Would you kill for god?

[McCulloch]

If you belive the bible, god has directed people to kill others, both individually (Abraham) and collectively (Joshua).
So, if god asked you to kill someone, would you?
How would you be sure that he really wants you to do it, after all he has asked it before of others?

[MikeH]

If you belive the bible, god has directed people to kill others, both individually (Abraham) and collectively (Joshua).
So, if god asked you to kill someone, would you?
How would you be sure that he really wants you to do it, after all he has asked it before of others?

Nope, and neither would Abraham

[spiritletter]

If you belive the bible, god has directed people to kill others, both individually (Abraham) and collectively (Joshua).
So, if god asked you to kill someone, would you?
How would you be sure that he really wants you to do it, after all he has asked it before of others?

Nope, and neither would Abraham

The Bible was written by several people in a least three different languages. It represents our search for God, not God's word. Read that way, there's no problem wondering if God is going to ask us to kill anybody.

[McCulloch]

The Bible was written by several people in a least three different languages. It represents our search for God, not God's word. Read that way, there's no problem wondering if God is going to ask us to kill anybody.

So, did God ask Abraham to kill Isaac?

[spiritletter]

The Bible was written by several people in a least three different languages. It represents our search for God, not God's word. Read that way, there's no problem wondering if God is going to ask us to kill anybody.

So, did God ask Abraham to kill Isaac?

No. I understand this story as the end of human sacrifice. Abraham was willing to give up his most precious because he THOUGHT it would please God. God taught him otherwise.

[McCulloch]

The Bible was written by several people in a least three different languages. It represents our search for God, not God's word. Read that way, there's no problem wondering if God is going to ask us to kill anybody.

So, did God ask Abraham to kill Isaac?

No. I understand this story as the end of human sacrifice. Abraham was willing to give up his most precious because he THOUGHT it would please God. God taught him otherwise.

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
He [God] said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

Damn! I hate it when the Bible writers get it wrong. Whichever spiritual moron wrote Genesis 22, seems to believe that it was God who told Abraham to sacrifice his son. I am so glad that I have spiritletter to correct what the Bible says for us.

[spiritletter]

The Bible was written by several people in a least three different languages. It represents our search for God, not God's word. Read that way, there's no problem wondering if God is going to ask us to kill anybody.

So, did God ask Abraham to kill Isaac?

No. I understand this story as the end of human sacrifice. Abraham was willing to give up his most precious because he THOUGHT it would please God. God taught him otherwise.

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
He [God] said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

Damn! I hate it when the Bible writers get it wrong. Whichever spiritual moron wrote Genesis 22, seems to believe that it was God who told Abraham to sacrifice his son. I am so glad that I have spiritletter to correct what the Bible says for us.

Sorry. Haven't read it in awhile. All I remember is the outcome. Now that it revisit it, God's pretty manipulative.

In any case, it has nothing to do with my original response to this question, which was to say basically that the Bible is not the word of God.

[McCulloch]

Sorry. Haven't read it in awhile. All I remember is the outcome. Now that it revisit it, God's pretty manipulative.

In any case, it has nothing to do with my original response to this question, which was to say basically that the Bible is not the word of God.

Well, we agree there. Is there a God? How does He communicate with humans? Or does He? If He told you to kill, would you do it?

[spiritletter]

Sorry. Haven't read it in awhile. All I remember is the outcome. Now that it revisit it, God's pretty manipulative.

In any case, it has nothing to do with my original response to this question, which was to say basically that the Bible is not the word of God.

Well, we agree there. Is there a God? How does He communicate with humans? Or does He? If He told you to kill, would you do it?

If I believed God were telling me to kill I would be locked up, either before or after I killed somebody, depending who's paying attention.

I try to recognize God in the real world, as I am guided to do the right thing. I don't know how this happens. Sometimes I hear something from someone, or read something, or am just able to act in the right way. I try to listen and look for wisdom whether it is simply a matter of my own intellect, or something coming to me from outside. I just don't know.

My belief in God comes from a realization that, left to my own devices, I'll screw up my life. My prayer and meditation practice is devoted to an openness to receive wisdom from where ever. Somehow, my faith makes things better, especially when I am in great difficulty.

My God is ecumenical, speaks through the best of all religions, and in the voice of good people.

I have learned a lot from the Bible, but not in the fundamentalist manner. Reading the Bible, particularly the wisdom literature, keeps me open, keeps certain dialectical processes in my mind operating to keep me out of ruts and conditioned thinking. I am particularly affected by the story of Joseph in Genesis, The Book of Job, certain passages from Paul, and the Gospels. I interpret Christ's parables as teaching stories that activate the mind in the manner that Sufi stories do.

Now that I am remembering the story of Abraham and Isaac correctly, I think that particular story is a little heavy handed. The emotional damage done to Abraham and Isaac by God's request, is devastating. Perhaps the story, besides being about unwavering faith, is an admonition against human sacrifice.

[crystalmage]

If you belive the bible, god has directed people to kill others, both individually (Abraham) and collectively (Joshua).
So, if god asked you to kill someone, would you?
How would you be sure that he really wants you to do it, after all he has asked it before of others?

I would not kill for god.

[McCulloch]

If you belive the bible, god has directed people to kill others, both individually (Abraham) and collectively (Joshua).
So, if god asked you to kill someone, would you?
How would you be sure that he really wants you to do it, after all he has asked it before of others?

I would not kill for god.

Why not? If God is real and God wanted you to kill, why would you refuse?