by highdose 34 Replies latest jw friends
Hi
this is inspired by another thread, but heres something that always bugged me...
If God wanted to know if Abraham really was faithful... then why didn't he use his abilty to look into his heart and find out? Instead of putting the poor man and his son through a near death/ murder situation???
God can't read..... lol.
Good point. So much of religious teachings doesn't make sense. I believe that if there is a God, he should be more knowledgeable and powerful than his creatures. Therefore, should be above games.
Cult Classic
I guess and this is just a guess, God could read his heart, but God was testing his faith. No matter whats in our hearts there are at times we question our faith. So God wanted to see if Abraham had faith in him . Samething with job God knew his heart, his faith was put to the test
Another interesting question -
"What should a christian do if he suddenly hear the voice of God telling him to slit the throat of a family member?"
That is not a hypothetical situation. it happends many times each year.
Should a christian:
Follow Abrahams example, just like God wanted abraham to do, and slit the throat of the family member in question?
Disobay the voice, and per the story of abraham, not be counted faitfull.
: If God wanted to know if Abraham really was faithful... then why didn't he use his abilty to look into his heart and find out? Instead of putting the poor man and his son through a near death/ murder situation???
Good question - which of course makes us realize that the JW's preaching work is actually harming people by informing them of what they need to know for their salvation. If they didn't know, then they would be held innocent at the soon-to-come Armageddon.
However.....The Abraham story was a clever invention of Hebrew priests, just as all religious mythology is. It's a way to hypnotize and amaze people into subjecting themselves to a particular ideology.
Dear Highdose, you are right: that particular account of Abraham contains some contradictions.
First of all, what you said: according to many scriptures, like 1 Samuel 16:7, "... as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is", so all Jehovah needed to do was read his heart and imagine how Abraham would react. So isn't it weird that at Genesis 22:12, immediately after the test, Jehovah says: "... for NOW I do know that you are God-fearing in that you have not withheld your son..."?, implying the test had to actually be carried out for God to know what Abraham's reaction would be?
Secondly, putting somebody's faith to the test goes contrary to James 1:13: "...For with evil things..." (you all know the rest by heart).
And, last but not least, what kind of a psychopath must one be to put one's own son through this terrible ordeal: "Kill your beloved little child to prove how much you love me"?
I have a far higher opinion of God, if He exists, than to believe such a deplorable account actually took place.
The Yahweh of the Hebrew Scriptures is an insecure paranoid megalomaniac. (With apologies to Stephen Colbert, I say "no way" to Yahweh.)
bohm, i see where you are coming from, unfortunately there are a lot of sick people and again some of their problems has been caused by what they believe in or what they believe to be. But according to the bible abraham was not sick in the head. If someone were to slice a persons throat today and said God told them to do it I would personally think that they are crazy, not because i didn't have faith, but because one of the commandments says thou shall not kill. That's from God. And abraham did not kill his son. He did not i repeat kill his son
Wasblind,
Yes we know Abe didn't slash Isaac to death. That's not the issue. The issue is why, according to the account, did God do this mindf**k on Abraham when he already knew Abraham like the back of his own hand? Would you ask your longtime friend who had never crossed you to do something crazy just to prove their friendship to you?
again as one still "in" who has no intention of leaving faith in the Christ, i would also point out that that Paul said that Abraham reckoned that God could raise him up from the dead. He and his wife had no children until they were beyond child rearing age. It was already a miraculous situation in their minds that they had a child as it was, it wasn't to far a stretch to assume that if he was told to sacrifice him that God had a plan after that. Also remember Abraham's words to his son that a sacrifice would be provided. I don't believe that any of this will sway those who view this account negatively, but it helps me sleep at night
