Biblical Evil #1: Ritual Human Sacrifice

@ThePainefulTruth Said

What is human sacrifice to God doing in Bible? There are three examples.

Most people know about Abraham who was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac, but was stopped at the last minute. Why was he told to do it in the first place, giving the impression that such a thing was acceptable, and why didn't Abraham tell God to take a hike. Not only was it ritual human sacrifice, but he was told to sacrifice his own son.

The least known example is Jephthah in Judges 11:29, who makes an oath to sacrifice (what turns out to be) his daughter if he wins a battle, which he does. Some people try to excuse this on the grounds that the event was not presented as neutral and not being what God wanted. We're talking human sacrifice here. Is there room for neutrality? Why isn't it presented as the great evil it is, not in matter-of-fact language? And why doesn't God intervene as he did by aiding Jephthah in the first place.

But the real cultural, mass hypnotic blindness is to the human sacrifice of Jesus in a salvific exchange for our sins. Yes, this is almost surely a dogma adopted by Paul and back and filled into some of the gospels, but if the Bible is the Word of God, how can it be excused? How could it remain there for 2000 years? It couldn't, especially when we consider that there is only one way for the remission of sin, through heart changing repentance. Ironically, this is what Jesus and his partner, John the Baptizer taught.

Today's Christianity should actually be termed Paulism.

Next--Biblical Evil #2: Paul, the Beast of Revelation

@ThePainefulTruth Said

Today, human sacrifice is held nearly universally to be to be evil at least if not Satanic, so what is human sacrifice to God doing in Bible? There are three examples.

Most people know about Abraham who was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac, but was stopped at the last minute. Why was he told to do it in the first place, giving the impression that such a thing was acceptable, and why didn't Abraham tell God to take a hike. Not only was it ritual human sacrifice, but he was told to sacrifice his own son.

The least known example is Jephthah in Judges 11:29, who makes an oath to sacrifice (what turns out to be) his daughter if he wins a battle, which he does--and he did sacrifice her. Some people try to excuse this on the grounds that the event was not presented as neutral and/or not being what God wanted. We're talking human sacrifice here. Is there room for neutrality? Why isn't it presented as the great evil it is, not in matter-of-fact language? And why doesn't God intervene as he did by aiding Jephthah in the first place.

But the real cultural, mass hypnotic blindness is to the human sacrifice of Jesus as a salvific exchange for our sins. Yes, this is almost surely a dogma adopted by Paul and back-filled into some of the gospels, but if the Bible is the Word of God, how can it be excused? How could it remain there for 2000 years? It couldn't, especially when we consider that there is only one way for the remission of sin, through heart changing repentance. Ironically, this is what Jesus and his partner, John the Baptizer taught.

Today's Christianity should actually be termed Paulism.

Next--Biblical Evil #2: Paul, the Beast of Revelation

@someone_else Said
Did I even come close to getting your point?

@"arcades" Said
That's pretty much how the bible works. Thou shalt not kill.....unless god tells you to. Do as I say not as I do. The god presented in the bible comes off as hypocritical. Maybe cause he wasn't actually god.

@ThePainefulTruth Said

You seem to be saying that as long as God tells you to commit evil, it's OK. So no, you aren't close. If God is not evil He would not condone evil, therefore the Bible must be, in these cases at least, the work of evil men.

@Rec Said
to clearly set the precept, that was to set the Hebrews apart from pagan religions, which did sacrifice humans, that He was not pleased with or allowed human sacrifice period.

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Jephtahn in Judges is a result of his very own vow, not the command of God, to sacrifice something, thinking to honor God by doing so.

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He did not think out what he vowed beforehand, nor was commanded to do so, therefore HIS rashness is what caused his murder of his daughter.

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one should always think things out before vowing anything that is not within the power to keep or that would violate the life of another human being.

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The onus was on Jepthahn, not God. We make our own decisions, per free will, and should do so with a right judgement instead of a rashness instead.

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And God forbids us to MURDER, not Kill, there are two different concepts here to be considered. Ideally there should be no harm in the world, but as we all know there is, when we look at the proclivity of human nature. Therefore to reason that God is evil or condones killing is both irrational looking at the reality around you! JMO 8)

@DrWolfgang Said

Key Point: Bible is flawed, while (WHICH I DOUBT) they could have been the words of god. People have too much freewill to write what they want and how they want it. Not to mention most of the bible was changed during the council of Nicea in like 325 AD. Books were chosen to be taken out and put it by the CATHOLIC CHURCH and all bibles today are based on that decision.

I wouldnt put it past Christians to sacrifice people today, there all crazy and there are religions better than them like BUDDHISTS, who care a hell of a lot more than Christians.

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Militant Christians
Evangelical Christians
ETC... They piss me off

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The only christians I like are the Unitarian Universalists.

@ThePainefulTruth Said


For militancy and violence, no religion has been able to hold a candle to Islam for centuries; especially since the largest Christian sect in the US (the Southern Baptists) finally disavowed slavery in the 1990's (and which is still practiced by Muslims). And don't forget Jihad, Muslims taking 9 year old wives after Mohammad's example, honor killings, and Muslim parents sacrificing their children as weapons. Etc.

@someone_else Said

Slightly OT here, but is that (which I've bolded) a typo? Did the Southern Baptists still have slaves up until 20 years ago?

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Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Sesquicentennial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-22, 1995, unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin; and...

...Be it further RESOLVED, That we lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest, and we recognize that the racism which yet plagues our culture today is inextricably tied to the past.