Is the God of Christians a paedophile?

Question

Many Christian biblical scholars agree that Mary, mother of Jesus, was approximately 12 or 13. Doesn't this make their God a paedophile by modern standards of morals and ethics? If not, why is Muhammed derided as such?

Furthermore, should people on R&S only be allowed to *ask* questions pertaining to their own religion? If so, then a lot of people on here should just STFU already since they obviously have no idea what they're asking about. If not, then why do you think that so many people jump to conclusions about a person's religion based on the questions one asks?

RE: "faith"
"Allah, the Moon God", eh? Stop learning about Islam from Jack Chick comics, OK? People who *don't* believe the Vatican has a giant supercomputer with the name of all Protestants can tell you, most definitely, that Allah is *not* "the Moon God".

Answer 1

In a metaphysical philosophy sense, I think it's a bit difficult to try to apply a human concept of pedophilia to a god. But given the trend in Christianity to humanize God (through Jesus, etc), it might be less peculiar.

If you want to apply modern standards to an ancient time, I suppose it could be pedophilia. But that depends on how you want to determine the age of God. I personally think it's a bit unfair to think of Biblical times by our modern standards, when marriage of young women to older men was common then.

As for why Mohammed is called a pedophile by some, I'd say it's a cultural bias. If he's a pedophile, you could make the argument that God is (but you get into tricky ground over God's humanity). I think why Mohammed is subjected to the potentially unfair imposition of our modern standards is cultural bias. Few people apply the same harsh scrutiny to their own way of life as they do to others. Plus I think the western world is generally weirded out by polygamy and other Arab marriage customs, making them more judgmental.

Edit:
faith: I'm a little confused about a few things that you mentioned. First of all, Allah the moon-god? Allah is just the arabic word for God, the same as God, Yahweh, etc, the same as the Judaic and Christian god. Second: by Islamic teachings, Mohammed is as "self-proclaimed" as any of the prophet, ie. he was chosed by God through the Angel Gabriel. Lastly, by Arab tradition, brides were always virgins, so of course the women he had sex with, i.e. his wives were virgins. And I'd be very curious about what these "writings" of his are, partly because I've never heard of him making taking any public pride in sexual escapades, and DEFINITELY not in having relations with young boys. And, he was illiterate and therefore couldn't write. So I'd love to hear what these writings are, because apparently a lot of my information is wrong.

Answer 2

If you have read the Bible, as well the read up on the customs/culture of that day and time, (not only the Hebrews who adored their children male & female) most girls WERE married or promised to a man their parents choose by the age of 15. Some cultures of that day betrothed their female children at birth & had the marriage performed by proxy before the female had her first menses. And the consummation of the marriage usually occurred within a year or two of their first menses.

Mary was 15 when she became betrothed to Joseph. Almighty God did NOT have physical sexual relations with Mary. Almighty God did not need to, He simply spoke the words & willed the precious gift of life into Mary's virgin womb. Mary was almost 17 when she gave birth to Jesus Christ.

Mohammed, the self-proclaimed prophet of Allah, the Moon god, never made any secret to and languished in personally retelling his sexual escapades and preferences throughout his writings. He DID have intimate physical and carnal sexual knowledge of sloe-eyed, young virgins; he never made any secret to the fact that he preferred virgin young boys.

Answer 3

The whole issue of God allowing evil is a tough one. It takes a lot of thought and prayer to even begin to understand how a loving and holy God can allow the tragedies of child abuse and other horrors. First, we need to understand that God does allow evil. If you didn't believe that He allowed evil, then you would have to believe that He is powerless to stop it when it happens. And we know that isn't true. As the sovereign, all-powerful God and Creator of the universe, God allows everything. Nothing good or bad happens outside of His control. But this is different from God INITIATING and CAUSING the evil and suffering. As a holy and perfect God, He is incapable of evil, and He cannot cause evil. If God did allow evil, He would have to destroy everything that is evil, INCLUDING US. But in His great love and mercy, God not only allows us to live, but He has given us a way to get back into a right relationship with Him in Jesus Christ. (Read Romans 5:5-11) Creating beings with the capacity to sin is not the same as creating sin. To use an analogy, let's say that a dad made a baseball bat out of a tree branch so his son could play baseball. But then someone stole the bat and used it to kill someone. Does that mean that the dad created a murder weapon? Even more, does it mean that the dad is responsible for causing the murder? Of curse not. Our legal system recognizes the difference between the person who makes something for a good purpose and someone who uses that object to commit and evil act. The flaw is not with the maker but with the one who chooses to commit the evil. Tod created Satan and the fallen angels for good, but they made their choice to turn that good into evil. The same goes for you and me. The difference between angels and humanity is that the angels have no chance for redemption, but we humans do. We have the opportunity to be made righteous, or perfect, through the perfect and sacrificial life of Jesus Christ. The love of God intervenes despite our sin. God is being patient with us so that more people will repent. But His judgment of sin will come. (Read 2 Peter 3:8-10)

Answer 4

May God forgive you for such ignorance of the Christian teachings and of the Holy Bible. I am by no means devout in my practice of the Christian religion, but I love my God and am deeply hurt by your complete ignorance of the Bible. Besides, by definition, I beliee you'll discover paedophelia does not involve immaculate conception, not that that should really matter. Get a life, and do us all a favour: either read the Bible or shut up! Clearly you know nothing about our religion!

Answer 5

Well I doubt God had any relations with Mary since she gave a virgin birth. She wouldn't be a virgin if God had had sex with her. Most Biblical scholars believe that Jesus was placed into the womb of Jesus, not conceived in the natural way.

Answer 6

No. At that time girls were married by 15 or 16. Btw, Muhammad is said to have had a wive that was nine years old, which is why many people talk about that. Personally, I think it is relevant in both cases. That was then, this is now.

So were most all people child abusers then, by today's standards, yes. Another relevant fact.

Answer 7

NO Bible scholar has ever said that Mary was 12 or 13 ! The normal age for girls to marry in that region and in that era was about 16. Mary was no younger than that.

Your Christian bashing is NOT attractive.

Answer 8

rolls eyes.

if that's the case, so is every single man that married a young girl between the ages of 14-16 in earlier centuries. women married young before our time. that's a fact, do your research.

Answer 9

May God show mercy on the day of judgement and bless you. He is pure love and is not capable of sin, so perhaps He will show mercy towards your question.

Answer 10

Yeah. What kind of god knocks up a 12 year old?