimpse into the mind of the most primitive form of the Hebrew god. In the ridiculous tale, God allows Satan to torment the innocent Job by utilizing various methods of torture. All of this is just to prove to Satan that he couldn?t make Job curse the name of God. How nonsensical is that? God?s ego drives him to watch a good man be tortured because he feels the need to prove a point to an inferior entity of evil.
The authors of Psalms often glorify God for a number of despicable acts. The authors exalt God for giving knowledge on how to kill enemies in battle (1834-42) and for literally bashing people who don?t worship him (29). The authors admire God for his plans to burn some of his creations to death (219-10) and for the murder of every firstborn male child in Egypt (1358, 13610). The authors praise God for his intentions to tear disbelievers into pieces (5022) and for making a spectacle out of people who worship other gods (525-7). Why would anyone sing praises of such abominations except to score points out of obvious fear? This thought reminds me of the Iraqi government officials who started praising Saddam Hussein in July of 1979 as he read a list of traitors who were to be executed. Because members of the audience obviously didn?t want to be among those facing an imminent death sentence, they publicly demonstrate their loyalty to Saddam by shouting praises in order to preserve their own lives. The method works wonderfully now, and it seemingly worked many centuries ago.
Just Empty Threats?
God invariably makes threats that if you do this, he will counter with that. Let?s look at a few examples and determine if his retaliations are justifiable. The first of which would be to not harass any widows or orphans because God will kill you with a sword (Exodus 2224). As in the previous section, we see a continuity of God administering unfit punishments for minor crimes. If you try to rebuild Jericho, your oldest and youngest son will die (Joshua 626). While such an extreme measure of revenge could hardly be warranted, God affords everyone ample opportunity to avoid his insane wrath in this instance. If you don?t worship God, he?ll sever your arm, revoke your eyesight, and curse you with a premature death (1 Samuel 231-33). Similarly, he?ll wipe you off the earth if you observe other gods (Deuteronomy 614-15). If you take it as far as hating God, he?ll totally destroy you (Deuteronomy 710). I think these punishments are starting to creep over that arbitrary boundary known as ?fairness.?
Thankfully, we can safely conclude that there?s no connection between reality and these transcendental threats because it?s obvious that God isn?t currently enforcing these punishments. Since unfortunate episodes perpetually manifest across the religious spectrum, it?s also safe to conclude that they aren?t transpiring due to the absence of God in the victims? lives. Since the Hebrews contemporaneous with these threats lived in an unscientific and superstitious era, they gullibly but wholeheartedly believed that these events had a divine cause and effect relationship. As an obvious consequence of that unenlightened belief, the population rarely challenged these frightening warnings. What can we surmise about these intimidating statements? Two words scare tactics.
God exposes his childish behavior by listing a long series of punishments for failing to follow his commandments and not paying him enough attention. Why is God overly concerned with how we act and how we choose to worship? Since this cruel deity supposedly made us exactly how he anticipated, he should definitely know what actions we?re imminently going to take. It?s now obvious that our existence is nothing but a game to him, and it should leave the reader to wonder why he would subject us to this exhibition when he already knows the outcome.
The God Of The Future
It would be quite negligent for me to approach a somewhat comprehensive piece on this perspective of God but not include references for the hundreds of evil operations that the prophets claim he will implement sometime in the future. There?s such a wealth of despicable activities carried out or silently observed by God that I must once again force myself to share only a small portion of the most horrendous, inventive, or entertaining ones. Common examples of Godly justifications usually fall into one of the following categories he has angry desires for revenge, people will turn their backs on him, or his followers will sin by finding new gods to worship. While most of the foretold events are yet to come, apologists must accept the prophecies as part of an unchangeable future because the passages are part of the inerrant, unalterable word of God. Since these promised catastrophes are imminent in their arrival, we can treat these events as though they?ve already materialized for the purpose of analyzing the moral justifications, or lack thereof, that God offers for his actions.
God will kill men, have their children smashed, and have their wives raped (Isaiah 1315-16).
God will punish children for the iniquities of their fathers and distant ancestors (Isaiah 1421).
God will lay waste to entire cities and make the lands desolate (Jeremiah 47).
God will set people, animals, and even plants on fire because of his anger (Jeremiah 720).
God will send so much evil that people would rather be dead than suffer (Jeremiah 83).
God will give away the property of men, including their wives, to other men (Jeremiah 810).
God will kill young men, and their children will die from a famine (Jeremiah 1122).
God will cause everyone to become drunk so father and son will kill one another (Jeremiah 1314).
God will not hear the cries of the people or acknowledge their sacrifices (Jeremiah 1412).
God will make people hungry enough to eat their own children and friends (Jeremiah 199).
God will burn entire cities with the inhabitants still inside (Jeremiah 5032).
God will break people?s bones and knock their teeth out with stones (Lamentations 31-16).
God will force fathers and sons to eat each other and scatter their remembrance (Ezekiel 510).
God will be comforted by killing everyone with pestilence, plagues, and swords (Ezekiel 512-13).
God will lay dead bodies around idols and spread their bones around the alters (Ezekiel 65).
God will kill righteous men and forget their good deeds if they ever turn to sin (Ezekiel 1824).
God will turn daughters into whores and wives into adulterers (Hosea 413).
God will kill children when they come out of their mothers? wombs (Hosea 1014).
God will tear people apart and devour them like a lion (Hosea 13.
God will kill children and unborn fetuses because their parents worship other gods (Hosea 1316).
God will sell the children of Israel into slavery in a far away land (Joel 3.
God will kill inhabitants of entire cities if they have a corrupt government (Micah 39-12).
God will consume every living thing from the face of the earth (Zephaniah 12-3).
God will send people to steal Jerusalem, rape the women, and enslave the rest (Zechariah 142).
God will send plagues on people and animals to rot away tongues and eyes (Zechariah 1412-15).
God brings people into this world without a choice in the matter and expects us to do certain things, otherwise he?ll punish us severely without rest for an eternity. God?s omniscience must necessarily allow him to know which names will not be included in his book of life. Therefore, we can only conclude that he purposely brings people into the world with zero chance of avoiding Hell. Any deviation from this predetermined course would make God wrong, but since God cannot possibly be wrong, it?s impossible for us to deviate from the absolutely unalterable plan that he has already envisioned. This heartless exercise of brutality can only be the single most hateful crime any being could ever commit.
Now that I?ve had time to reflect upon these considerations, if I believed for one moment that it was possible for this god to exist, I would be the first person in Shul (Synagauge) on Shabbas (Saturday) and the last person out the door . I would swallow my disgust and worship the deity that I detested in order to accept the slightly more agreeable punishment of eternal praise over eternal agony. In our universe bound by reality, however, such a personality can only be a ridiculous creation from a deceitful set of individuals who were sadly unaware of the vicious monster they created.
The God Worshipped By Two Billion
God barbarically killed millions of people in the Old Testament because they weren?t ?fortunate? enough to belong to the Israelite tribe. Had these alleged victims belonged to the lineage of Jacob, they obviously wouldn?t have suffered the full wrath of God. However, what chances did they realistically have of converting to worship the Hebrew deity when their own parents conditioned them to think according to their local customs?
What logic is there in the fact that the being who promises us eternal life because of his love for all humankind is the same entity who orders us to kill a variety of people for morally bankrupt reasons? The biblical god is not ?wonderful? and ?loving? . The God of the Old Testament, is pure evil and full of perpetual anger; he even admits as much. No one who creates and needlessly kills millions of people can honestly be called ?wonderful? and ?loving,? deity or not. Certainly, most people wouldn?t think it was fair if they saw their fellow man being tortured just because his parents raised him with a different version of the creator. God even takes enjoyment in the fact that many people will never make it into Heaven. Regardless of your position on the issue, I believe we can all agree that God has quite a unique character about him, to say the least.
We?ve also come to realize that we can observe the following qualities of God he exhibits immature rage when no one pays attention to him; he makes people suffer for what others have done; he has no regard for human life; and he tortures decent people for such reasons as winning bets with Satan. If we were to extract this behavior into human terms, we would most likely draw a comparison with that of a spoiled child. Because of an obvious state of fear and panic over similar reports heard by authors of the ancient Hebrew scriptures, they wrote and sang praises to this terrible creature thinking that such measures might assist in helping them escape his unconscionable wrath.
To top it all off, God conveniently ceased his murdering and slave driving when modern philosophers, enlightened thinking, and accurate historical records began to appear. Something is definitely wrong here.
The torah sure is a forgery and It contradicts the quran
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the quaran contradicts everything laugh
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the quaran contradicts everything laugh
At least it is aware of its name and the name of the religion it preaches not some incoherent documents from Babylon and Rome who are later filtered and canonized for political reasons.
The presence of apocrypha, pseudoepigrapha and referred writings eg. Book of Jasher kills the Bible completely.
D
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whatever laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh
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The quran shows many scientific proof while the bible shows things which contradict science!
peace
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Don't be naive, both contradict science at certain points!
really, can you provide a verse from the quran that contradicts science
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really, can you provide a verse from the quran that contradicts science
See you dont really trust God that much. It is science that contradicts the Quran.
Anyways here some points
-Seven Heavens
-Sun moves around the Earth
-Sperm come from between the ribs and the back.
-Prayer - science have shown that prayer doesn't work!If archaeology is considered a science, don't let me start!
Peace,
Rami