If God commanded you to...

[Brickjectivity]

Trying to understand the difference between LORD and God, I've never heard of it before would you say "God" is the Trinity together?

It is a discrepancy. We can't always get what we want, and in this case we get a discrepancy.

I think it has to do with time and that perhaps that God is discovered not quite in the way that is described by tradition. From Archeology we know that the Canaanites are surrounded by enemies for thousands of years. They receive somehow or develop somehow a system of laws and a covenant which allows them to live together in peace -- many tribes of Canaanites. One theory: They somehow run into the divine when they begin speaking about their covenant as if it is a being. They begin to talk about something beyond their covenant which they have discovered through it and which today we call 'God'. They begin to speak of the one God, or so I imagine. The discrepancy however is not my imagination. 'God' in Christianity and 'LORD' in Jewish scripture often don't seem equivalent.

There is another possible discrepancy that explains the first: Archeology vs. Scripture about the genocide of the Canaanites. Archeology currently indicates that rather than being massacred by an invading Israelite tribe the Caananites all merge and become the Israelites. The scripture story about a massacre may seem to be a misdirection, however it is consistent with the usages for war that we find later in Christian scripture. Christian scripture does not consider physical war to have any value. It may be that the wars of Moses are actually about diplomatic conferences and alliances rather than stories of physical battles. I can't say that for certain, obviously. It simply seems to fit the situation to me and seems to make sense of everything. Complete disregard for the value of war and swords and chariots is very uniquely Jewish and is easy to demonstrate, so I think it not far fetched.

The term we see in our English bibles is 'LORD', but this is not the same as the term 'God' which we see in the Christian scriptures...not exactly. Perhaps Abraham just didn't know what he was dealing with. Perhaps he thought that he must be tested. I would certainly not kill my son for God, though I might for the good of a country or to seal an alliance which was being tested.

 

[PureX]

I wouldn't accept that command as being from any god I'd care to acknowledge.

 

[Sheldon]

Cultural scientists

COUGH! BS COUGH!

count over 10000 gods in the world.

One mermaid is as real as the rest.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

What, no "maybe" option?!

 

[VoidCat]

If we are killing a child its a no. I wouldn't kill a child. Im to protect children not harm them. If we are sacrificing them in a different way such as putting them in service of a deity I'd wait till the kid was an adult and let them make the choice if they want to be in service of that deity or not.

 

[VoidCat]

What, no "maybe" option?!

Why would we maybe kill a child? That's probably what the op meant.

Only reason i can think of child sacrifice being ok is if it dont involve killing, harming the child, or making a life altering decision for them without their consent. But i dont think the OP thought of child sacrifice that doesnt involve killing.

 

[an anarchist]

So far there are no votes for "yes". Does that mean we are all morally superior to Abraham?

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Why would we maybe kill a child? That's probably what the op meant.

Only reason i can think of child sacrifice being ok is if it dont involve killing, harming the child, or making a life altering decision for them without their consent. But i dont think the OP thought of child sacrifice that doesnt involve killing.

I meant it or more or less as a bit of grim humor. That doesn't mean I can't imagine certain scenerios that may be more complex than simply "no." It sounds horrible, I know, and I apologize if it impacts negatively on my image, but we're talking about a concept (god) that has myriad imaginary possibilities with all of the remarkably complex aspects of humans and relationships.

Would I sacrifice a child? No. But I can imagine all sorts of situations involving supernatural beings and human suffering that may involve hard decisions in order to relieve suffering.

 

[VoidCat]

I meant it or more or less as a bit of grim humor

Oh i know and I laughed. But I figured I'd answer seriously to include more info on my thought process

 

[Tinker Grey]

Does that mean we are all morally superior to Abraham?

Yes. And his god.

 

[Father Heathen]

So far there are no votes for "yes". Does that mean we are all morally superior to Abraham?

Yes.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

If anyone do answer yes in this thread, they going to be ripped apart and hated.

No. He will be criticized for his moral theory - divine command theory - and rightfully so.

The question actually means if you could say yes, you would show full trust/faith in God and be able to do what is asked of you as a believer.

Yes. The question asks if you would subvert the moral instincts of your conscience to what you believe is a deity however abhorrent its commands seem to that conscience. You apparently see that blind loyalty as a virtue. And you obviously understand that many others consider it a dereliction of duty of a mortal agent, not a virtue.

And it amazes me that you seem to think that because you haven't given an explicit yes or no answer to the question that your answer isn't known. Look at the language you just used and compare it to my description of the same thing. Do you think that anybody would have difficulty guessing either of our answers from those sentences alone? You say full trust and faith in God where I say subvert and however abhorrent.

@Xavier Graham see what mean?

Good call. Hatred and ripping galore (to you), or what others call a difference of opinion.

 

[leroy]

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?

God would have to provide very convincing evidence that he really is God and then he would have to explain and justify why is it that I have to sacrifice my child.


But if he simply says “hey Leroy Sacrifice your child” I would say No. (which is why I voted no)

 

[Polymath257]

God never wanted Abraham to sacrifice his son. And God will never ask someone to sacrifice his son again.

But God wanted Abraham to be *willing* to sacrifice his son.

Because of this:

Skeptic: You have no problem with it? G‑d not only condoning, but actually asking for the sacrifice of a human life as a demonstration of faith? If that's how you feel about it, you're no different from the suicide bombers who believe they're killing themselves and scores of innocent men, women and children because G‑d wants them to...!

Believer: Aren't you leaving something out? If you're going to read the Akeidah story, read it to the end.

Skeptic: I know. In the end Isaac isn't killed. But that's almost besides the point.

Believer: No, that is the point. Or at least a very important point of the story. After Abraham demonstrates the depth of his faith and commitment to G‑d with his willingness to sacrifice Isaac, G‑d commands Abraham, "Do not reach out you hand to the lad! Do not do anything to him!" G‑d makes it clear that He does NOT want us to offer human sacrifices to Him.

This gets repeated many times throughout the Torah. The Torah expressly forbids human sacrifice, and calls it an "abomination." We serve G‑d by living a G‑dly life and giving life to others, not by dying and killing. Judaism celebrates life and mourns death, not vice versa.

What Kind of G‑d Would Ask You to Sacrifice Your Son? - a conversation - Chassidic Thought (chabad.org)

But God wanted Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son. He wanted the devotion to be that great. And that is, I believe, in and of itself, evil.

 

[leroy]

N

And it amazes me that you seem to think that because you haven't given an explicit yes or no answer to the question that your answer isn't known. .

That is annoying isn’t it?

 

[leroy]

But God wanted Abraham to be *willing* to sacrifice his son.



But God wanted Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son. He wanted the devotion to be that great. And that is, I believe, in and of itself, evil.

Well perhaps Abraham had good convincing reasons that God really made that command (and it wasn’t an hallucination or a false God)

And perhaps Abraham had a good justification for why he should follow the command.

..

As an analogy

If a Doctor expert in epidemiology asks you to sacrifice your child, because otherwise a virus will spread and kill millions (including your child)

And if the Doctor provided convincing and irrefutable evidence that he really is an expert and that he is really being honest, and that sacrificing the child is the best thing to do………… you would probably do it.


So my answer in the pool would be NO unless God provides irrefutable evidence that he is God and that sacrificing my child is the best thing to do

 

[Truth in love]

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?

So yes, what God commands is right.

On the other hand We know that Abraham was very specific case that he did not actually kill his son and that God forbids killing people.

So the odds of Him telling me to do so are a lot lower than my winning a lottery I did not get a ticket for.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I can't vote on the poll, there is no possible option. It is now abundantly apparent that there is only one way that "God" could issue such a command -- it would have to be through one of His supposed "messengers." And unless they brought me irrefutable proof that the message was actually from God and not made up by themselves, I'd ignore them -- as I always have, up until now.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?

No, because He wouldn't do that. That story of Abraham is a very old story meant to illustrate the shift from the practice of human sacrifice to it being banned. There's a similar story in Greek myth, involving Artemis and one of her sacred stags. It's also a foreshadowing of the death of Christ. I'm not so sure if Abraham is supposed to be praised for his behavior in that story, to be honest.

 

[The Hammer]

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you do it?

Christians, suppose Jesus Himself appeared to you and gave you this command. Would you do it?

Abraham is praised for being willing to do so.

Debate point: should you sacrifice your child if God commands it?

Sure. Why not?

Who am I to say no to my Gods?