Atrocities of the Old Testament
Are their any unjustified atrocities in the Old Testament? Examples of "justified" acts:
1)Sodom
A) exposed to 25 years of truth and rejected it
B)was a judgement
C)not a single righteous person in the city outside of Lot's family (Genesis 18:23-33)
D)Lot's family allowed to escape
2)The Flood (true or not it is used in arguments)
A)AT LEAST one hundred years of pleading by Noah which is mocked
B)none were found righteous except for Noah's family
C)was a judgement
3)Amalekite massacre
A)The Amalekites are a predatory, raiding, and nomadic group; and are descendants of Esau (and hence, distant cousins to Israel).
B)They would have been aware of the promise of the Land TO Israel, from the early promises to Esau's twin Jacob.
C)They did NOT live in Canaan (but in the lower, desert part of the Negev--a region south of where Judah will eventually settle), and would NOT have been threatened by Israel--had they believed the promises of God.
D)As soon as Israel escapes Egypt--before they can even 'catch their breath'--the Amalekites make a long journey south(!) and attack Israel.
E)Their first targets were the helpless (the Amalekites attacked the helpless)
F)Saul orders the innocent Kenites to move out if the way giving the Amalekites plenty of warning
4)Nineveh- an example of when people do heed God's warning
There is an obvious pattern here:
1)The annihilations are judgments.
2)These judgments are for publicly-recognized (indeed, international and cross-cultural in scope!) cruelty and violence of an EXTREME and WIDESPREAD nature.
3)These judgments are preceded by LONG PERIODS of warning/exposure to truth (and therefore, opportunity to "change outcomes").
4)Innocent adults are given a 'way out'
5)Household members share in the fortunes of the parents (for good or ill).
6)Somebody ALWAYS escapes (Lot, Noah, Kenites)
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I wouldn't even know what to argue with. It seems like an unfinished idea going no where. >_> It's like I came upon something like this: --------------------------------------- So I was thinking that colors...... 1) Purple 2) Gold 3) Silver 4) Rainbow colors These are exceptional cases--there are VERY, VERY few of these --------------------------------------- ..What? WHAT ABOUT COLORS? WHY ARE YOU LISTING THEM? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! O_O 2
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This is a lot. Though it seems more like a blog. This however is a perspective debate. So my perspective is this: Religious people, who read the bible, and believe the bible, are very odd to think they are good people when they want to follow suit some of the, as you say, 'atrocities' in the bible. 1
point
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