If you're bothered by god murdering innocent children, you must have a "critical heart"

OneEyedJoe

This week's book study contains this gem:

The way in which the Bible is written serves to test what is in our heart. Hebrews 4:12 says: “The word [or, message] of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit . . . and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Bible’s message pierces deep, revealing our true thinking and motives. Those who read it with a critical heart are often stumbled by accounts that do not contain enough information to satisfy them. Such ones may even question whether Jehovah really is loving, wise, and just.

So if you're bothered by genocide, or the murder of innocent infants, it's simply because you have a critical heart and aren't deserving of salvation.

A good comment for those unfortunate enough to attend:

Many atheists criticise the Bible and seek to cast Jehovah in a bad light, perhaps objecting to Jehovah's many commands to the Israelites to kill every man woman and child in certain surrounding nations. How wonderful it is that Jehovah had the Bible written in such a way that we can discern that anyone raising such criticism simply does not have the proper heart condition.

I'll be making every effort not to go, but if I do and can get called on, I'll give some variation of that comment on Thursday. Even while I was still in, I always had a problem with these sweeping ad hominem attacks and generalisations. It's pretty telling that they don't even allow consideration of criticism, and demonize any potential criticism in advance of even hearing it.

All for show

For your sake.... I hope you get to stay home.

i just got a call that our hall is going to have the kids sing the song on stage " hoping you guys can make it so the kids can take part" -- I told my husband-- no way. And my now 2.5 months of no attendance continues.

UnConfused

Kids singing on stage? You mean like a choir? Does anyone at the Circuit level know about this????

oneeyeJoe, it sounds like that the comment that you could make is; "Yes even though the Israelites of old sound like ISIS of now it was with the consent of Jehovah God." Now keep a very straight face.

Cold Steel

"So if you're bothered by genocide, or the murder of innocent infants, it's simply because you have a critical heart and aren't deserving of salvation."

Hmmm...I'm bothered by genocide, the murder of infants and other atrocities, but I'm not bothered by the acts of God. Militant atheists view death as a finality. If there is a God, death is not final but a change of environment, or surrounding. It is a change from mortality to immortality. If there is no God, then it was the act of men who claimed innocent lives. But of course, if there is no God, there is no innocence or guilt, good or bad, right or wrong. These things are the light of Christ in all of us.

This doesn't mean that the Watchtower crowd is right. It just means you're wrong.

OneEyedJoe

Cold steel - your post could be summed up as special pleading followed by appeal to consequences. None of which means I'm wrong - all I stated is that if your bothered by the brutal murder of children, you must have a "critical heart"

Basically - if you don't immediately accept that the Bible is infallible and God is perfect, you're not worthy of salvation. Put yourself in the shoes of a Buddhist that you're taking to about the virtues of Christianity - can you really expect them not to view the Bible critically when to them it's just "some book"? Could you really sell them a god that kills children and expect no push back? That's something I never could, and will never understand.

Cold Steel

No, it does mean you're wrong. Either way. You just have to think it through.

The Bible's infallibility is a false doctrine created by man.

The cultures that inhabited Canaan, and which were destroyed by the Israelites, were rife for destruction. They were profligate, murderous people who actively tried to subvert the religion God was attempting to establish. They passed infants through the fire, meaning they were burning them alive. To drown out the screams such cultures would beat loud drums, which also enhanced the cult's hold on the people. Also, one reason they had many children to sacrifice was because of their fertility rites, which were drunken orgies. That aspect of the religion was attractive to certain elements of the male Israelites. And when seduced by the surrounding peoples, the Lord knew he had to remove the cesspool to keep these elements out of it.

The infants who were taken were innocents, but murder is not something God can commit. His acts are judgments; we are subject to Him, and He certainly doesn't have to answer to Buddhists, atheists, theists or anyone else. In Enoch's case, He showed him the secret acts of the people to perish in the great flood, and Enoch went from misunderstanding to understanding in just that amount of time for him to see it. In other words, you have no idea what you're talking about and yet you feel educated enough...knowledgeable enough...to judge someone who knows everything, and who sees the hearts and acts of all men. Do you really feel qualified to do that?

LisaRose

Hmmm...I'm bothered by genocide, the murder of infants and other atrocities, but I'm not bothered by the acts of God.

What proof do you have that the atrocities in the bible were done by God, or that the canaanites were evil? The self serving accounts written by the Israelites? Of course they claimed the canaanites were evil, all warring nations demonize the enemy to make it easier to brutally kill them. They were no better or worse that any other people of their time. Religion was just a convenient excuse that is still being used to justify unspeakable acts. It's evil now, it was evil then.

Killing inocent people is wrong no matter if it is done in the name of Jehovah or Vishnu. If it was really a judgement from God, he wouldn't need a human intermediary, he could simply cause them to die, without the cruelty involved in warfare. Either God was not involved, or he was OK with women being raped and babies being slaughtered because they committed the unforgivable sin of not being born a Jew.

It makes me sick to think there are people like you who are OK with atrocities as long as it is done in the name of your personal diety.

sparrowdown

Typical, if you refuse to join in the chorus of "yay, Jehovah killed all those faithless assholes" then YOU are the one with a bad heart.

freemindfade

The cultures that inhabited Canaan, and which were destroyed by the Israelites, were rife for destruction. They were profligate, murderous people who actively tried to subvert the religion God was attempting to establish.

News flash! According to archaeology the Israelite's actually were Canaanites. The bible says god abhors human sacrifice and child sacrifice. What about all of Egypt's first born in the ten plagues? What about jepthas daughter (show me where it says she served at the the temple). What about Jesus. Human sacrifice. You need to free your mind and let your neocortex work to see the bible is one huge contradiction.

freemindfade

To drown out the screams such cultures would beat loud drums, which also enhanced the cult's hold on the people.

So what did god use during the flood to drown out the screams of innocent children and animals? Oh wait ... water... thats right!

If you're bothered by god murdering innocent children, you must have a "critical heart"

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