why do religious people get upset when I quote from the old Testement?

Question

seems when I quote passages in the old testement about mass GOD approved killings in the old testement religious people get angry why?

Answer 1

Christians (not all religious people) do not get mad when you quote from the Old Testament...we just understand what you do not...that the Old Testament represents the old Covenant with God and that we now live in the New Covenant through the grace of Jesus our Savior.

If you want to mention God approving killing...you must include all the other groups who approved of killing. Warfare was a way of life in society of those times. Romans, Greeks, Pagans, Jews, Muslims, Persians (Muslims) and family tribes warred and killed. Christians did not as we did not exist in the Old Testament.

The Skeptical Christian
Grace and Peace
Peg

Answer 2

When you start actually quoting from the OT here in Yahoo Answers then I will tell you why I would get defensive about it. My guess, which based on some of your other questions you have asked, would be that should you ever begin to quote from the OT here in YA then there would be an obvious condescension to your rhetorical question. Most likely you would develop a question which already has your unfettered opinion laced within it not looking for an actual answer, but more an attempt at pointing out what you believe is wrong with religion and especially Christianity. There would even be a smidgen of attitude in the question, which most atheists put in their questions, that say, "ah ha Christians I got you now, I know you have no response to this question" thereby in your mind putting us all in our place.

The ultimate point being is that it would be obvious to someone who is knowledgeable about the bible without any difficulty see that the scriptures you would be quoting were taken out of context and for a reason, which would be to suit your purpose versus the reasoning and logic that was put behind the verse in the first place.

But that's just my $.02 what do I know.

Answer 3

I don't get upset. I believe the whole bible is inspired and beneficial for Christians today. We are not Israelites and are not under their covenant relationship with God. That law was fulfilled when Jesus died. With that said, there are still principals that we can follow that show how God feels about certain things.

God did not allow mass killings of righteous people, only those who were truly wicked. Many of the nations around the Israelites were immoral and even sacrificed their children. He promised the Israelites land and they were able to conquer the land and it's inhabitants only if they had his approval.

We have to remember that God can read their hearts. Just as in the case of Rahab who was a prostitute, she was saved because she put faith in the God.

In the case of Nineveh, because they repented they were not destroyed.

Sodom and Gomorrah, God told Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if there were 10 righteous people. As it was there were only three. Lot and his daughters and the angels dragged them out of the city.

Noah preached for 40 years and still only his family, 8 people listened and were saved. All they had to do was get on the arch, nothing else.

So we can see that God does not destroy the righteous, only the wicked. As the creator of the earth and humans, he has the right to protect his worshipers and the earth.

Answer 4

We really don't know if God gave approval. The writer was writing in a mindset of his day. The ancent Israelites were a desert people and complete revelation from God did not come to them all at once. They were influenced by the culture around them and gradually developed a more sophisticated understanding of right and wrong. For instance, a woman's role was that or a child bearer. Some say originally they didn't believe a woman had a soul.
However, before we judge them, you have to realize that the rest of the world was probably more savage.

Answer 5

Hi there, I am a Christian, a disiplined student of the Scriptures, and I have no problem at all with anyone quoting the Old Testament.
Why people would want to be so defensive about it is beyond me - I just don't know why that would be the case.
Yep, indeed there has been interventions of God throughout the Old Testament, and all of them were to assure that everything that happens in this flesh age, happens exactly according to Gods plan. If God needed to intervene in order to keep that Plan on-track, then He did.
I teach from the manuscripts, and I constantly hear "God isn't fair", "God kills people", "God doesn't act very Christian".

It makes me laugh - not because I want to mock anyone, but because I can't help but to envision these people in front of God telling him what a meany He is.
He is God, and whether man wants to gripe about it or not, He has the power to either build or destroy. "meany" or not.
One thing that is true throughout Scripture is that God does not like people who mess with His children, even if its some of the other of his children - you'll see examples of Gods corrections coming down on his children as well as His wrath on the enemies of His children.
One guy asked a question yesterday that
asked if you want to serve a God who is a murderer, and he gave some examples of Gods divine intervention at times of war.
Then the guy got about 20 answers from Christians who tried to justify those examples.
I do not care to justify them: the fact that the Living God called for those deaths is
plenty good enough for me (provided it wasn't a verse taken out of context). Anybody who wants to argue with God will get that opportunity before too long.

Answer 6

Religious people do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Christians (true believers) understood what took place in the Old Testament. If they've read Deutronomy 28 it will give them an idea why God justified His revenge. Verses 1 through 14 talks about the blessings of obedience and verses 15 through 68 explains the consequences of disobedience. Now verse 45 reads: Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee; and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee;... God does not go about punishing people for the sake of it as some people do because they get a kick out of hacking, stabbing blowing someone brains out, burning them up. No! If religious folks are upset too bad, as christians share the love of Jesus and his purpose of coming to earth, to seek and save those that are lost.

Answer 7

Motive, my friend. Motive.

See, when one reads the whole Bible, then what was done in the Old Testament demonstrates several things in the New.

But, when you pick and choose (doing the same things we get accused of), then you can create (or fulfill) agendas.

When God kills, it is because of sin. He usually gives people hundreds of years to change their ways before exacting punishment on them. But, when the cross the threshold of no return (in that their consciences are so seared as beyond repair) He judges them. Sometimes He does it Himself (as with a plague) and other times He uses enemy nations.

God is sovereign, and He is just. Every thing He does is just. If someone dies through God's approval, it is just. You may say "What about innocent women and children?" And I would reply, if a child was raised in a depraved culture, that child would grow up depraved.

People think they know best, and in the U.S. especially, we think that we can vote for what is right. But God is not elected. He is a Monarch. His word is law. Whining about its "fairness" is not only unwise, but unrealistic, since He doesn't change His mind once its made up.

Answer 8

I wouldn't get angry. It's not my place to judge God. But are the "mass GOD approved killings" the only thing you focus on in the Old Testament? Why?

Personally, I believe that as the Creator of life in the first place, God has a right to say how it should be lived, and to terminate it if that is His will.

But the Old Testament is also full of appeals to "choose life" by sticking close to its Creator.

Answer 9

Gee, could it be because we think you're being inflammatory or offensive? The passages quoted from the OT referring to as you say "God approved killings" are judgement from a righteous God dealt to evil, sinful people. There was no plan of salvation in the OT because Jesus had not yet come to earth. What about the scripture in Jonah where Gos spared Ninevah when they repented.

Answer 10

I'm not religious, I am a follower of Christ (a Christian). God did approve of killings in the OT and He will send those who do not follow Jesus to Hell. This is from the NT. I am not upset about either. God is both just and loving.

To understand the Bible you must ask who, what, why, where and when is God saying a certain thing.