The Old Testament Bible :God's Holy Word?
Posted: Friday, December 11, 2009
by Paul Schroeder
alien / demonic attachment
Who wrote the Bible, man or God?
The answer most commonly given by devout believers is, "Both".
The answer also given is that the Bible is infallible and although written by man, was" divinely inspired', literally meaning, 'breathed into' man but formulated only by the mind of God, Himself.
The Old Testament Bible is accepted without question as the 'living breathing word of God' by devout Jews and Fundamentalist Christians, yet it orders, allows and sanctions blatantly unacceptable and recognizable evil in many of its religious laws and rules.
If this is true how is one to understand God's mind or the inherent Divinity of such a Bible?
Is the murder omnipresent in Old Testament's religious laws a reflection of man's hand in its writing or a mirror of the hand of the all loving God of the Universe who dictated it to them?
One who sees only the hand of man in the writing of the Bible reminds Literalist Fundamentalist Christians and Literalist Orthodox Jews that the true God of the Universe creates star systems and sentient creatures but does not write books.
What evidence can be brought to bear from the Bible itself to illuminate and attempt an approach towards solving the conundrum of the Divine or manmade true origins of the Bible?
One can try by examining specific Divine Biblical laws and Divine Biblical rules that are recognized as wrong and evil by every national and international court in the world.
Slavery and murder are recognized as evils by all courts, yet as practices slavery and murder have been perpetrated by mankind for millennia.
One would presuppose that in agreement with all modern courts, an all loving God of the Universe would surely demand life and freedom and justice for all of mankind who are His children.
Outside of the Old Testament, the ancient Romans and Greeks murdered and enslaved any race of any color from all of the many nations that they vanquished, but early American colonial Christians enslaved and routinely murdered only Blacks and American Indians.
Slavery In The Bible
African slaves were forcefully brought to America by these Christian European-Americans and those blacks who were not murdered were forced to embrace Trinitarian Christianity before they could earn their freedom.
Native Americans seen as non-white heathens were decimated and made slaves by Christians who literally killed more than 90% of the indigenous Indian population throughout the Americas.
Their native American religious beliefs were extinguished by enforced schooling where they were forced to accept Christianity and forced to abandon their own native cherished culture.
The Bible was used by Christians as the God- given and justifying reason to enslave dark skinned others.
Christians used the Bible to maintain that since Noah's cousin Ham was black and was cursed by God, that by implication all black and non-white non Christian heathen peoples were similarly cursed and thus suitable for slavery.
These Christians used the Bible to point out that rather than the existence of any God given Biblical prohibition towards slavery, that God clearly sanctioned slavery in the Bible as a religious law and rule:
Leviticus 25:44-46 "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.
You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.
You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly."
The eleventh commandment should have been given to the ancient Hebrews to read;"Thou shalt not enslave thy brother".
("Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun, it never tells me I'm unworthy. Doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine. So, I worship the sun. But, I don't pray to the sun. Know why? I wouldn't presume on our friendship. It's not polite."
George Carlin)
Murder In The Bible
One of the Bible's ten basic Pillars, the ten commandments, says: "Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)."
Yet, in the Bible, we see God of the Universe commanding the sanctioned killing of every breathing creature from humans to animals.
.Murder is divinely legislated and sanctioned by God throughout the Old Testament's Social Laws:
"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 21:17)"
"For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. (Leviticus 20:9)"
"And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. (Leviticus 24:16)"
"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying: Let us go and worship other gods (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other, or gods of other religions), do not yield to him or listen to him."
"Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death.
Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people." (Deuteronomy 13:6-9)"
"And he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, .....and you must stone such one with stones and such one must die. (Deuteronomy 17:3-5)"
God orders the killing of everything that "breathes" from humans to animals:
Deuteronomy 20:16
" in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes."
Apparently, it is God's edict to mass-murder every single human and animal from the defeated enemy:
1 Samuel 15:2-4
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
The Almighty divine and all loving God dictates that everyone be killed, everyone except for virgin girls:
"They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man........Now kill all the boys [innocent children]. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man. (Numbers 31:7,17-18)"
If Exodus 20:13 was supposed to be the basic pillar that prevents the Bible followers from committing murders against innocent people, then how are Numbers 31:17-18 and 1 Samuel 15:2-4 justified when God Almighty decided to order the killing of innocent children and girls ?
Yet mercy and justice against outright murder, in the Bible, does rarely prevail from God:
2 Kings 6:21-23
21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"
22 "Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master."
23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master.
Can these clearly sinister and un Godly rules of murder prove that the Bible was not inspired by the all -loving God Almighty of the Universe?
To many, these Bible rules and laws are clearly inherent manmade evils written into the Bible by ancient man that touch not nor approach the true heart of our all- loving God.
Rarely do murder rules and murder laws in the Bible appear to seem close to the heart of God's Divinity :
(Sons cannot be killed for their fathers' faults:)
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him."
But would the God of the Universe allow and sanction slavery and murder by divine law?
Hardly.
But, in the Old Testament God kills 70,000 innocent people because David ordered a census of the people (1 Chronicles 21).
God also orders the destruction of 60 cities so that the Israelites can live there.
He orders the killing of all the men, women, and children of each city, and the looting of all of value (Deuteronomy 3).
He orders another attack and the killing of "all the living creatures of the city: men and women, young, and old, as well as oxen sheep, and asses" (Joshua 6).
In Judges 21, He orders the murder of all the people of Jabesh-gilead, except for the virgin girls who were taken to be forcibly raped and married.
When they need virgins, God orders them to hide alongside the road.
When they observe a girl that they approve of, they are ordered to kidnap her and to forcibly rape her and to make of her a wife.
In 2 Kings 10:18-27, God orders the murder of all the worshipers of a different God to happen in their very own church.
How could the true God of the universe allow such evil?
God of the Bible allows not just slavery, but orders the allowance of the selling of your own daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:1-11).
He orders child abuse (Judges 11:29-40 and Isaiah 13:16), and the murder of bashing babies against rocks (Hosea 13:16 & Psalms 137:9).
One must pause for breath and reassess the premise that the Old Testament Bible is indeed the living breathing word of God of the Universe inspired by Him for man to record, observe and obey!
This type of God directed criminal behavior would and should shock any moral person who believes that the Bible is the living breathing will and mind of the Almighty God of the Universe.
Thus evils in the world like murder, rape, pillage, plunder, slavery, and child abuse can always be justified by like minded religious fundamentalist people who can say with justification that God has ordered these things done , divinely, in the Bible.
Ironically it is still accepted widely that Christians and Jews believe that the one true God of the Universe is a good and loving God who wants all people to do only good things.
How can such a Bible be divinely inspired by God when so many passages in the Bible present a message of hate and murder?
Is it that The Bible reflects only man's hand in its formulation?
I leave the question in your hands and in your minds and hearts for discernment.
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Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)Paul,I received your e-mail requesting that I comment on this article.As I read your article I could not help but wonder what you would do if you were God? I am under the impression that granting everybody their heart's desires would result in absolute chaos and disorder. Kind of reminds me of Bruce Almighty when he allowed everyone to win the Lotto. Pandamonuim ensued.OK... so you don't like God's rules. And because the Bible reports apparent tragedies and injustices perhaps you would like to think that you know better how those things should have been done.So, let me ask you. Do you believe in the death penalty? Is execution for a crime the same thing as blatant murder? What if the Ebola virus broke out in the town down the road, would you want the town bombed? What if it was your town? What if terrorists decided to attack your town, would you just say, "It's OK guys, come on in. You don't have to worry about us because we all LOVE everybody here."???In your judgment of the Bible you judge yourself. God's ways are sometimes far beyond our understanding. he allows terrible things to happen in this world to accomplish His purpose. Whether or not we agree with it.Then there is the matter of slavery, huh? Sounds terrible. But, it was the economic system of its time. And the Bible called slave owners to treat their slaves honorably. But, I imagine the evils of capitalism is the lesser of two evils, aye? Insufficient jobs to employ the population, minimum wage jobs, part-time jobs, allowing employees to live in poverty because the corporate giants want to rake in the big profits. Who cares if they don't have medical care? Who cares if they live in substandard housing. As long as the corporations continue to profit and generate taxable income for the state. But, if the corporations can't make it they can file bankruptcy and have the tax payers bail them out... I ask you, is this not slavery?The Bible portrays a world that is filled with all kinds of injustices and tragedies. It is an account of real people with real problems trying to figure out how they are going to live a life that is pleasing to God.Just because you don't agree with the things that God has or has not allowed does not invalidate the Bible. It only asserts your disapproval.If you have problems with the way God does things, and apparently you do, you need to take that up with Him. Have you done that?If you want to find apparent contradictions in the Bible, you can make up all kinds. But the real question is... are there contradictions in your life?Thanks for writing the article. You brought up some very good questions. The only question that remains is whether or not you can trust God.Respectfully,MarkPlease log in to respond to this comment.The Bible is simply the very best history book ever written- not the oldest, just the best- at least for our segment of the world's population. The authors of the Bible wrote down things that happened in their lives, and things they knew and saw in other people's lives... the same way we do now. There were people who had psychic visions , and were given to prognostication then- just as there are now.The stories in the old testament are about the mores and laws of the societies in that particular civilization. People who seek to understand the Bible should also study ancient history and science to aid them in their understanding. It really does help a lot! You shouldn't just brush these things under the rug, and cherry- pick your way through this book- not if you plan to do something as important as live your whole life by it- you need to be more throughly aquainted with it. It's a long road and a lot of work, but will be worth it.Please log in to respond to this comment.No cherry pickers were used in this assessment.This particular Biblical road traveled seemed to require more of a monstrous litter bearer or a mass funereal hearse.Thank you for your comments.Please log in to respond to this comment.To answer all of your your posed queries in one fell swoop, if you are totally correct in all of your hypothetical suppositions and I very seriously doubt this, then I AM innately, a far nicer and kinder being than you see your God to be.Thank you for your comments.Please log in to respond to this comment.And Paul bows out by dismissing his opponents with insisting that he is better than God. HmmmPlease log in to respond to this comment.Not bowing out and not ever better than God, just better than the facsimile mistaken in the Old Testament; goading me will get you everywhere!Please log in to respond to this comment.RE_READ my comment --- carefully--- understand it ----then make another comment. I wasn't commenting on your article - I was responding to the above comment. I totally agree with everything you said- as I said before- you're preaching to the choir, with me. P.S. I so admire your facility with the English language! It's like listening to music.Please log in to respond to this comment.Flattery will get you everything!(smile)Please log in to respond to this comment.I stand(actually, sit) corrected! Easy to understand such misunderstanding;You are more than a fan, you're central cooling!Affection and Thanks; PaulPlease log in to respond to this comment.Mark, during the Holocaust when Christians (and only Christians) murdered 6 million Jews, two million of which were Jewish children, Jews again wondered what it was about the Christian religion that allowed such wholesale slaughter.I have always jokingly but truthfully said that if Jews conquered the West in America, instead of Christians, that all the American Indians would still be alive today and eating in Chinese restaurants!I also recall to mind not just centuries of pogroms against Jews but also the Spanish Inquisition where the entire Jewish population(The oldest European Jewish community) were expelled by Christians and had to leave Spain on the same tide that Columbus left on or face certain death.I offer a prayer to the God of the Old Testament as I am born a Jew.Dear God, we Jews have left our blood and our ashes to cover every rock and every field throughout the entire Christian world.We have paid very heavily for every commandment of yours.We wish that you grant us just one divine wish more:Choose ANOTHER people to be your chosen ones and remove from us your holiness .Blessings to you, too: PaulPlease log in to respond to this comment.
On request from a dear friend on SW who has asked me to apologize to all Bible believing people, let the record duly note that I formally apologize to anyone whom I have unknowingly offended or wounded by this exploratory article, as their beliefs may run deep and counter to mine about this ancient Hebrew text, the alien 'God' described within, whose authenticity I challenge as the one true God of the Universe and most of its recorded events.As a born Jew(as was Jesus;there WERE NO Christians at that time) who has through a miracle sighting accepted the Christ Light as my personal savior,I am sorry if my exploration for truth has caused anyone unintentional distress.Please log in to respond to this comment.
As always your articles make me stop and think. I am not a bible scholar but I do know that God is a loving God. He just doesn't always do things the way I think he should, but then when I look back at my life when I was running it (BC) it was a disaster and I did a lot of damage to a lot of people.Please log in to respond to this comment.It has been said similarly by many others in just that way and it smacks of truth for me as well.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Hi Paul, first let me say Bravo - You actually put together a well written piece pointing out your thoughts on this issue without putting down another's.Secondly, I do have to comment on a few things, realizing this is your article and not mine, I will try to keep it short.Two things stand out most - You say that Christians use the Bible to prove slavery was mandated by God and that because of Ham, Christians agree that Blacks and all non whites are cursed by God. Both of these are not true of all Christians.First, it was the Mormon church only who assumed that blacks were cursed of God because of Ham. Mormons, by biblical definition are not Christians because they do not believe the basic essential teachings of the Bible regarding God. Secondly, leaders of the Mormon church denounced that teaching as erroneous though their forfathers claim to have direct revelation from God. Taken in context, we learn that Ham was cursed because he sinned against God and brought shame to his father. Where he settled was cause for his and his descendants to have darker skin.Also, slavery in the Bible was not as slavery is today. It was a means of provision and more like employer/employee relationships and God gave instructions for how to treat them.Also, you say God gave orders for murder - you cannot say this and quote bits of Scripture out of context. First of all, you must take into account the Sovereign will of God, His Holiness and His foreknowledge. He knows the thoughts and intents of man and he is committed to holiness, grace and protection of those who are his. Also, he is a great God of mercy and patience. His rules were set forth to show the people their need for him.God's protection is base on what he knows of his enemies and their desire to destroy.I respect your opinion and when you lay it out with your thoughts and Scriptures it is easy to see how you and others can come to these conclusions, but again. It goes back to taking the whole of Scripture to see the background and character of God to see how this all works together.Lastly, just because there are things recorded in Scripture, does not mean they were mandated by God, in fact, much of what was done, was out of man taking matters into their own hands and making a mess of things. They are there as examples of what not to do.Aside from all of this, the historical and prophetical proof both within the bible and secular history prove the Bible is accurate in every way. SO there is good reason for others to believe it is in truth the Word of God. Thanks again Paul for a well written article. Blessings to you - and thanks for the apology - I am believing you mean it and have come to appreciate why others accept the Bible with intellegence. Time will tell :-)Please log in to respond to this comment.Thank you for unerring graciousness and aplomb in all your comments as I must be very frustrating for you, nonetheless you are loving and polite.God, however, is ONLY all the MORE loving.To my mind, which has in a undescribable experience joyously felt and basked in the pure love of God channeled through (the miracle appearance of )the Christ-light, as well as to many others minds who have not, it is inconceiveable (and absolutely damning) to presume that the all loving God of the Universe who adores us would choose ONLY ONE people among the untold billions afoot in the Universe and that He would be or could be in any way cruel, malicious, murderous and vengeful; something OTHER than God was afoot in the Bible, beyond any shadow of a certain doubt.Time WILL tell; as a born and formally trained Jew, my faith in the Bible is less than nil; as a newly born Christian my faith in God is total and unequivocal.There is a difference between the God of the Bible and the God that Christ spoke of.Affection;PaulPlease log in to respond to this comment.
The problem with trying to figure the truth of Biblical authorship is that no matter what happens, human hands were involved, and as such human frailty will always enter in to things. We have no way of knowing how much of the Bible is the absolute word of God and how much is someone trying to twist it to their own ends. For me the best way to look at it has been to take what seems to be the core message of Christ, "Love your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself." Make that the focus and read the rest through that filter. Doesn't give any sure answers, though.Please log in to respond to this comment.To my mind and to many others, it is inconceiveable and absolutely damning to presume that the all loving God of the Universe would choose ONLY ONE people and that He would be or could be in any way cruel, malicious, murderous and vengeful; something OTHER than God was afoot beyond any shadow of a certain doubt.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Very interesting article. Bible is written by God for all of us.Please log in to respond to this comment.Angeline means,"angel'.You think that the Bible is written by God because you've been told this but that does not make it a fact.Only when you doubt everything that you've been taught and told do you become a grownup.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Very interesting article. The bible, like all religious texts and all religions, is man made. It does however reflect the mores of its time, and as such is a very interesting historical document.It behoves us all to recognise that times change and our attitudes must change with themPlease log in to respond to this comment.God does NOT change and is and always has been ONLY all loving; that's precisely what brings what's written in the Bible under deep suspicion.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Dear Paul,
Such things need divine revelation, giving deep/true insight. In the end, after listening to his believing friends at a time of great need and much interest in understanding, Job discovered God's majesty, and with amazing clarity. Then and only then could certain questions be laid aside and other questions show their answers.
Blessings, JeanPlease log in to respond to this comment.Dear Jean,I fully accept God's all loving majesty; but I just see the Bible as created by man who created God wrongly, in man's own image.I also believe powerfully that this error occurred because sinister ancient aliens masqueraded as God and was seen as God, equally mistakenly, by the writers of the Bible.Blessings to you too;PaulPlease log in to respond to this comment.
I feel the same way after reading this article this time as I did a year ago- perfect agreement- but never could I have written it as well....Thank you-the truth needs to be said-but not many are brave enough to say it- I'm glad that you are.. Always- EllaPlease log in to respond to this comment.
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