On Creationism

I had been under the impression that Deuteronomy requires a rape victim to marry the rapist, but examining more closely I think this is wrong. This is from Deuteronomy 22 (NIV), and the section starts: 13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate proof that she was a virgin. 16 Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[b] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, beca...

Okay, bit of a shock title, but it is true, according to the Bible. I wrote most of this is a forum post , but thought it was worth preserving for the next time. Children that God killed by drowning How about all the children drowned in the Flood? Millions of them, presumably. Children that God struck dead We can discuss the killing of the first born in Egypt (Exodus 12:29). 29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Children that God burned to death This is from Genesis 19:24: 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire pl...

This is something I wrote two years ago when challenged to a debate by a guy styling himself "War_Eagle" on CARM. He then failed to show up, pretending he never knew about, claiming to have put me on ignore after issuing the challenge. How very brave of him! To their credit, CARM were then willing to move the thread to the atheism section, where others could respond. However, they do keep that hidden to casual visitors, so you would eed to get an account to see it. http://forums.carm.org/vb5/forum/secular/general-secular-and-apologetic-topics/atheism-agnosticism-sec-humanism/28051-biblical-slavery Slavery in the Ancient world Slavery was institutional in the ancient world. In many cultures, such as ancient Rome, a slave might have a pretty good life, but many slaves, even in the same culture, were treated badly. For example in Egypt: http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/slavery.htm The least fortunate captives were sent to work as slaves in the dreadful g...

I came across a series of blog posts by a guy called Clay Jones (D.Min. Associate Professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University according to his blog) that attempt to justify the destruction of the Canaanite people. It is illustrative of the lengths Christians will go to to rationalise Biblical atrocities. An issue from the start is how far we trust the Biblical text. The Bible authors clearly had an agenda here; they were themselves trying to justify their conquest of the Canaanite lands. What they were doing was typical of the time; tribes fought each other, and the winner got the land while the losers got slaughtered. Later the Jews were on the receiving end (and it is notable that the Babylonians were considerably more moral by not doing that to the Jews). Let us suppose, however, that the Biblical account is accurate, since we are supposing God exists here. God Ordered the Canaanite Destruction Because of Their Sins http://www.clayjones.net/2015/03/canaanite-punishment...

Understanding Psalm 137 Psalm 137: 9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock. For reference, the Hebrew can be found here: http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/137-9.htm Why was it written? Perhaps a bit of historical context is in order. When the Psalm was written, the Jews were in exile in Babylon. Clearly they were not happy about it, and what we read in Psalm 137 is the glee one of the captives feels at the thought of the Babylonian children getting bashed against rocks. However, as this page makes clear, a lot of good actually came of the exile. The Jewish people developed a strong independence that it is still apparent today, and allowed them to survive the best part of two millennia without a homeland. Furthermore, the Jewish faith was re-made at this time, explain why this tragedy had befallen the people, and to some degree borrowing concepts from the Babylonians (and consequently the Christian faith would be quite differen...

There is good evidence that anti-Semitism in Europe (and later America) has its roots in this verse: Matthew 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. The author of the gospel was probably trying to exonerate Pilate, to make the text palatable to the gentiles, and was probably refering to the destruction of the Temple when he said his blood was on their hands. However, the effect was to have the whole Jewish race pronounced guilty of deicide. The so-called "Blood Curse", the Jews as the "Christ killers". We can see the early church fathers took it that way in many quotes: If someone had killed your son. could you stand the sight of him or the sound of his greeting? Wouldn't you try to get away from him as if he were an evil demon; as if he were the Devil himself? The Jews killed the Son of your Master......... Will you so dishonor Him as to respect and cultivate His Murderers, the men who crucified Him? - John...

A common justification for the Biblical genocides is that God, as the creator of mankind, has the right to take life if he wants. William L Craig seems to be the most vocal proponent of this idea, for example here: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/slaughter-of-the-canaanites The command to kill all the Canaanite peoples is jarring precisely because it seems so at odds with the portrait of Yahweh, Israel’s God, which is painted in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Contrary to the vituperative rhetoric of someone like Richard Dawkins, the God of the Hebrew Bible is a God of justice, long-suffering, and compassion.  ... According to the version of divine command ethics which I’ve defended, our moral duties are constituted by the commands of a holy and loving God.  Since God doesn’t issue commands to Himself,  He has no moral duties to fulfill.  He is certainly not subject to the same moral obligations and prohibitions that we are.  For example, I have no right to t...