Because I've covered this and given it a huge amount of time especially when Baker was around here. I will absolutely stand by my statement that people were NOT killed for NOT being a follower of (back then) Jehovah God.
To put simply.........
EVERY wrathful judgment in the history of the world by God has been a holy act of preservaton. He hates sin as a mother hates the cancer that would take the life of her child. Each and every example you give in context has an explanation as to why this had to be done for the preservation of society where violence was the way of life.
So, you assume that I have read everything that you have written?
If God is the father of man, why would he need to rage war against his Children? Is causing one child to sin (murdering another) eradicating sin? Isn't it just justifying one sin with another? Or, is it not sin if it is the "Lord's work"? If the Lord came to you and told you it was alright to blow up Iraq because they are sinners, are war hungry, and believe in a different God, does that make it OK?
What is God talked to Hitler and told him to kill the Jews, those who lived with the Jews, and take their land (Poland) so that they had space to live and flourish in the embrace of the Lord. Would that justify the killings? If that is what he thinks he did, is it too far fetched to believe that he saw it the same as the other hostile take overs talked about in the bible?
Would it be OK if the barbaric things described in the bible happened in current life? Would you be able to justify them as God's will? Or, would they be the work of Satan?
It's very easy for you to pull out a few scriptures out of context and point out to what a mean ol' God we have.
OK, can you explain the context of this, and how this is a good "Christian" example in the bible?: "After this, David subdued and humbled the Philistines by conquering Gath, their largest city. David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David's servants and brought him tribute money. (2 Samuel 8:1-2 NLT)"
Or, if You prefer the King James bible: " And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts
How can executing anyone be in the best interest of a loving God? And then enslaving others to be servants? Gee, that sounds like a good thing to read your kids at bedtime. My question was if there were references in the bible about killing for Christianity, not if God was "mean".
One of my all time favorites is Deuteronomy:
1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.
9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege:
20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
Hmm...tell them to be peaceful with you, and if they don't? Well, take them over, kill everything, and keep making war until it's yours.
Yeah...I can see how there is absolutely nobody on Earth who could read the bible then act out as if they were living by God's will. I am sure that there is nobody that has ever taken the written word at face value and used it as the purpose for a war, or to murder people. The bible is so utterly peaceful, it's impossible to see how anyone could be inspired by its violence. Yeah....
