Why is it?

Question

i answered a question about why believe/dont believe in jesus i said i dont and i gave texts from the bible so why is it that people still seem to think i dont have good reason here is what i said:
I don't
here is why:
1. the bible commands horrible things like murder and slavery

- Exodus 35:2 – God demands that we kill everyone who works on the Sabbath day.

- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – God demands that we kill disobedient teenagers.

- Leviticus 20:13 – God demands the death of homosexuals.

- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 – God demands that we kill girls who are not virgins when they marry.

- Exodus 21:20-21 – God says that it is OK to own slaves, and it is also OK to beat them.

- Colossians 3:22-24 – Slaves need to obey their masters.

- Ephesians 6:5 – Slaves need to obey their masters just as they would obey Christ.

- 1 Peter 2:18 – Slaves need to obey their masters, even if their masters are harsh .

2. Jesus asks insane things and contradictory things

-Luke 18:18-22 - Jesus commands you to sell EVERYTHING you own and live a life of poverty

-Luke 14: 26-33- Jesus says that if you do not hate your family and your self you cant be his disciple, now this clearly contradicts "honnor

you say i have a false understanding these messages are very clear, god commands them what am i not understanding?

You may look the quotes up if you wish they are not taken out of context also it was said "the god they now believe in" isnt a key part of the bible monotheism, just because people choose not to listen to those parts doesnt mean they are not there and it doesnt mean your god didnt command it.

as for this being from the old testament i found this to be the only version i should quote seeing as the new one was revised by kings James of england and edited by the play writer William Shakespeare. There is another passage where he commands we drinks his blood and eat his flesh, i find that to be more than a bit crude.

"The scriptures are understood by your spirit,,,not your intellect" so am i to understand that any intellect amounts to nothing? and i am to blindly follow a book written down by people who thought the earth was flat? Furthermore religion in its self is arrogant to think think that in this vast universe we are all that matters? that god decided to create the universe on a wim and made us the the only important thing? Why would a god need to create people who do nothing but mindlessly argue about details, also why would he have us kill people that he created? isnt it a fundamental idea that everyone is equal? Logic dictates that this is all untrue

"God is perfect" that would imply that god can create nothing less than perfection and would want to create nothing less than perfection but no matter what religion you follow no one is perfect or even close, why do we have suicide bombers, pedophile priests, serial rapists, murders, and religious wars

"The New Testament tells us that the Law of the Old Testament was a shadow of God's will."
the new testament aka the king james bible was not edited or revised by god but by a king who did it for his own means and it was edited by many other people some of which play writers (fictional writers)

so that statement is void because the speaker has no grounds to say that

you also say it was the flaws of people, but if the bible is the word of god it cant be wrong and god still plainly states these things it is no matter of interpretation but of what the bible says, also your "proof" goes very far out of the way to disprove passages to the bible, but if i were to go around trying to shoot down passages that were more commonly used than people would just dissmiss them right away

Answer 1

Those are just a few areas. You've focused on the negatives.
It was PEOPLE who decided they could rule themselves without God. Jehovah God stepped in with his covenant nation and gave various laws to help after the fact. Below are just a few GOOD things you may have not noticed.

"Whereas the non-Hebrew remained the property of the owner and could be passed on from father to son (Le 25:44-46), the Hebrew slave was to be released in the seventh year of his servitude or in the Jubilee year, depending upon which came first...

During the time of his servitude the Hebrew slave was to be treated as a hired laborer. (Ex 21:2; Le 25:10; De 15:12)

A Hebrew who sold himself into slavery to an alien resident, to a member of an alien resident’s family, or to a settler could be repurchased at any time, either by himself or by one having the right of repurchase. The redemption price was based on the number of years remaining until the Jubilee year or until the seventh year of servitude. (Le 25:47-52; De 15:12)....

When granting a Hebrew slave his freedom, the master was to give him a gift to assist him in getting a good start as a freedman. (De 15:13-15) If a slave had come in with a wife, the wife went out with him...

The Law protected slaves from brutalities. A slave was to be set at liberty if mistreatment by the master resulted in the loss of a tooth or an eye. As the usual value for a slave was 30 shekels (compare Ex 21:32), his liberation would have meant considerable loss to the master and, therefore, would have served as a strong deterrent against abuse...

Certain privileges were granted to slaves by the terms of the Law. As all male slaves were circumcised (Ex 12:44; compare Ge 17:12), they could eat the Passover, and slaves of the priest could eat holy things. (Ex 12:43, 44; Le 22:10, 11) Slaves were exempted from working on the Sabbath. (Ex 20:10; De 5:14)..."

(Information taken from Insight on the Scriptures: Slave. Published by Jehovah's Witnesses)

Answer 2

The New Testament tells us that the Law of the Old Testament was a shadow of God's will. In the Old Testemant people could not be born again because Jesus had not died for their sins, nor was the Holy Spirit available for all mankind.

Therefore to keep evil from growing, God had to use extreme measures. Now evil is hindered by the influence of the church. Jesus said that the church is the salt of the earth. Paul even says the church keeps the anti-christ from manifesting. And when the church is raptured the anti-christ will have freedom to do his evil.

We don't follow Old Testament law.

Jesus asked one man to sell all he had because that man asked what he could do to be a disciple, and Jesus knew the selfishness in his heart. therefore Jesus said that which the man was unwilling to do.

being saved does not require any such thing. But being a disciple requires we obey Jesus and give up what ever He wants us to. And each persosn has different things that they are very unwilling or is very hard to give up.

Answer 3

To begin, the "slavery" you are referring to in the Old Testament is not what happened in the USA pre-civil war. If you understood the history you wouldn't try to use that as some sort of excuse not to deal with your own sin, and with God.

Likewise, there are many issues which were relevant culturally, socially, medically, etc. in the Old Testament which no longer apply. And the Old Testament is about the LAW. Jesus came and by dying and being resurrected put us under GRACE....again, if you understood that, you would not be spouting ancient rules which no longer apply because we are no longer under the Law.

In regard to Jesus asking "insane and contradictory things"....

The first reference you give is Luke 18:18-22. In this situation, a rich young man approaches Jesus and asks what he must do to be saved. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments.

The young man then says "but I've always kept all the commandments".....in other words, he DENIES being a sinner. He is not TRULY repentant for anything because he has convinced himself that he's pure inside already. So Jesus pushes him a little farther, to see if he is REALLY sincere about following him, and finds out that the young man is not willing to do what Jesus asks of him.....

At any rate, it IS better to get rid of what you have and live in poverty if your soul is hanging in the balance.

As for your Luke 14 reference....

"One must remember when reading the Scriptures that to take passages in an ultimate, wooden way is detrimental. One must surely honor his mother and father; however, what should you do if your father or mother asked you to kill? Would you be disobeying God if you disobeyed them?

The general admonition to honor your mother and father is a good one. In Luke 14:26, Jesus is laying out the marks of a true follower. He uses a common bond, the love for your parents as a point of comparison. He says that to be a true disciple it requires total devotion. You cannot be more devoted to you parents than to God. Indeed, in my example above, one should obey the laws of God that say "do not murder" above the commands of your parents. Jesus is saying that those who follow Him should love Him so much, the love for their parents seems trivial in comparison."

Answer 4

for one thing, the Bible was written a loong time ago so a lot of things have changed. even if you go to a different country, a lot of the customs and their cultures are different. some may really surprise you. one reason God may have wanted to kill disobedient people, is because if they live and keep on sinning, soon more and more people will follow their example. they'll think, "o look, God is letting that person sin. i guess i can sin too and get away with it."

also God wants us to hate ourselves and family so if they ever betray us, or if we betray ourselves, we can always rely on God to take care of us. God is perfect and will always be there for us don't mistranslate the Bible, for it is very easy to do sometimes. .


"For the wages of sin is death . . ." Romans 6:23

all sin is equal. sin is sin. we all deserve to die.
" . . . but the gift from God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
if you accept our Lord and Savior into your heart, you will live forever in the kingdom of heaven.

Answer 5

Read the Gospel of John,,,find out who Jesus is and why the Father sent him....once you know who he is and what he did for you,,,,then accept that sacrifice for your sins. Once you repent from your sins, you can ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in understanding...The scriptures are understood by your spirit,,,not your intellect...there are some hard things in there if you don't understand the reason for them...

Answer 6

Because people who believe in things without proof usually lack the capacity to think logically. Which is why they can get on soap boxes about how the bible says homosexuality is evil, and yet have disobedient teenagers running amok without a second thought.

Answer 7

Forgive me, but you seem to be misconstrued concerning several of these verses... these things are not as simple as you have exclaimed...

for example, Christ does not demand absolute poverty of His faithful, destitution is not a requirement of salvation, the rich man Lazarus is an example of one of Jesus' wealthy disciples... poverty is only one path, for those who would choose complete spiritual perfection in this life... if all Christians everywhere became monastics and beggars, our society would collapse...

Also, Christ does not want us to disavow our loved ones for His sake, but only to make sure that we always put Him first in our lives, and follow His word above all else, even over the commands of a father or mother...

If you truly wish to understand the Scriptures and their meaning, you must learn and study alongside true Christians who understand what it means to live a life for and by Christ, and Y-Answers is a poor place to begin...

This site may interest you, there are many loving, knowledgable, and intelligent Christians here who have helped me to better understand my faith...

http://foru.ms/

Answer 8

Many who believe say that the things you quoted are 'arcane' or no longer hold value to the faith and therefore don't show the God they now believe. Also, there will always be people who say that God exists no matter what you say or quote.

Quoting the text of something others believe in does not prove the non existence of something. All it shows is you can look up things from their source so if saying/proving God is 'bad' is your reasoning that he does not exist many will say it is not good enough.

Answer 9

I agree with you Mike.. and James at least he explained his reason for saying what he said.. prove your theory .. and tell us how to interpret these things that are written ...instead of just saying he's "wrong".

Answer 10

you don't have perspective. you can only see the short term. you also need to quit taking things out of context.
I read your question and can't understand why you would even try to ask a question, after all you said "I don't have good reason here" That is what you said isn't it?