Christians: If God commanded you to fly an airliner into a crowded office building?

Question

would you do it? why or why not? and before you say he'd never ask such a thing, remember the story of Abraham and his son.

Answer 1

God commanded Moses to kill thousands of innocent women and children, so by these standards your question is not so unreasonable.

The problem IS.... there are still people around who think that their God commands them to do things like that. The God that does that is the one worshiped by Christians Muslims and Jews.

Answer 2

Not the same thing....... but.... God makes The Rules.... God may command His people to do any thing... and His people will obey.... know this however... if it is truly God saying to do something... then the one he is speaking to will know for absolute certain that it is God telling them... not just some crazy mental voice.... Those of The Church will know The Voice of God when He Speaks... and there is clear protocal for determining The Truth... should there be someone saying that God has told them to tell you or The Church to do such and such.... but... When Given a direct command by God there is no doubt... and God would give such a command directly to the individual.... no guru gobetweens... no mule'as

Answer 3

Great question!

Firstly, how would I know that it was God giving me that order? Before I rush to blindly follow it, it might be a good idea for me to verify the source of the 'message'.

If The Bible told me to fly an airliner into a crowded office building or simply to kill unbelievers (it doesn't by the way) then that would contradict my own God-given moral concience so I would want to verify that I had translated and interpreted that Bible passage correctly and I was reading it in the proper context and in harmony with what the rest of the Bible said.

On the other hand, if a burning bush, or a disembodied voice, or an apparition which had the appearance of Moses, Abraham, Jesus, an Angel, the Virgin Mary or some other Saint told me to do it, then where could I go for confirmation of what they were telling me? Why should I automatically believe them?

How could I tell if they were:
(a) Really who they appeared to be
(b) just my imagination
(c) A mischievous ghost playing pranks or
(d) an evil ,malevolent spirit trying to cause death and destruction?

I could pray over it, but I would still have the same problem of verifying the source of the answer to my prayer.

My only recourse would be to go to the Bible and see what scripture says.

The same would apply if a priest, pastor, rabbi or some other religious leader told me to fly an airliner into a crowded office building - I would have to go to the Bible to verify their message.

The Apostle Paul praised the Bereans because they searched scripture to see if what Paul and Silas taught them was correct and if I followed their example I would find this advice:

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1) and "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21).

I would find warnings about: "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ" (2Corinthians 11:13).

I would find warnings that the Devil can transform himself into an Angel of light and deceive all but the very elect.

But I would NOT find a command to murder unbelievers or to to fly an airliner into a crowded office building, so I would not even consider doing it.

I would find some violence in the Old Testament, but there were not open-ended commandments meant for all times, they were specific commands handed down to a specific people at a specific time for a specific one-time only reason.

The story of Abraham and his son in which it was a test and God stopped him before it was too late would not be relevant because Abraham did not have the benefit of the scripture, the teachings of the Prophets or Jesus, or even the 10 Commandments to refer to and had to trust totally what he was told. In view of that we could expect and do in fact see that God would not permit Abraham to be told the wrong thing.

We however have the benefit of the completed Bible and teachings and examples of Jesus and the Apostles, so God does not need to restrain our hand or prevent people from bringing us an incorrect message because we have no excuse if we allow ourselves to be misled.

That is the reason for the scarcity of Christian terrorist groups and too many people are losing their heads to fanatics screaming praises to Jesus (or Moses, Buddha or the many Hindu gods either) as they are to shouts of “Allah Akbar!” Islamic terrorists wage holy war on a daily basis because it is the literal open-ended command of the Qur’an, but Christianity (and other religions) are commanded to do the opposite of this in their Holy Books and fortunately most of them obey or we'd be in a real mess!

Answer 4

Abraham was not a christian, number one. He didn't know Jesus. Abraham was saved due to his faith and obedience, as are we christians, however, our faith and obedience, in the present dispensation, must be in Jesus Christ.

Now, you must ask yourself, would Jesus do such a thing as fly a plane into a building, killing thousands of people? The answer is no. Jesus did not do such things in his life on earth, and he never gave standing orders for us, his followers, to do such things either. And so, if we want to say we are followers of Christ, then we have to follow the example set by Christ.

Now, why do muslims do such things? Here's why: because they are following the example set by Muhammed, the founder of Islam. Muhammed killed innocent people in his life on earth - even beheaded 600 or so Jews in a single day! And, in the quran, the book Muhammed wrote, there are standing orders given for muslims, even muslims living today (standing orders are for all time), to either convert or kill non-muslims. (Those who will not convert, are beheaded. Those who leave Islam are beheaded.)

So, a muslim who flies a plane into a building killing thousands, is following the example set by the founder of Islam, Muhammed. But a christian who does the same thing, is NOT following the example set by the founder of christianity, Jesus Christ. And, therefore they cannot, by definition, be called christian.

Answer 5

People don't realize that story of Abraham was more a story of God and Jesus than of him following orders.Abraham told his servants "The lad and I will go up the mountain to worship and WE (not I) will return.The mountain ,Mt. Moriah is the very same Calvary or Golgotha.Abraham took his son,his Only son up to die on the hill like Jesus.When Isaac asked where the sacrifice was ,Abraham said "God himself will provide a lamb(Jesus) ". Because when they did see the sacrifice it was a ram not a lamb.God had promised Abraham to make a great nation of Isaac.He knew he wasn't going to die...."and Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness".
Faith is belief put into action.God does not go against His nature,we do.

Answer 6

And remember the Lord did not make Abraham go through with sacrificing his son. God is in the business of saving souls, not killing them. You can't look at Old Testament Scripture and understand who God is today because of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament was under the Law-----instant death. We, as New testament Christians, are under Grace because of Jesus' death on the cross for every man / woman. God is now long-suffering. Meaning, He is patient, not wanting any person to perish. But His patience is quickly drawing to a close as this world winds down.

Answer 7

Hello Brendan G.. :)

How could a person flying a plane into a crowded office building, be compared to God testing Abraham's Love..The Lord provided a ram to take the place of his son..


In Jesus Most Precious Name..
With Love..In Christ.. :)

Answer 8

they all say god didnt allow abraham to kill the son BUt he asked him to do it...and the question is If god asked you to do the airplane crashing would you do it? that is will you go into a plane with to intention to crash it into a building??? No matter that later on god told you to stop, would you go into the plane with the intention of crashing it???

Answer 9

I wouldn't be so willing to say that President George W Bush is anywhere near being a God if that's what you're implying regarding 911.

Answer 10

God once asked me to sacrifice my daughter to Him. It was so He could deal with her instead of me continuing to deal with her and never getting anywhere. She is now much better as a person than she was then. He wanted me to not interfere with His plan for her life and so far it has worked out very well.