PureMuslim said:
Wow and peopele say Islam is a violent religion-- See my latest post for more details about that subject (Clarafying a Misunderstood Subject: What is Jihad?)...
"WILL MAKE MY ARROWS DRUNK WITH BLOOD, AND MY SWORD SHALL DEVOUR FLESH... DEFEAT THEM AND DISTROY THEM UTTERLY...MAKE NO TREATY WITH THEM AND SHOW NO FAVOUR TO THEM" (DUETERONOMY 7:1-2)
"wHEN... GOD GIVES (A CITY) INTO YOUR HANDS, KILL ALL THE MEN IN IT... DO NOT LEAVE ALIVE ANYTHING THAT BREATHS" (DEUTERONOMY 20:10-17)
ok and this one is really messed up:
"KILL EVERY MALE CHILD AND BABY AND KILL EVERY WOMAN WHO IS NOT A VIRGIN. BUT SAVE FOR YOURSELF THE VIRGIN GIRLS." (NUMBERS 31:17-18)
--ok ok so not only do i kill the children i rape the virgins? Im telling you this is not the word of god. FACE IT THE BIBLE HAS BEEN ALTERED BY BAD AND UNHOLY PEOPLE
I wanted to get back to the OP and address some of the original issues.
First, I disagree that your examples show that the Bible was "altered by bad and unholy people." All of your examples come from the OT. We have attempted to explain that the religious culture of the
OT was small, was constantly threatened by outside oppression, was (mostly) racially pure and culturally separatist. Further, the religion was very closely tied to ethnicity.
Second, I might have fewer problems with your premise if you hadn't used the word, "encourage." Just because stories are included where God commands certain people to engage in killing, does not mean that "the Bible
encourages killing."
From a strictly OT pov, these are stories of ethnic cleansing. (OT scholars and Jews, please correct me if I'm mistaken) For the Hebrew to be righteous, he had to be pure, that is, free from racial and cultural "contamination." These actions were sort of a "holy war" against contamination.
From a Christian pov, I really think the NT (which seemed to be patently ignored in the OP) is a huge mitigating factor for determining God's vengeful nature. The NT encourages, not killing, but love. (In fact, if looked at from a certain pov, the OT is also based upon hospitality and graciousness in the face of evil.)
All in all, I'd have to say that, no, the Bible does
not encourage killing and the provided examples do
not show that the Bible was "altered by bad and unholy people." I think the premise is shaky and the conclusions unfounded.