What do Christians think about what Lot did?

Question

Some guys came over and tried to rape his guest, and he said "No, take my virgin daughters instead but do not harm this man I met today."

Now, if this is morality in the Bible, do you think other things (Literal Interpretation of Genesis, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Condemnation of those with different faiths, Heaven-Hell extreme choices, slavery, sexism etc, etc?) could have been wrong, too?

Perhaps the Bible is not to be taken as 100% literally as you thought, or that maybe it has been corrupted by the hands of men?

This is a hypothetical questions, my beliefs are quite different, see bio.

I mean, the guy met a guy that he barely knows and some guys want to rape him, and he gives them HIS DAUGHTERS THAT HE SHOULD LOVE AND CARE ABOUT AND HAS KNOWN HIS ENTIRE LIFE? What is up with that?

Answer 1

who ever said what he did was right?

Answer 2

According the the church I attended as a child (my family was christian) it was as such. During that historical time, daughters, women in general, were little more than chattle to be bought, sold, batered or whatever. IF you invited a guest into you home than you were honor bound to protect them at all costs...so, from a Historical perspective Lot was doing nothing more than upholding his responsiblilties as host to preotect his guests. From a moral standpoint, the idea was that by giving the mob his daughters, he woule be preventing them from doing a more greivous sin. Raping a woman was a far less serious matter than raping a man...in a sense he was trying to save them from themselves. Basically it was the lesser of two evils in that case. He was doing what, to his understanding of custom, morality, and law was the right thing. Understanding the historical and cultural context of the material makes a more literal interpretation possible. This was then followed by some comment as to how in the modern world a differnt choice would have to be made becasue the laws of man were no longer in concert with the laws of God. As fas as I know that particular churh still teaches the story that way.

While I am not now (and wasn't really then) a Christian I do agree with the idea of understanding the history and culture of the time with regard to thie interpretation of ANY religious text, whether it is the Bible, Talmud, Q'uaran, Edda, Veda, or any other Holy book.

Answer 3

And these actions made Lot the one person worth saving, of all the people in Sodom or Gomorrah. Wouldn't you think there were probably some children living in those cities? Were they also guilty of sodomy? Whatever, God wiped them out along with everyone else. But Lot, the guy who lets his daughters be gang-raped by an angry mob, HE's worth keeping.

Yes, it was a demonstration of the values of the times, which valued hospitality very highly, and valued daughters almost not at all. Which is why some interpretation should be used before applying any biblical passage to a modern context.

Answer 4

During that time, children were considered property, and not valued the same way as we do today. The ideas and ideals presented in the bible must be interpreted to what the underlying meaning is. But it must not be picked over and gone through like a sale bin at wal-mart, picking out and using only what we want, and rejecting the rest. This trend is disturbing to me.

Answer 5

Thanks for the clarification. I do not think the guys wanted to rape him. They were after angels sent to protect him.
I am more uncomfortable because I do not know what the lesson is here. Is he a bad man for not protecting his kids or is he a good man for protecting his faith above all else even his kids?
It is a lesson it is not suppose to be a pleasant bedtime story. The drama helps you to solidify your own values. The bible would be meaningless if it was not a little rough.

"Oh children here is a story about holding hands, skipping down to the meadow and picking daisies"
NO That is not it.

Answer 6

The Bible reported the facts. It in no way condoned Lot's behavior. So as usual you would rather slander the God of the Bible than take an objective position and genuinely seek the truth of the matter. I see so much of this on this website. Why do you ask questions when you have no intention of hearing but only expressing your own unenlightened opinion?

Answer 7

It only demonstrates how some of the books in the bible were written in a time when peoples’ concept of god was extremely primitive. Their concept progressed and in the more recent books (ie the NT), god actually begins to behave a little. The best evidence for how man made god in his image is the bible itself.

Answer 8

actually that was to be taken literal. you see, he would have rather they taken his daughters then to have the wrath of God upon him for allowing them to take the angel (lot knew they were angels of God,but the people didnt ) you also have to understand that the world was young and Gods rules were not established untill the 10 commandments . up until then his rules were be fruitful and become many and not to eat from that tree. the 10 commandments were the basics for the rule but if you read exodus through numbers you will find so many rules that the isralities had to follow ,you probably wouldnt understand why there where so many. if you keep reading the account on lot you will find that his daughters tricked him into having sex with him so that they would have offspring from him.

Answer 9

because a visitor could actually be an angel. so think Lot did this for his own interest. because he thought they were angels and therefore would look on him favorable.

it doesn't sound like the right thing to do. a better thing to do would be to say rape me instead i would think.

the Bible records the wrong things people do and the right things also. it's a record.

Answer 10

See...THIS is why it's so stupid to take the Bible literally. It really WAS written by men. Men who at the time, didn't value their female children like the non-3rd worlders of today. The God I believe in, would never condone that crap.

Answer 11

I smell a witch, I smell a witch. Exodus 22:18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Now pass the collection plate while I write a check for my new Benz.