| garvey0 said: I agree with you that people often pick and choose what they like out of the old testament, but picking and choosing what they like is a reflection of their own destructive personalities. If they choose to willingly ignore the context of the religion and have no interest in seeking out the true context, then the religion itself cannot be blamed because these people had pre-determined motives and are simply creating justifications anywhere they can find them. Also, God is all-knowing but different societies, time periods, and circumstances call for different commands to fit the context. For example, God gave the israelites many commands regarding the animals of their region. Had He been speaking to a different region in a different time period, He would have given different commands. I know that the commands you speak of are much heavier than the animal-related ones, but I think the analogy can still be applied. When God gave particular orders, He was dealing with an area and a time period where savagery and barbarianism prevailed, and people were consistently at war. I'm not saying that this is supposed to be easy to swallow, nor do I think God wants us to rejoice over it. The new covenant and new testament clearly demonstrate that God has ordained a new age for us through his Son. An age in which these sorts of commands are not given anymore. God planned for this all along but had appointed a particular time for it. The sort of piece we have now through Christ was foreshadowed all throughout the old testament. I personally believe that part of the reason that we still have these old testament books is to remind us that we are no better than many of the people who were killed in those books, yet because of Christ we are forgiven. |
I really do hate getting involved in debates about religions, but I'm genuinely curious about something.
In the case where God had punished this particular man by allowing his neighbour to have his way with his wife, does God pretty much strip the (apparently?) innocent woman of her free will and has her raped by another man? I'm unsure how anyone could accept that simply as chaulking it up to context?
Fighting barbarism with barbarism. It's a rather ineffective and primitive line of thinking if your goal is to change behaviour. Even if I'd believed that God existed, this'd be something far too ridiculous for me to think that a benevolent being had decided.
My intention isn't to come off as confrontational, just curious if what I had based my judgments on are accurate or not. The rest are just my thoughts based on my interpretation of what I'd read, there's no need to feel compelled to respond to it.
