Question, God order his people to commit genocide.

by jam 12 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    Now, the question is, did they?

    Did Israel wipe them out and kill all "men, women, children and livestock"?

    No.

    So, did Israel disobey God?

    Scholars have varying opinions on this but one of the views is that the language used was the typical language of the day to dsescribe the "totality" of the war.

    Much like we say that the "every living thing was wiped out" or "kill them all and let God sort them out".

    Of course none of that changes that it was written that God command a war and commanded killing.

    I guess what needs to be asked is, was it a justified and moral command?

  • glenster
    glenster

    God has the prerogative to take everyone's life, and does, but people don't
    have the right to do that for God except with proof of God which is alleged.
    It's a matter of faith if they did or not.

    Conservative: it happened as the writers claim.

    Liberal: various options--it happened as claimed but God only took the early
    followers so far (Jesus regarding marriage, monotheism only took hold in the
    time of Isaiah, ANE cosmology, etc.), it's a romanticized rendering of the rise
    of monotheism from Canaanite culture, some scriptures indicate it wasn't a total
    herem (see the links), etc.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herem_%28war_or_property%29
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Views_of_violence_in_Judaism
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfare_in_Judaism
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkhemet_Mitzvah
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism_and_peace

    The real problem isn't any of those things as much as if current followers see
    those scriptures as meant as guidance currently, which they generally don't.
    Exceptions include Christians who wanted to eliminate Jews, Jews seeing the
    Palestinians as Canaanites, Islamist terrorists regarding non-Muslims esp. Jews,
    etc.

  • jam
    jam

    Glenster; thanks for the info.

    Blondie:Exactly, "why were the Philistines not considered

    as terrible".

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