Genesis Family Values
According to Christians, the story of Abraham and Isaac (from Genesis chapter 22) is a testament to Abraham's great love for God.
Basically, God ordered Abraham to kill his son, Isaac, and present him as a "Burnt Offering." So Abraham ties Isaac to a wooden alter (as instructed) and, knife in hand, gets ready to kill his son. Then, an angel stops him just in time and God let's him kill a ram instead.
What a horrible story!
What kind of "loving" god would order such a thing? It sounds more like something a gang member might have to do to prove his loyalty.
And what kind of father was Abraham? He was willing to kill his son in cold blood and burn him, without protest or even questioning God.
The real answer lies in verse 12. The angel says, "now I know that thou fearest God." The story is not about love, but fear! Like most of the Old Testamentt, the story is designed to scare people into submission to "Almighty God."
And what about poor Isaac? How fucked up would that kid be after his father tied him to an alter and raised a knife to kill him? I'm sure God kicked in for the therapy bills...
Here are the key passages:
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Comments
I have brought up the other parts of the bible, especially the OT and all of 'gods' commandes to kill and slay everyone in sight. She cannot answer. She will call Hitler evil for murdering 6 million people, but not 'god' for killing every last person on earth except for Noah and his family.
The moral relativisim is shocking, especially since my wife is the kindest and most loving person I have ever met. I can tel that she has some cognitive dissonance over these issues, but she flatly refuses to ever discuss the subject with me anymore. The truth tears at the very foundations of her entire world view that her pastor father and mother raised her with. Hopefully she will begin to see out of the cave and realize that the 'god' she serves is not about love, but death and destruction.
And that he really doesn't know who has faith in him.
the last massacre and wanted
to use it up before the expiry date.
If the story were to happen today - Abraham would be tried for attempted first-degree murder and would plea insanity from good advise from his lawyer since "Jesus told him to do so" - How do you think that would hold up in court??? & Jesus would be tried for conspiracy to commit murder. Now are those types of people we should follow?
I am sure there are other ways to prove love and loyalty for one another besides killing your kid - that sounds like torture. And why does God not know if you love him? With all these games going on in the bible God sounds like a high school kid asking his girlfriend if she loves him, by having her always prove it.
As for Jesus, his sacrifice consisted of a really bad fraternity hazing that he simply woke up from after a day and a half. He was only "dead" for a little while, and never really in danger of eternal death or hell. At least that's how the story goes.
I remembered being told about this lovely story when I was a kid how Abraham loves so much his God and how making your 1st priority is to follow God even before your family. Now, that I'm able to digest that story, I wonder how can someone teach us about how to get your family values by following Abraham's "love" of God, without looking that the real picture of the story is to be fearful of him.
Amazing how the Christians will tell you how God loves you so much and this story is just a test of loyalty to Abraham. If God loves you, why the hell will he asked to kill your son for him? So insane.
If I am Isaac, after that loving test of God to my father's loyalty, I would have said, "Go to hell dad! Drink your tea with your crazy god! You'll never see me again. You already killed me when you agree to do this shit because you're so afraid he'll kill you instead!"
Although, hell is not yet known those days, darn!
And since Abraham offered his wife/sister to Pharaoh as part of a business arrangement, screwed her slave to make a baby, and then was willing to murder such a child, then why would anyone take his teaching seriously? This is a man who is neither mentally competent nor suited for moral guidance. And probably not the kind of guy a god would talk to anyway.
Perhaps he was just interested in created a fear campaign to keep his tribe in line. With leadership like that, only the fearful would follow. (George Bush).
---Brent S
"altar" is a raised platform used for religious or ritual purposes...the cartoon didn't even get it right...stupidity has its privileges
The story of Abraham showed me how much it might have pained the heart of God to sacrifice His Son for our sins on the cross
---
Hey Dead John-Boy,
I'll add my own thought to the webmaster's (if he doesn't mind that is?)
Would you kindly explain to me how this super duper god of yours could ever feel "PAIN" in his "heart"?
Yes, I'll grant you that god doesn't really have a physical heart, but if god is feeling PAIN, then guess what, your god has a WEAKNESS. OOPS!!!
Gosh, does he have any other human weaknesses, hmm.
Oh yeah, he get's angry and jealous to.
Isn't it obvious, that humans made up their gods and NOT the other way around.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Oops, you might not be old enough for coffee yet, well, then wake up and smell the goat milk.
ATF (who wonders if daddy god cried real tears for TWO days when his son 'slept' in a cozy tomb)
Oh yeah, and fuck you for the stupidity comment!
Haven't you every made a typo? Or are you perfect in the eyes of god????
I'm not perfect in the eyes of god...where are his damned eyes, anyway?!?!
and as you see the ram was offered as a sacrifice instead of his son look at the bible in spirit and value that not value life without the spirit
please read it again with prayer God will show what he was doing GOD LOVES YOU MAN HE'S NOT MAD AT YOU HE WANTS YOU BACK HE COULD USE A SMART PERSON LIKE YOU GOD BLESS
It's hilarious that your god's omni-everythingness isn't enough to accomplish His Very Own Plan and needs the help of a smart (yet worthless) human being.
It's hilarious that your god's omni-everythingness isn't enough to accomplish His Very Own Plan and needs the help of a smart (yet worthless) human being.
Jesus is not getting me back but since Jesus is not real he doesn't care.
PS - Looked at the Bible in prayer. Couldn't believe any god of love would fry people for eternity. Got me to reading and doing research.
Frottez-le dur pour Dieu!!!
Peace
D8
On second thought, in the interest of eventually having fewer xtians in the world ----
Oh, never mind.
BP
what about all those people who put their life into their faith?
what about all those people who wouldn't survive without the hope that their loved ones are safe somewhere else?
everyones beliefs are their own, and they people shouldnt be judged by their faith!
this is a horrible website and it shouldn't exist.
Yes, yes, of course your idiosyncratic interpretation of scripture is the one and only true meaning. Christian groups around the world have vast and differing interpretations of scripture and they all claim to have the true meaning of it. I'll tell you what, melba, when christianity is unequivocal in it's interpretation of scripture you come back and let us know -- let's say sometime around -- never?
--S.
YOU obviously didn't read the name of the website---EX-christian. Um, that means we don't believe in the biblegod you speak of anymore, and thus, the idea that we would "accuse" something that we don't believe in is quite asinine.
So you would kill your child, if you thought your god was telling you to do so?
Like WOW!!
ATF (Who also wonders if melba would kill a thousand children, if she thought gawd told her to?
God asks Abraham to kill Isaac.
That is Love
Yikes I think I prefer a different intepretation of love.
God asks Abraham to kill Isaac.
That is Love
Yikes I think I prefer a different intepretation of love.
Human sacrifice is never a good thing, and has nothing to do with love. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The Abraham/Isaac story is a tale of abuse and terrorism, and does not paint Biblegod in a flattering light.
And I have the ultimate "unjust" for you -- Original Sin. First, Biblegod frames two naïve, child-like humans for a "crime" that they could not have comprehended in advance because they did not yet possess knowledge of good and evil. Then, Biblegod establishes a penalty so high that it's impossible for a mortal to pay it.
You, Melba, are worshipping the mythological equivalent of a loan shark. (And I wouldn't be proud of that, if I were you.)
Well, my plan is to continue thinking you’re a pinhead; if your gods' plans are different and more authoritative, he'll correct me right now... nope, that settles it, me and your imaginary god agree that you're a pinhead.
THESE ARE THE WORDS OF GOD SPOKEN THROUGH A MODERN DAY PROPHET.
Really? Wow! Tell us who this prophet is. Is he on youtube? TV? Or is this prophet you? Hurry, the world might end today and we'll be banished to hell for all eternity if you don't enlighten us pronto. We're depending on YOU, a(nother) True Christian™.
BP
THESE ARE THE WORDS OF GOD SPOKEN THROUGH A MODERN DAY PROPHET.
Really? Wow! Tell us who this prophet is. Is he on youtube? TV? Or is this prophet you? Hurry, the world might end today and we'll be banished to hell for all eternity if you don't enlighten us pronto. We're depending on YOU, a(nother) True Christian™.
BP
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