Is the Holy Book holy?

[marco]

Here are two excerpts from the Holy Book:

1. Then Samuel said, Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites. Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, Surely the bitterness of death is past. But Samuel declared: As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.


2. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

Samuel and David are revered, apparently favourites of Yahweh. Their actions here sound savage.

Does this cast doubt on the holiness of the Bible?
Does it suggest Yahweh is in favour of savagery?

[ttruscott]

You miss the point: you illustrated "holy" by talking about God destroying millions and I directed you to the fact that Stalin did likewise, so he would meet your criterion.

You miss the point that your implication that because things are written of about death that GOD is probably not holy and the Book containing such stories cannot be holy. I merely corrected your misconception that I was suggestion all death is holy.

Death is not holy in itself (Stalin's killing was evil) but only when it is in accord with GOD's nature. The fact that death can be holy is found in the fact of Christian theology that death is the wages of sin and is often ordered by GOD proving that death conforms to HIS nature.

[marco]

You miss the point that your implication that because things are written of about death that GOD is probably not holy and the Book containing such stories cannot be holy. I merely corrected your misconception that I was suggestion all death is holy.

Well if I misconceived the above, I'm not too surprised.

In my moments of lucidityI do not think that tales of death automatically render a book unholy; brutality, sanctioned by God or done by God, would, in my poor opinion, make the book unholy, especially if we are told to live by that book. For example, a being telling a father to kill his son is fine in fiction; in a holy book it removes the holiness, unless we get to condemn the being.

Death is one of the consequences of not being immortal.

[ttruscott]

When Satan removed Job's children, Yahweh was watching. For evil to triumph it is sufficient that good beings sit and do nothing.

The story, like most in the OT, glorifies power. The helpless human, Job, is a plaything of two powerful beings.

Since GOD would never play with a person in that way you suggest, I dismiss your pov for the much more probable (and believable) scenario that GOD and Job had an agreement prior to his birth that he allow himself to be molested by Satan to open the world's eyes to the great depths of Satan's evil that he would monster the most holy old man in the world just because YHWH liked him.

By asking Satan to consider Job HE trapped him into full self exposure of his evil due to his inability to suppress his evil.

[marco]

Since GOD would never play with a person in that way you suggest ..

The story tells us he did. If we wish to rewrite the biblical tale, then any conclusion can be reached.

much more probable (and believable) scenario that GOD and Job had an agreement prior to his birth that he allow himself to be molested by Satan to open the world's eyes to the great depths of Satan's evil that he would monster the most holy old man in the world just because YHWH liked him.

We inhabit different words. I find this explanation quite incredible, even as a fictional plot.

By asking Satan to consider Job HE trapped him into full self exposure of his evil due to his inability to suppress his evil.

I suppose there are people who understand this. I wonder why they are not coming up with miraculous cures for us.