God's violent ways

[OnceConvinced]

The god of the bible tends do deal with sin and evil in very violent ways. Ie, wiping out cities, sending floods, ordering violent deaths, ordering the slaying of animals for sacrifices, sending curses and plagues, etc.

Can you point out any instances in the bible where God deals with sin and evil in non-violent ways?

And I mean God here. Not Jesus.
And there are times God showed mercy and didn't deal with the sin and evil, sure. But when he did, were there non-violent methods used?

[Difflugia]

Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to Nineveh because of their cruelty, violence and sin. Jonah preached there for three days. The people repented. There was no violence done to Nineveh.

He also sent a worm to eat the plant that was shading Jonah as a lesson about sinful whining. That wasn't very violent.

God gave Miriam a horrible skin disease because she and Aaron were talking smack about Moses having a mixed marriage, but then apparently (it's only implied) healed her when Moses and Aaron begged Him to. Then she only had to sleep outside the camp for a week. That wasn't permanently violent, at least. (Numbers 12)

When Ezra and Nehemiah wanted to Make Israel Great Again by kicking out all the foreigners and building a wall, Ezra went on Fox News and sinfully ordered anyone that married foreign wives to send their wives out into the desert (Israel had the best desert). Rather than sending Ezra packing back to Mar-a-Lago, the Israelites sinfully did what he said and God didn't smite a single one of them. Not even a boil or hemorrhoid or anything. He just let them keep thinking that what they did was OK.

[Zzyzx]

.

Now that we know what causes all these natural events, isn't it time to move beyond blindly accepting the angry gods hypothesis?

Many have moved beyond the angry gods hypothesis -- but many have not. Perhaps they prefer the comfort of blissful ignorance over the difficult terrain of learning about the real world.

Part of what we do in these debates is expose the folly of maintaining ancient superstition. Some will understand and accept evidence over beliefs, others will not. This is exemplified by studies which indicate that one quarter of the US population thinks that the Sun revolves around the Earth. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way ... urvey-says

Perhaps future generations will be better informed; however, that is subject to some question when considering the state of public schooling (erroneously called education system).

I am not optimistic

[bjs]

Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to Nineveh because of their cruelty, violence and sin. Jonah preached there for three days. The people repented. There was no violence done to Nineveh.

You are overlooking the violence God used to coerce Jonah into his mission:

• Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
  
  4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
  
  <Bolding Mine>

This violence effected not only innocent Jonah, but also the innocent sailors who gave him passage.

God's violence doesn't end there. Jonah suffered violence at the hands of the sailors and due to the great fish God provided to swallow him:

• 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
  
  17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Against Jonah's will, he is violently deposited on a land he didn't want to visit:

• Jonah 2:10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The fact that God repented of the violence he planned to execute against Nineveh doesn't negate the violence God used against innocent Jonah and the innocent sailors.

I brought up the example of Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Anyone can address that, or they can bring up a few red herrings. This post did that latter.

[SallyF]

When people of faith have difficulty finding where in their "scriptures", their "God of Love" did something pleasant

It's possibly time to toss him in the trash can.

Because many folks who still call themselves "Christian" have discarded much of traditional Christianity anyway.

And if one still feels one needs a mind filled with fantasy to make it through life, one may choose another, and happier, set of imaginary friends in which to place one's faith.

[Tcg]

Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to Nineveh because of their cruelty, violence and sin. Jonah preached there for three days. The people repented. There was no violence done to Nineveh.

You are overlooking the violence God used to coerce Jonah into his mission:

• Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
  
  4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
  
  <Bolding Mine>

This violence effected not only innocent Jonah, but also the innocent sailors who gave him passage.

God's violence doesn't end there. Jonah suffered violence at the hands of the sailors and due to the great fish God provided to swallow him:

• 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
  
  17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Against Jonah's will, he is violently deposited on a land he didn't want to visit:

• Jonah 2:10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The fact that God repented of the violence he planned to execute against Nineveh doesn't negate the violence God used against innocent Jonah and the innocent sailors.

I brought up the example of Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Anyone can address that, or they can bring up a few red herrings. This post did that latter.

I can't agree. Your post, which I replied to, contained this statement:

• Jonah was sent to Nineveh...

I documented from the book of Jonah the method in which God "sent" Jonah. His method was far from non-violent as my documentation displays. Discussing the violence of being thrown overboard and being swallowed by a large fish is no red herring.


Tcg

[1213]

The god of the bible tends do deal with sin and evil in very violent ways. Ie, wiping out cities, sending floods, ordering violent deaths, ordering the slaying of animals for sacrifices, sending curses and plagues, etc.

Can you point out any instances in the bible where God deals with sin and evil in non-violent ways?...

I think teaching love your neighbor as yourself and other rules for good life are a way to deal sin non-violently. God has told how people should live, but if people dont listen and do evil things, God doesnt allow that to continue forever.

[OnceConvinced]

Just remembered

When Jehovah fluttered down from the ceiling of the Dome he created in the first creation myth, and he played that game of peek-a-boo with Adam and Eve, following that unfortunate incident with the magic apple and the talking serpent, the mythological deity did not institute and physical violence.

The ethnic god just evicted THE ADAM from the Magic Garden and deprived the planet's first two human of physical immortality

But it wasn't just an eviction. There were some curses thrown in to including pain at child birth. So he created physical suffering. And not just when it comes to child birth. He created a life of suffering for them AND their ancestors. Suddenly non-vemous creatures became venomous, herbivores became carnivores... flesh eating viruses cropped up. All sorts of horrors were unleashed.

And let's not forget what he did to the poor old snakes. He removed their ability to walk and made them slide around in their stomach in dirt and all because Satan was masquerading as one.

So maybe what happened to the snakes wasn't particularly violent I guess. Just cruel.

[OnceConvinced]

The god of the bible tends do deal with sin and evil in very violent ways. Ie, wiping out cities, sending floods, ordering violent deaths, ordering the slaying of animals for sacrifices, sending curses and plagues, etc.

Can you point out any instances in the bible where God deals with sin and evil in non-violent ways?...

I think teaching love your neighbor as yourself and other rules for good life are a way to deal sin non-violently. God has told how people should live, but if people dont listen and do evil things, God doesnt allow that to continue forever.

This was Jesus who taught that. I'm talking about God himself. Can you think of any times where God didn't use violent or cruel means to deal with the problem of sin? It would be hypocritical if God himself had taught that, wouldn't it?

I believe it was you originally claiming that God wasn't violent, but the old testament shows us the opposite. You can't ignore the entire old testament and dredge up one statement Jesus made to try to make God sound good.

Should we say that HItler was non-violent simply because he was quoted as saying:
"We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity ... in fact our movement is Christian."

[1213]

This was Jesus who taught that. I'm talking about God himself. Can you think of any times where God didn't use violent or cruel means to deal with the problem of sin? It would be hypocritical if God himself had taught that, wouldn't it?

Firstly, Jesus said:

For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak."
John 12:49-50

So, it is Gods message, according to the Bible. Secondly, the same is said also in the Old Testament:

you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
Lev. 19:18,34

[Willum]

Yeah, I'll give 100 tokens to anyone who can show a non-punitive action by God that resulted in a positive behaviour alteration.

No, not just words, but some benevolent miracle he did that he did that had benevolent behavioural repercussions.

(PM me if I miss it.)