"Christians": Some of you say "that was then and this is now" - are you suggesting God compromises Himself?

Question

When some talk of OT Law, they say those were the laws for those people at that time. They may add that those laws -had- to be brutal because those were brutal times with brutal people.

But the Laws as given by Jesus are quite different from those brutal OT laws.

So when God is quoted in Leviticus as handing down those brutal laws, was God compromising His values by telling these brutal people to brutally put people to death for adultery and cursing their parents and so forth?

If the Love and Forgiveness of Jesus has given voice to God's true values, how do you explain God giving out laws with death penalties for all sorts of things that we do not believe warrant the death penalty?

Have we become a more civilized people than the God of the Old Testament?

Examples: Leviticus 20: 7-27

Answer 1

No, God is perfect in justice and wisdom. The Laws of the Mosaic Law code were strict and many for a reason. I do not agree that they were brutal.

The "Law" was for the purpose of leadin the people to Christ - showing them how great their need was for a savior - for the Messiah. The Law was perfect - but the people were steeped in imperfection and unable to keep that Law exactly - showing them that they needed Christ to redeem them from their sinful state.

The Law also kept a wall of protection around those people - keeping them as clean as possible in the eyes of God so that they were a nation that could bring forth the Messiah.

No man is "deserving" of life. All sin - whether a great one like murder or a lesser one to our eyes like dishonoring your parents - is equal in the eyes of God. All sins make man deserving only of death. It is mercy and love on God's part that he gives us the opportunity to live anyway. And that he gave his Son to buy us back from this horrible state.


God is love.

Answer 2

First let me start by saying some people don't believe the old testament is valid today but I beg the diffrence. yes Jesus Christ our Lord has come however there are some things in the old testatment that have not been fulfilled, and there are some statues that we must keep, most are gone and done away with, but some are still in effect. We as people choose to ignore this, as well as the legal system chooses absolute power over GOD'S princple, and standards, and there are those who do not study, or those who live in other third world countries, who are not aware of the word of GOD.

The change took place because one man came into the world, and bought sin Adam, and by another sin was taken away, and made life and given grace through Lord Jesus Christ. We keep forgeting that it has been nothing that we have done, or thought about; Jesus became the sacrifical lamb, and through him we now have grace, grace is not something earned it is something given. God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son.

In the beginning GOD never intended for death pain and suffering but because of Adam & Eve sin was brought, therefore death became possible with all living beings plants food animals ect..... but Jesus bought life, and death, death no longer has it sting, however for non believers there is still death, and sin, but because grace has been placed in the earth just like sin, untill Jesus comes back and sit's on his throne there will be both. So far as us being more civilized; no. We had to go thru a lot, because Jesus had not paid the price of sin, now that this price is paid we now have grace, if in fact we were more civilized, divorce, and adultrey, would not be at a all time high, teenage pregancy would not be at a all time high, neither would war, also disease are at a all time high, in Europe the teen pregancy is higher, and a one parent home, fatherless home is the majority in Europe, even religious people divorce rate are at a all time high, remember 911, so all I am saying is we as a people are getting worse, maybe smarter, but worse, and the Bible say's it is going to get more worse, it say's people hearts will wax cold, because of all the lawlessness! now I don't know about you but that does not sound civilized to me.

Answer 3

Lets say it this way:
In a scientific theory a Hypothesis is formulated.
variables are calculated. with each variable the potential for change. If the variables change the total work the hypothesis has to be changed.
Since we have the benefit of reading the entire Bible and analyzing from start to finish--you will find the biggest variables are people and their actions(Laws). In past questions and this one you continually find the supposed contradictions. Just maybe God moved to change the rules from the OT to the NT. The Jews rejected Jesus as the fulfillment to the law. Christianity is founded on Jesus. Just imagine the hypothesis changed because the variable demanded it.

Answer 4

Adam is silly... he thinks you haven't read the bible and don't know what you're talking about.

Well, one thing that I have to say is YES we have become a more civilized people than the god of the Tanakh (the god of the OT is a plagiarized knock off that has had his feminine parts removed). But in reality, we're just more civilized than the people that invented this god. I wonder how many christians would serve this god if they lived right across the bay in Egypt before this Jesus character showed up. Would they still think this god is 'loving'?

Answer 5

You need only to look around you and closely examine each thing you see, be it living or inert. No random accident can have ever planned such a natural progression from Nothing at all to the wonders you can hold in your hand. Examine a leaf and learn how it is designed to change sunlight into Food for itself. That kind of Engineering results from intelligent planning and allocation of the exact number of Neutrons to any particular nucleus in order to form any one of the more than 90 elements that make up Matter. The more you study atomic structure and the makeup of Matter, the more you realize that it could not "just happen". It took planning that stretched Eons into the future starting with Nothing but electrical impulses for raw materials.

Answer 6

Why do I get the impression you're not looking for an answer so much as you are trying to show how much smarter you are than those poor dumb "Christians" ?

I'm a Christian. I don't claim to understand God. You seem to think that you can.

What I do know is that a person's understanding of God is filtered through their own mind, so it will be very imperfect and vary from person to person and culture to culture.

If you really wanted an answer, you'd have to go to a priest or theologian. Where's Father K tonight? But then, you're not after an answer, are you?

Answer 7

All of the 613 laws of the Old Testament are within the 10 Commandments. The Old and New Testaments go together

Answer 8

you misunderstand...when Jesus came he consummated the OT...meaning the law was fulfilled under Christ, the law in the OT does still apply but the punishment is postponed, which is called grace, "for the wages of sin is death" all men deserve death because that is the price we pay for sin, but Christ did not sin so we can choose His grace or not, all men alive today are under Christs grace is one way or another, but this grace will only by you time, once you are dead no grace can be given to you...so in the OT there was no grace period of time thus brutality, in the NT because of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice a grace period is given for man to repent...

Answer 9

The almighty God is capable of doing anything and everything, including compromising Himself to make His laws for those people at OT times.

Answer 10

This is a good question, but remember the OT came from the Jewish faith. Christians didn't agree with all of it, so they amended it, and they had to add in lots of stuff that would supposedly appease the "pagans" so they would hopefully become sheep and follow along without complaint as well. That is where the more lenient parts come in, and why.