Is this defendable?

Question

Samuel 15:3 (New International Version)

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.

Hosea 13:16 (King James Version)

Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up

Is this realy the Christian way. Why Am I lead to believe the bible is good and the Koran is bad?

I try not to prejudge but the text above should be burnt in my view.

"Yeah, that is DEFINITELY out of context. That's all there is to it."

BUT IS THIS NOT CHRISTIAN TEXT??????

WHY DO WE THINK LESS OF MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF THIER RELIGIOUS TEXT?

Answer 1

Amen to you. It's hilarious when Christians attack the Quran as being a violent book; they haven't read the Bible very closely.

Answer 2

What exactly are you asking? Is it: Is this really Scripture? Is it defendable as a way of living? Or, is this really what a good God would say?

Obviously, you know the first answer is 'yes', and the second 'no'; so, I can only assume the third is the one you are wondering about. the best answer I have seen, is in the book 'The Case for Faith' by Lee Strobel. He is an investigative journalist, now Pastor, and the book deals with some of the most common intellectual problems with believing christianity. Clearly written, intellectually challenging, and easy to follow, I find it a great book.

Answer 3

You seem to forget that God is allowed to "play God" with other people's lives (that's his job). God made life, so God has the right to end life.

You were not there, so you do not know how bad the Amalekites or the Samaritans were, or what prompted God to call for their complete destruction.

The same Bible that said that God ordered these things, also says that God is fair. How can you believe the part of the Bible that tells you about God ordering the destruction of the Amalekites, but not believe the part that talks about God being just? If one part of the Bible is make-believe, then how can you be sure that all of it is not just make-believe?

Under the New Testament we are under a dispensation of grace, so these passages would not apply to modern people.

----edit------
In response to your question about the Qu'ran, there is no equivalent of the "dispensation of grace" in Muslim belief (since they do not believe that there is a Second Covenant, or that Jesus was the Messiah), so there is nothing in their religion to offset or counter-balance the violent passages of the Qu'ran.

Answer 4

Hey David...ironic that you are questioning the bible, as you are called David one of the biggest name from it. Of course the bible is full of violence, as are any other religious book you may pick up, but the differences are from the interpretation of what you read, remember that Christ did not want his disciples to fight for him, "turn the other cheek" . The violence we read come from us, we create violence and we are violent, religious books (all written by human) reflect those qualities, if any God was to personally write a book for our guidance, I am sure it would not reflect anything close to what we have become used to. If you however do not believe in any of the hocus pocus, then your view will be totally different as well.

Answer 5

God has not changed. If He were to act purely as Judge of The World, Mankind would be wiped out for it's selfishness, greed, immorality and violence. God would be perfectly justified, and no-one would survive, because we have all fallen short of what God wants us to be. That is, a community of people that love, forgive, show mercy, and do not judge one another. He wants a community where everyone is cared for and no-one is in need. We are nowhere near this, so we are worthy of destruction. One day, God will do this.

However, God wants to give everyone the chance to escape His anger. That is why He sent Jesus. Jesus was punished for everyone's sin, from the selfish and self centred, to the rapist, serial killer and mass murderer. Jesus was punished for every wicked thing they did.

So, we can accept what Jesus has done for us, receive The Holy Spirit and we will be changed into the kind of person that is acceptable to God. But there is always the choice not to, in which case we accept God's judgement on us not only for our own sins but because we allowed Jesus to take our punishment for nothing.

When you read the violence in the Old Testament, realise that God is currently acting with restraint. He is holding himself back to give you a chance. But He will not do so forever.

Answer 6

First of all its 1 Samuel 15:3 and you can't take it out of context or paraphrase it. If you read all of 1 Samuel 15, you would know that God commanded Saul to do this because the Amalekites were wicked and Sauls attack of them was God's judgement on them for their treatment of Israel. (God has a way of protecting His own people.)

Hosea 13:16 is a warning to the people of Samaria of God's judgment and wrath that will be visited upon them because of their own actions.

To answer your question though, it is the Christian way because God is not only a loving and forgiving God, but He is a wrathful God too. Disobedience to God is sin and the penalty for sin is death. There's nothing left to say.

Answer 7

The bible is full of such hate as is the Koran and the Veda's of India They are all from the dark ages, people try to cover them with honey but deep down in their spirit they know the truth but just cant admit it.

Answer 8

If you actually read the verse, you would see that God says that He is going to destroy Samaria because they Samarians rebelled against God. If you actually read about the Israelites, you would understand why God would be angry. They got another chance after the flood, but yet they kept sinning against God. They also got the 10 Commandments but they refused to obey. The Israelites also chose a king over God, when in His Word, He said we shall have no other gods before Him.

Answer 9

Who cares?
Chrisian fundamentalists believe in Jesus and the words and concepts of Jesus and this passage is from the Prologue to the Words of Jesus Christ or Old Testament and Jesus never said it, so christian Fundamentalists basically dont give a fug whether you burn it or not.
Just make sure it aint the Kur An youm burning, could be nasty.

Answer 10

The destruction of the Amalekite people occurred during Old Testament times. During that era, God's message had been reserved for the Jews which were God’s chosen people. Why? Did God not love the other non-Jewish people? If you conclude that God did not love the Amalekites, you misunderstand Christian philosophy. God loved all people, Jews and non-Jews alike, but He knew two things about those who were in other cultures such as the Amalekites that isn’t apparent at first glance. First, God knew as the result of His knowledge of all humanity that the Amalekites—like every other person who has ever lived—were sinners who would die with sin-debts if they did not accept God’s payment of the debt for them. Second, God knew as the result of His middle knowledge whether any individual person in any particular culture would ever accept His gift of salvation under any circumstances or at any time. In the case of the Amalekites, God saw them individually as totally irredeemable, i.e., there was not one person among them who would ever, under any circumstances in any possible world, receive God’s gift of salvation. The Amalekites were not judged because they weren’t God’s chosen people, but because God knew that each individual in the Amalekite culture—children and infants included—would not accept God’s payment of their sin debt under any circumstances.

Thus, to God, the Amalekite culture, like many other cultures, was full of sinners who would not ever freely choose righteousness, but unlike those people in the Jewish culture, they were completely unredeemable. Such an unredemptive nature was not the result of their having been born into another culture, but because God knew before they were ever born that they would not ever under any circumstances accept God’s gift of salvation.

Answer 11

I wonder why so many of your 'Christians' in their replies are telling you that this is nothing to do with Christianity or the New Testament, because its taken from the Old Testament?
And yet they quote from the Old Testament frequently if and whenever it suits them!!
Very strange don't you think?? (just asking)!