Question:
Why do people think that the Bible's recording of certain events endorses them?
1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Why do people think that the Bible's recording of certain events endorses them?
23 answers:
BrotherMichael
2008-02-12 13:25:18 UTC
All the more the reason to believe the Bible to be accurate and reliable. It records all the events, the good, the bad and the ugly. It doesn't "pretty up" its saints, nor ignore their foibles and sins. It tells it like it was and is.
debbiepittman
2008-02-12 13:22:30 UTC
Yes, you are right. However, it does not endorse these things..Merely does accurate reporting.



The thing for most is, I think, they are desperately grabbing for any reason to keep from believing the Bible or having to live by it.



Debbie
Esther
2008-02-12 13:23:58 UTC
You're correct. The bible is also a history book; the history of the nation of Israel. Everything that is recorded in the bible is not condoned by God.
2008-02-12 13:23:38 UTC
That drives me crazy, too. Have a star.
~~Birdy~~
2008-02-12 13:22:34 UTC
YES! The Bible clearly states what God approves of and what He doesn't. Much of the OT is historical. Thanks for asking this question.
2008-02-12 13:27:38 UTC
People that dismiss the authenticity of the Bible by such means are very ill-informed. They have let their ears out to stories and myth. They also view themselves as of superior intellect - above the need to have a fulfilling spiritual life. They are very basic and very material in their attitude.



The Bible is God's Word. There is no disputing that. The fundamental issue is that faith is required and faith is NOT blind - as they maintain. There is a good and sound answer for EVERY "discrepancy" they raise - but their egotistical fleshly and selfish disposition, make them blind to unbiased reasoning.



Pity them. That's all you can do.
Jeff S Go Zags!
2008-02-12 13:26:37 UTC
If the story is just a story....like the one of Lot's daughters raping Lot...i can see how that wouldn't qualify as a Biblical endorsement for drunken debauchery or rape.



However, when its God inflicting punishment upon people (like when he killed all the first born sons in Egypt) I do believe that it is God not obeying his own commandments and that seems a little too "do as i say not as i do" to me.



The pro-life stance Christians have is not consistent with a God who aborts all babies in Noah's deluge. If the story was about a man named Noah who saved humankind and all of the animals as well....fine. it that same story supposes God did it and even goes so far as to cite his motive....i think that is endorsement.
TWWK
2008-02-12 13:23:51 UTC
Excellent point...unfortunately, it seems as those the people who need to read this question are not. :(
PROBLEM
2008-02-12 13:23:26 UTC
I have always wondered that too! I have even shown where an action was condemned in the Bible and still had people say "well, God says it's OK"
za
2008-02-12 13:21:56 UTC
Bible records murder, but does not support it.
2008-02-12 13:28:34 UTC
I think the problem is that God is actually involved in some of these heinous acts (e.g. telling Isaiah(?) to kill his son, wreaking havoc on all of Egypt to punish one person, preferring Lot send his daughters to be gang-raped instead of his visitors). Obviously god endorsed those things.



In addition, many people feel that God's failure to intervene in the actions reported shows endorsement. I understand the whole "free will" thing, but just giving people free will endorses the actions they will take.
KAL
2008-02-13 00:45:13 UTC
A matter of perspective I think. I think the bible does a little more than report those events, but then so does CNN...and in that respect, I could make a case that both are endorsing those events simply by reporting them! God was certainly aware that some people could and would view those stories as endorsements of all sorts of behavior he had no intention of endorsing. By the same token, CNN knows that some people will view their coverage of certain events as endorsements of equally negative behavior! Didn't Hinkley try to kill Regan because he wanted to become famous?...isn't it endorsing murder and rape and other crimes by devoting so much attention to people that commit those crimes. (Sorry, not a fan of the news media).



I can also understand why people would interpret many stories in the bible as God endorsing various negative activities...and again, from a particular perspective, they are correct. God did endorse all sorts of behaviors and actions that we consider "wrong"...even some that he seemed to say were wrong (creating numerous apparent "contradictions" in the bible...for example, "thou shall not kill" versus telling the Israelite army to kill all the inhabitants of a conquered city).



The problem with this perspective is that it ignores the premise of these endorsements...specifically, it doesn't acknowledge that the advice was offered in response to VERY specific questions. ...and if you go to the bible with those same questions, you're going to find endorsements of all sorts of un-Godly behavior! On the other hand, if you ask a different set of questions, those stories transform from endorsements of negative behavior to warnings about the danger of thinking we can protect ourselves from the consequences of sin.



Imagine a group of say 100 people living in a totally isolated environment (in a bubble if you will). If those 100 people followed God's law as revealed in the old testament, they would absolutely minimize the impact of sin on their environment. The probability that any of those 100 people would risk death by stoning (or some other harsh punish for sin) would be much lower than it is in our world...and if someone did cross the line, the swift and impartial judgment and execution of the penalty would prevent that person from committing the sin again and further damaging the environment (not to mention how it would up the deterrent force). Voila, as close to utopia as we humans can imagine...and would you choose to live there or here?



The way I see it, God DID endorse rape, murder, etc.. as the only hope WE could have of creating peace on earth within the bubble we live in...and he knew when he provided those instructions that we couldn't and wouldn't be able to follow them to the letter and that we would still suffer from the sins of others (up to and including wars). The "do-it-yourself" strategy...designed to prove to US once and for all that we can't do it without his direct intervention! Enter Jesus with the message that if we will accept our lot in this life and seek to follow his will for our own life, he will take care of everything else (including vengance) in his own time and invite us to live with him in a place where "world peace" isn't an oxymoron!
herfinator
2008-02-12 14:33:07 UTC
Yes, thank you. 100% correct.



As for the Hosea passage, that is prophecy, the correct foretelling of the future, and thus not a command to do it or a "confession" of future intent.



And if free will is really an endorsement of our choices . . . well, let's just say it can't be -- the most atheist philosopher on here can pick that one apart, if they felt like it.
© ♪♫♪ tori ♫♪♫
2008-02-12 16:53:39 UTC
I agree with you 100%.



Poeple tend to forget that history repeats itself. It wasn't that long ago when the Jews were slated for genocide by Hitler, and genocide has been going on in several African nations now. Also, look at what Idi Amin did to his own people.



Where evil exists, it will influence those who let it. And it is up to those of use who abhor evil to NOT STAND FOR IT, and bring it to an end.



"Am I my brother's keeper?" (Cain in Genosis) the answer is Yes!
JoeBama
2008-02-12 14:00:22 UTC
You make an excellent point!



People, however, tend to try to force the Bible to say what they want it to, rather than accepting what it actually says.



"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
2008-02-12 13:28:08 UTC
Because GOD ordered all that to happen! Moses received his genocide orders from GOD. The bible isn't just accounts recorded by standers by. The murder and enslavement of entire groups of people was ordered by god himself!
2008-02-12 13:24:13 UTC
Hosea 13:16:

"Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up."



It's god (the lord) speaking here.

OK, it's only valid if the bible is god inspired, but isn't that the general claim that all of it is true?

And how about the flood?
Take it from Toby
2008-02-12 13:30:53 UTC
some of it is recorded history, some is endorsement. For example, I seem to remember an endorsement from Jesus to take prostitutes into your home. The point by many is that many religious people cherry pick parts of their religious text to listen too and ignore others, depending on what suits them.
slow_hand_78
2008-02-12 13:22:43 UTC
i see this all the time and it just shows people's stupidity. the ones that claim God endorses punishing his children are the worst.
2008-02-12 13:44:04 UTC
This is where the in depth reading and critical thinking comes in that lacks in this forum.
2008-02-12 13:26:44 UTC
God most certainly endorses murder, looting, and wholesale destruction. Have you read the OT?
2008-02-12 13:23:42 UTC
Except for the part where God kills people...



Is that not considered murder? Because "they deserved it"? That's what all psychopaths say, you know. (God as a psychopath, not Christians who've obviously never killed anyone. Sorry about the misunderstanding, kl.)



God sends a she-bear to maul those 42 children for insulting a prophet...
2008-02-12 13:26:34 UTC
Very true.


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