j d worthington
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2006
- Messages
- 13,889
Revelation -- such early marriages were (and in some places still are) quite traditional and accepted. We don't have to agree with them, may feel they're wrong... but it's their culture, not ours. We wouldn't want them dictating to us on how we handle ours, either. Don't forget, too, that in the U.S., not that long ago, it was quite legal to marry 12-year-olds and, in some states, girls even younger (this last with their parents' consent).
As for the Bible not saying to kill off people of other faiths... where on earth do you get that? The Bible is full of such things! Nearly everywhere the Jews went, this ended up being the case, from Canaan on. Just because their god told them to do so, does not make it one bit different... in fact, it's very much the same.
If you look through your Bible without preconceptions, you'll find it is every bit as violent as any other holy book can be... New Testament not excluded (though it is somewhat milder there than the Old). Such religions, with their origins in such early times, almost invariably tend to be divisive by nature. After all, each thinks they have divine revelation to guide them, and the others are wrong to a lesser or, in many cases, greater degree.
The contemporary accounts of the Crusades are full of brutality on both sides; and Christians throughout history have perpetrated barbarous acts against those not of their creed, always backing it with scriptural authority. Look into the origins and history of the Inquisition; read the Malleus Maleficarum; read the sermons of the New England Divines, or Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana or Wonders of the Invisible World. These are all chock-full of biblical support for such actions. One may argue that "Suffer thou not a witch to live" is a bad English translation from the original (which would more closely be translated "necromancer", perhaps), but it does condone the killing of those who commune with the dead... a practice of many religions in history. There is also the passage which tells how, should anyone -- your friend, your wife, your children, seduce you from your worship of God, then your hand should strike the first blow, they are to be killed, taken out and stoned to death. The number of such passages is frankly quite staggering. And to say that "That was the Old Testament, not the New" is both disingenuous and undermines the very basis of the New Testament and the New Covenant Christ's birth, death, and resurrection was intended to create... not to mention the entire support of St. Paul's teachings.
Before going hammer and tongs after any other religion, I'd strongly suggest you re-read the Bible carefully, thoughtfully, and critically... look at it anew, as it were. You'll find that, on the subject of violence to one's fellow human beings, there's precious little difference between it and either of the other two religions which sprang from the same common source.... None of the three has the market cornered on either virtue or villainy....
As for the Bible not saying to kill off people of other faiths... where on earth do you get that? The Bible is full of such things! Nearly everywhere the Jews went, this ended up being the case, from Canaan on. Just because their god told them to do so, does not make it one bit different... in fact, it's very much the same.
If you look through your Bible without preconceptions, you'll find it is every bit as violent as any other holy book can be... New Testament not excluded (though it is somewhat milder there than the Old). Such religions, with their origins in such early times, almost invariably tend to be divisive by nature. After all, each thinks they have divine revelation to guide them, and the others are wrong to a lesser or, in many cases, greater degree.
The contemporary accounts of the Crusades are full of brutality on both sides; and Christians throughout history have perpetrated barbarous acts against those not of their creed, always backing it with scriptural authority. Look into the origins and history of the Inquisition; read the Malleus Maleficarum; read the sermons of the New England Divines, or Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana or Wonders of the Invisible World. These are all chock-full of biblical support for such actions. One may argue that "Suffer thou not a witch to live" is a bad English translation from the original (which would more closely be translated "necromancer", perhaps), but it does condone the killing of those who commune with the dead... a practice of many religions in history. There is also the passage which tells how, should anyone -- your friend, your wife, your children, seduce you from your worship of God, then your hand should strike the first blow, they are to be killed, taken out and stoned to death. The number of such passages is frankly quite staggering. And to say that "That was the Old Testament, not the New" is both disingenuous and undermines the very basis of the New Testament and the New Covenant Christ's birth, death, and resurrection was intended to create... not to mention the entire support of St. Paul's teachings.
Before going hammer and tongs after any other religion, I'd strongly suggest you re-read the Bible carefully, thoughtfully, and critically... look at it anew, as it were. You'll find that, on the subject of violence to one's fellow human beings, there's precious little difference between it and either of the other two religions which sprang from the same common source.... None of the three has the market cornered on either virtue or villainy....