why aren't these practiced any more...?

Question

more than 1 wife , eye for an eye, stoning disrespectful kids, slavery yes in the early days god permited slavery...

Answer 1

Because none of those things are understood in the simplistic fashoon you are interpreting them as.
1) More than 1 wife was always frowned on, but allowed- in fact the word for co-wife in hebrew is '"rvah"- or opponent. Polygamamy was temporarily outlawed by Ranneinu Gershom in the tenth century- and then turned into a permanent ban since it was thought better to prevent the situation.
2) An eye for an eye has ALWAYS meant equal compensation for the wrong done in Judaism. it has never een used literally by Jews but rather as a principal that when damage is done, proper compensation must be given regardless of the relative standings of individuals.
3) Stoning disrespectful kids was never done. For a death sentence to be imposed by a Sanhedrin there would have had to eb massive provocation. A sanhedrin that sentenced more than two people to death in seventy years was considered bloodthirsty and banned from hearing capital cases. the death sentence is used by the Torah to indicate things which we need to be extra careful with since they have a massive impact- and honouring your parents is one of those. But there was a more practical reason it couldn't be done- a court can only impose a death sentence on somebody that is over bar mitzvah (13 years old and one day). So a child under that age could never fall foul of this law. But over that age while you are obligated to honour your parents- this law couldn't apply- since you are not obligated to obey them and adhere to their rules once you over bar mitzvah. Also, they are no longer obligated to see to your needs- nor do they retain the right to tell you what to do. So their is a practical problem with this law- you are always going to be too young or too old for it to be applied!
4) Slavery in biblical times was not the slavery of the early Americas or Europe- it was a limited time of indentured servitude during which the master was compelled to train the slave in a trade while looking after their wellfare. The laws about treating a slave well are so numerous and so onerous that the Talmud comments "He who takes for himself a slave takes for himself a master." At the end of the period of servitude the master has to pay the slave and help them to start a new life.

So we don't practice 1 because it is no longer a cultural norm and there is a rabbinical ban on them, two we still practice cince we enforce equitable compensation for damages through courts, 3 was never enforced but given as an indicator of its seriousness and 4 was a cultural norm that was heavily regulated to ensure a person was rehabilitated and is no longer practiced since we use other rehabilitative methods.

Answer 2

It is considered wrong throughout the bible to have more than 1 wife, looking through Levitical laws.

Slavery was a good bit different then as it is now (After 7 years they were permitted to be freed), and was mostly due to social differences between now and then. The entire book of Philemon is devoted to how Paul thinks a slave should be treated after he ran from his master, and how he should be forgiven. This is a far cry from the slavery we think of in movies or that America held in the early development of the country.

The idea of eye for an eye isn't practiced mostly due to secular laws, but also because the understanding of grace afforded to Christians by their Creator God.

And the stoning of disrespectful kids was under only certain conditions, disrespectful is a bit of an understatement for the crime needed to require stoning, and kids typically referred to older children, not young kids who still lived at home before they were married. (Think the Prodigal Son story - both Sons were horribly disrespectful by Jewish custom of the day).

Answer 3

More than 1 wife/slavery: biblical law gives precendence to local government in areas where there is no conflict. As polygamy and slavery are only permissible and not obligatory, when local/national goverments prohibit these activities, those laws are followed.

eye for an eye: except in the case of murder, eye for an eye always meant monetary damages. This is still followed, although many could argue that courts and juries have run amok on the amounts awarded vis-a-vis the damage done.

stoning disrespectful kids (actually it just applies to boys): This law can never be applied as the only time when a child is eligible to be punished under this law is the moment the child is the moment he turns 13 years old. Not 1 second before and not one second after. The purpose of this law is to demonstrate that the ulitmate purpose for man is to learn God's ways and laws as He gave them in the first 5 books of the bible for its own sake. Obviously, learning the details of a law that could never be (and has never been) applied is learning only for the sake of learning.

Answer 4

It is nice that you have captured some Old Testament (Holy Scriptures) restrictions. These restrictions apply to Israel and his descendants (the Jews).

As for Judeo-Christian values, they are derived over the years from different cultures. Judaism has been practice in seven civilizations.

As for your examples, "more than 1 wife" is due to Roman marriage. "Eye for an eye" is still practice today in Law. Stoning in all forms is banned. Slavery is forbidden in most countries.

Answer: Everything you said is in the book; some things once allowed are not practice by the Jews of today.

Answer 5

slavery was much different then. Waring tribes took captives of men who were at war with them and trying to kill them.
Would it have been better to kill them or keep them in a prison? Social life was much different then to. There wasn't any social programs to help widows and orphans. When a women's husband died she was left virtually unprotected.
She could be raped or starve to death. We see that in the fields that Ruth gleemed in the book of Ruth. As a widow
Ruth 2:15 Boaz charged his men not to molest her.
Why would he say that unless it was done sometimes?
there has always been a surplus of women. Men die on the job in war and they are just more out there to get hurt or killed.
By allowing this to happen God was in essence protecting the women. It was never his desire, he gave Adam one wife not four. So that shows his standards for mankind.
If that was his desire in the beginning he would had set the standard by giving Adam more wives.
later because of man's sin and fall from grace he had to allow things he never intended in the beginning.
No one ever stoned their disrespectful children probably should have but there is many accounts of bad kids getting away with rape and murder. But it was setting a standard and showing people how important child training is.
Read 1 Samuel 2:12 Now the son's of Eli were good-for-nothing men, they did not acknowledge God.
But he did not have them stoned. Samuels sons were so bad even he couldn't recommend them as prophets to come after him in service to God. Didn't say what they did but does say they were bad. But doesn't say he had them stoned to death. They had an oral law that went with this written law.

Answer 6

You will still find all those things happening today, but Jewish law had a method of addressing those problems -- Judges!!!

Yes, we still have the death penalty on the books, but how often is it used? Why do we have laws against running red lights? Because people are running red lights!!!

The difference is that Judaism adapts those laws to the practices of the time in order for justice to be served. Christianity negated all laws but for one, "love your neighbor...." Perhaps some of those negated laws weren't so bad after all?

If you want to understand Jewish law, you must be familiar with the Talmud. However, the Roman Catholic Church banned the Talmud and burned Jews together with their Talmuds in synagogues. To this day, you will find *few* Christians who have an inkling of what Jewish law entails!

About slavery, a better translation would be "indentured servant" which we still have today. Again, Jewish law provided many protections and guarantees for those "slaves." They were to be treated as part of the family. They were to be given a day of rest (as well as work animals). They were to be freed after 7 years and supplied with resources to survive on their own.

Compare this to Christian slavery in America's south! You realize that slavery still flourishes today, do you not? Jews have *always* had laws of protection for them on the books!
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Answer 7

Our western idea of marriage is more based on what Jesus said that marriage is defined as 1 woman, and 1 man.

Eye for eye is resembled in the law of the land. EG:Murderers ending up on death row.

Stonings were a Jewish thing, not universally for all people all time.

Slavery was permitted for neighboring nations who were already a slave to sin. But they werent supposed to sell each other as slaves as they were people of God and supposed to be salves to nobody. Slavery was given provisions by God, but it is never taught as a good thing.

Answer 8

More than on wife-because it's illegal, but if you really want to become a mormon and move to Utah
Eye for an eye-because Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself" and to let God do the judging
Stoning disrespectful kids-when did they do that? That was theiving kids.
Slavery-because slaves in the "early days" were more of servants and had the option to purchase or earn their freedom. Slaves as America used them is pure cruelty and could never have been considered right in any culture.

Answer 9

it would be a society of the ignorent's where as ur opinions won't matter. there for no productivety in man kind.
ex. i come from a society where an elder or the first born of the family is always considered right, when i think or oppose as a youngen or second born to even state my case. i was put down, outcasted, scolded, there for be in state of misery.
ur question i've thought of time to time but when ever situation like that of what i've said above in exmp comes forth, i just crummble to be humble. what example i've stated is just one of the many unfairness that i've witness as child growing up and considered how much the american's have it blessed, even to have thought the people being blessed knowing to share what goodness they were blessed with, quote from Jesus Christ "freely give for u have freely recieved"
one more thing, in my original society if it were to be how it would have used to have been. state of kingship. then except for people of elite, everyone else would have been slaves. another ex. being not a multi race society there were 20 million population. about 500,000 to 1million was royal or elit, 19 million others were slaves or peasents that would sale themselves for a desent days meal to become slave class. back then just "one meal" is not the value of today. it was like a half days of work. working in a farm picking the crops and this is if there was work.
again what i said above is stated in the bible and can be proved in the many cultures of the world "ask a historian" and they'll state it as how i've said it.

new is always better then old.
because of the improvements in mankind.

God figured the old testaments way was not working. there for he gave us a new testament, where mankind has impoved far beyond then any previous society man has encountered.

Answer 10

God allowed these things because man had it in his heart to do so. It was not so from the beginning. Just like anything give man time and he will abuse God's plan. Even children take things to the limit. Until parents get them under control. God said ok,so I will limit this abuse and turn a few things. He told them how to treat slaves and allowed men to divorce their wives. Children were only stoned when they neglected their parents. Families were stoned when they sinned against God by worshiping idols and stealing. A lot of things were permited because of the hardness of mens hearts and their wickedness. Mathew 19.