Is this a Sadistic Bible verse?

Question

2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

(King James Bible, 1 Timothy)

Is this the words of your Loving God???

2:3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

(King James Bible, Malachi)

Answer 1

Those bible guys were a barrel of laughs..the old farts

Answer 2

I pointed this verse out to my Mom once and asked her why there were boys in the Sunday-school class she taught. She claimed that the verse didn't apply today because it was based on the idea that Christians should adopt certain ideas common in a culture in order to be able to integrate into the culture.

So, I asked her why the verse didn't bother to make that clear. It seemed to me that the Bible should be very careful to point out parts that are "only applicable sometimes". If God wants people to use the Bible as a basis for how people should live their lives, it seems like he would make a great effort to make it clear exactly when something was applicable and when it wasn't. Otherwise, people could end up making all sorts of horrible mistakes.

She told me I just had to have faith - which is her way of saying "go away kid - you're bothering me".

Answer 3

Try reading a commentary and actually studying the Bible before proof-texting (that's what it's called when someone takes a verse and uses it out of context for their own purposes). This is normally a fault of Christians, but clearly non-Christians can be equally guilty.

Some commentators suggest that this verse was in response to a very particular circumstance when the women in the church the author was writing to were trying to gain the upper hand over the men, rather than co-existing in mutual respect and understanding. Chiding that kind of behavior doesn't seem particularly sadistic to me.

As for the verse from Malachi, just before that, God has accused the priests of making improper offerings and giving improper instruction. The priests are profaning the Lord's name. God's a bit peeved. But at the end of the book of Malachi, God declares, "I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.[...] so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse." Even angry, God can express mercy.

Answer 4

1, 2 Timothy and Titus are attributed to Paul, but scholars believe they were written by someone else many years after Paul's death...they do not even fit in with Paul's other letters. He taught asceticism because he believed that Jesus was going to return in his lifetime. Why take on more wordly responsibility like a family that keeps you away from your spiritual life, when Jesus was going to come back so soon. Don't you want to be ready for that? And if you have lust, then get married, because it is a sin to have premarital sex, but really you shouldn't -Paul was a Jew first, so you can see this influence in his letters some times, although not alot.

Both the Timothy and Titus letters make no sense in the larger spectrum of Paul's teachings...now women are to be submissive, it gives instructions of proper behavior for women, deacons, widows, children, etc...it is clearly written after Paul's death when Christians started to realize that Jesus wasn't coming any time soon and they had to figure out how to act and unite as a group. So the writer/s attributed the letters to Paul, the most active apostle among the gentiles, the person whose influence was the strongest.

So, yes it is somewhat sadistic.. I have a hard time with these three letters.

As far as Malachi, I didn't study the Old Testament too much...but you must remember that part of being an Israelite was to suffer yourself for God on a daily basis "I am slaying for you all day..." And from the sounds of this limited part of the text you extracted, I would have to say that God is not talking to believers, he is talking to unbelievers.

Answer 5

The first part is sexist rather than sadistic and was more in tune with the times and culture where women 'took the back seat' as it is still the custom in some societies today.

In the second part, indeed the love of God is showing through to people deserving nothing better than to be torn apart by wolves!

Answer 6

It's time the bible gets updated again. We all know that..ahem..god changed his mind and wrote (im sorry, transcribed) the new testemant.

Maybe he needs to write a further updated version. Call it New New Testemant or the New Testemant Part Duex, or New Testemant : Jesus Strikes Back.

Anyways, we'd make alot of that obsolete. We'd make a couple of apostles gay lovers (So we can get that outta the way so it won't be such an issue any longer). We'd change Abraham to Adrianna and Noah to Norah (empower the women a little bit). We'd just delete Revelations since its the most non-sensical one there is.

Maybe he'd end with a big bonfire with all the characters holding hands around the campfire singing Kumbaya.

Answer 7

Doesnt really matter

I am presuming you are gathering public support in preparation of praying to God to carry out some Smite order to settle some personal agenda of yours.

Think about it.
There have been so Many of the Very Devout that have prayed and prayed .....
You know - that Uncle Henry get his just due for not helping out with the car payments since he is so rich or that that loud woman that lives up stairs should wake up some morning with her tongue hanging out on her pillow 30 inches long - or even that you know - that Cheney and Bush Might Have side by side heart attacks..
so Many have prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed that God already has his Smite order In-Box on his desk filled up to the Yazzooo.....
God is so far behind in his taking care of Smite Orders sent up from Believing Saved Christians and even Hopefull Wannabees as well as all those finding themselves between a rock and a hard place ...

Doesnt really matter what your own personal reason to be looking up God Law and preparing your case
he likely wouldnt get to your case untill you already have spent a couple eternities in Hell, he is so overloaded

Which at least gives some of the Smiting angelic force personnel some nice time off to party in hell when they get a Late Smite Order and have to go you know 'Down There' to deliver it

Answer 8

Pick one text and find what you are looking for...there are others that tell a different story.

Acts 9:36
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did.

1 Samuel 25:3
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance:

Answer 9

Yes, it is.
For a woman to stand up and speak in the Church without authority was dangerous;
this was for the protection of the women.
There were women who did have a place of authority, and you will find them throughout the Scriptures: they were judges, teachers,
and Prophetesses.

"spread dung upon your face" is an idiom that means you will be put into a place of complete humiliation for your actions, esspecially those who celebrate feast days to idol or false gods.

Yes, God does not like it when people
teach false doctrine and sway his children
away from His Word. He is acting like any very irritated parent who loves his children.
And if you think thats harsh, I have some news for you: when you read that passage in the original manuscripts, you find that its much stronger a warner than even comes thru in the English.
So go ahead, set yourself up as an enemy of God, and show those true colors.
You get to sail your own ship, and if you choose to sail yours straight to hell then have a great trip. Bon Voyage, Captain.

Answer 10

Oh, there's plenty worse than that, including "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." I realize that the original Hebrew was more like "poisoner," but the King James translation team made it "witch." (Actually, they were probably working from the Latin Bible, but I'm not familiar with the details of history on this.) As a witch myself, I resent it.

Answer 11

Yes. I also like the ones about the tithe for baby girls being less than that of boys, and how a woman is unclean for longer after bearing a girl, and especially the one where a girl who is raped should be stoned to death if she didn't scream loudly enough for help.

I love how Christians like to explain this... that we are indeed supposed to be afraid of our creator, and that women are indeed supposed to be submissive because that way everything is nice and neat, and no one has to be bothered by the whole equality question.

Demented. Dysfunctional. Disgusting.