im not a very religious person, though i go to church when i can and i pray often (i just dont read alot of the bible). i've only read the complete first two books of the bible, and then pieces here and there. well when i read the first part of the bible i was really discouraged. i dont understand why God blessed men who cheated on their wives (or had several wives). why did God bless Abraham when he drank and he lied to the two kings? God was even going to curse the kings who didnt know any better...why would he do that? i just dont get it. i dont understand why it was ok for the earlier men to cheat, drink, lie, and so on and yet, it's a sin today? why would it ever be okay to do that?? please help me...i've been stuggling with this question for a long time.
2007-11-15 05:25:44 · 9 answers · asked by Destiny G 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
i dont see what they did that was so wonderful. if abraham did something that was worth the tons of blessing he recieved then let me know. however, even after he lied to the kings about his wife the kings are the ones who got in trouble...i dont see why they got in trouble. im not attacking the bible. i just want to understand it.
2007-11-15 05:33:05 · update #1
also, i dont remember God ever saying that what these men did was wrong. i only read that he blessed them....and it seemed to me that they recieved blessing for no reason, except faith. how come he never told them that they needed to be sorry for their sins. abraham lied to 2 different kings, and the kings were the ones who were in trouble.
2007-11-15 05:36:14 · update #2
God shows even the greatest christians weaknesses to show us they are no different than we are.
God forgives all sin and it is all there
AMEN he saved me
2007-11-15 05:29:10 · answer #1 · answered by jesussaves 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Hi, Destiny
The Bible was written at a time when it was considered normal for a man to have multiple wives. Furthermore, at the time the Bible was written, "adultery" was defined as a WOMAN having sexual relations outside the bounds of marriage. Whether a man did wasn't really a cause for concern.
The reason for that: Women had only one real purpose in those days - to produce a male heir to a man's wealth so that his legacy could continue. This is why men often had many wives - to increase their chances of having a living male heir (because as you know, many children died young in those days from disease, etc.). And this is why "adultery" only applied to women. If a woman had sex before marriage or had sex outside of marriage, she might give birth to another man's son, and he would not be her husband's true heir. This was a threat to the man's legacy.
The men who lived at that time and who wrote the Bible didn't see a problem with a God who blessed a man for having sex outside of marriage, or who had multiple wives, because that was a normal, everyday part of their culture.
The fact that we have vastly different morals today from those found in the Bible - and the fact that you feel very strongly that adultery is wrong, whether it's committed by a man or a woman - says a lot about whether the Bible's morals still apply in today's world.
If you're not terribly religiously inclined anyway, and you're having trouble coming to grips with what seems to be backwards, wrong-headed morality in the Bible, perhaps you should explore a belief system that does not depend upon the Abrahamic God or the Bible. Many exist, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Paganism. And atheism - I'm an atheist; I don't believe in any gods at all, nor in the divine nature of any religious texts; yet I still live a wonderful, fulfilling, moral life. :)
It's okay to not believe in all the contradictory hooey in the Bible. Nearly none of it makes any sense by our modern ethical standards anyhow. You are not a bad person if you just can't accept the Bible in today's modern world. In fact, you're a *smart* person if you can't reconcile all the problems with Biblical morality and your modern code of ethics.
2007-11-15 05:34:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just don't read it. The whole book is designed to confuse people so they look for support with the bossmen of the churches. These then gain the moral high ground, or at least clain it, and can manipulate the confused at will.
Listen, the whole church has become an organism in its own right and it will do everything it can to stay alive and even grow. It feeds on the minds of the confused and fragile.
If you live a good life and are happy with what you have you'll be rewarded no matter what religion you adhere to.
2007-11-15 05:35:57 · answer #3 · answered by Rikounet 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
None of the men in Genesis were justified for what they did wrong; they were right by God for what they did that is right. Wouldn't you prefer it that way too
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One of the points of veracity of the Bible is that the main characters are flawed, while God was not. No other ancient oration or literature creates such a dicotomy; this sets the Bible apart from other ancient literature
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I believe someone else mentioned you might consider reading books from the New Testament first, they are more given to picking up and reading; the Old Testament was a record to people (the Israelites) who already knew the stories in them
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What they did that was right:
Noah dedicated a huge amount of his life building a boat, as directed by God
Abraham left his homeland and lived as a nomad as directed by God
Jacob was willing to give anything for the blessings of God
Joseph was tormented by the events of his life and yet still turned to God in all things, and forgave his brothers.
These are pretty extrordinary things for men to do, things God still calls men to do today: obey Him, love, forgive
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God did condemn what they did, but in a subtle way. Read carefully about the consequences of actions; the author (by tradition, Moses) is careful to record these, trying to demonstrate that God brought about consequences for sin (family strife, war, death are all consequences that occured). This is important since Moses, in writing this narrative, is trying to get Israelites to see that history proves the same things they were beign told by Moses: that all sin has consequences
2007-11-15 05:30:41 · answer #4 · answered by Cuchulain 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It wasn't ok. That's why God sent Jesus Christ. Man was sinful and the animal sacrifices were not enough to cleanse them of their sins. Abraham trusted God. This is why the Isrealites were God's chosen people--not because they were without sin, but because Abraham trusted God enough to sacrifice his only son, Issac. Jews are from the house of Judah, which is only 1 of the 12 tribes of Isreal. Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice, to atone for their sins; so that God could forgive them and offer them eternal life. Because they would not follow God, it was then offered to the Gentiles as well. Out of the 12 tribes, only the house of Judah continued to follow God, and they still do today.
2007-11-15 05:39:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You Have to Grow in the Spirit to be Able to Under Stand "Spiritual Things" after your Born-Again.
Takes Time.
I Stayed in the New Testament untill I Could go into the Old Testament and Actually Start UnderStanding "What was going On".
Hope this Helps.
2007-11-15 05:31:05 · answer #6 · answered by maguyver727 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
God is simply a concept. The bible is a record written by an ancient group of wandering tribesmen who knew very little about the world of today and its evolved mores and attitudes.
Most of the morality expressed there is simply the moral attitudes of the men who wrote that document and reflects the type of world and times they lived in.
2007-11-15 05:30:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
God loves us even with our flaws and sins. With your thinking God wouldn't be able to bless anyone because we all sin. God saw Abrahams goodness and potential through his sinfulness, just like He sees yours and mine. Praise be to God
2007-11-15 05:29:15 · answer #8 · answered by gtahvfaith 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Fictional people do that sometimes
2007-11-15 05:29:10 · answer #9 · answered by gobronco64 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋