A bloodthirsty god?

[Autodidact]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I've noticed similar things in Joshua, where YHWH told Joshua to slaughter people who did nothing against the Jews. This is how I interpreted those parts of the Bible:

And God said: Here, I now declare this land your land. So make sure to kill everyone you see and destroy everything they own so they can never live in harmony with you, because that will cause you to do bad things. Don't worry, they aren't anybody special.

One argument was that the Canaanites sacrificed humans to Baal, but the people being sacrificed wanted to do it for the most part. It was considered the highest honor at the time. Understand that I do not condone human sacrifice at all. But I think that they could have preached and preached and preached instead, while destroying the shrines. That's not something I condone either, but it's better than genocide.

Nor does it say that these people engaged in human sacrifice. It just says: I want to give you this land. Go destroy everyone in it, including the babies.

[Autodidact]

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

This and other threads explore the possibility of theodicy, which is basically the attempt to exonerate God in the face of the evil apparent in creation or evil done at his hands or by his authorization.

As a Christian, I find this among other passages deeply troubling. But the real issue, for me at least, is the question of God's attitude toward his creation and the people that populate it. And to answer that question, my controlling image is the cross. There, God demonstrated his love for all of humanity and made a full disclosure of his character -- nonviolent and longsuffering. Yes, this observation must be held in tension with passages as we see here. But in the end, we are looking through a glass darkly, as they say. We know only in part, and what we do know we're apt to confuse. In the end, we can only place ourselves at the mercy of the Creator, whether he is a tyrant (as you may fear) or a benevolent father (as you may hope). What other option -- assuming the existence of a creator -- are open to us?

That's an awfully big assumption.

Anyway, say hypothetically that the God you worship is evil, which is a possibility you raise. (not one I've encountered before in these discussions.) If so, is it moral to worship and adore Him? Is it even possible to worship evil?

[Poisonshady313]

Pretty sure the people of Midian were condemned because their men and women drove Israelites to stray from the Torah, to go into idol worship... and the children would grow up to do the same.

[Azakel]

Originally Posted by Poisonshady313

Pretty sure the people of Midian were condemned because their men and women drove Israelites to stray from the Torah, to go into idol worship... and the children would grow up to do the same.

And that makes it all right to kill them all. Right. No one can make you stray if you truly believe, maybe the Israelites should be to blame and not the Midians.

[Poisonshady313]

Originally Posted by Azakel

And that makes it all right to kill them all. Right. No one can make you stray if you truly believe, maybe the Israelites should be to blame and not the Midians.

It's not the actual straying... it's the attempt to make one stray. Even if such an attempt is futile, the enticer is shown no mercy.

[Autodidact]

Originally Posted by Poisonshady313

Pretty sure the people of Midian were condemned because their men and women drove Israelites to stray from the Torah, to go into idol worship... and the children would grow up to do the same.

People who belong to a different religious faith should be killed?

[Autodidact]

So for example if I try to persuade you that there is no God, you should kill me?

[Riverwolf]

Guys, I don't think he was trying to justify it. He was telling us what he thinks the Hebrews reasoning is based on the Torah.

[Poisonshady313]

Originally Posted by Autodidact

People who belong to a different religious faith should be killed?

No.. just those who actively sought to have Jews abandon the Torah.