An eye for an eye vs/ thou shalt not kill
Could that be a contradiction? Please explain why or why not.
thanks.
Is this a contradiction?
by SpiceItUp 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Pleasuredome
one is justice and the other is injustice.
however, as ghandi said, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
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Reborn2002
Of course it is a contradiction Carol.
In the Bible God proclaims to be righteous by declaring the Ten Commandments and instructing the Israelites (and subsequently all his followers for generations to come) that "thou shalt not kill" making it very clear that murder is unacceptable. Then, later in the very same Bible it is declared that "an eye for an eye" is righteous and throughout Scripture God turns out to be the most bloodthirsty murdering SOB in history by smiting an entire world sans Noah's family at the Flood, or the angel sent to kill 185,000 in one night, etc.
Fanatical Bible-thumpers like AGuest spew pages and paragraphs of BS attempting to rationalize such comments or behavior found within their Holy Book, but when you simplify it, the Christian God (along with other religions and cultures) is a hypocrite whose very existence depends on double-standards.
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Gopher
Thou could only kill in ancient Israel when Yahweh/Jehovah said thou could kill. If someone in the assembly did something that would make the entire assembly "guilty", like calling down evil on his parents or failing to observe shabot (sabbath), then Jehovah said thou BETTER kill or else he would bring plagues on his people.
Remember Jehovah is a jealous God, not one to be mocked!!
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RunningMan
When the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, God told them that they would utterly destroy 7 nations more numerous than they were. Since they claimed to number around 2.5 million (grossly exagerated), that means that God had them murder over 17 million people. God makes Hitler look like a small time thug.
And how about this gem: "Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city." - Judges 18:27
But, as for contradictions, here is my favorite:
God claims that “A son will bear nothing because of the error of the father.” - Ez 18:20. This principle is reiterated in 2 Kings 16:6, 2 and Chron 25:4, which says that children should not suffer for their father’s sins.
Yet the scriptures are filled with examples where God masacred children, grandchildren, and other innocent descendents because of the sin of some previous ancestor:
Ex 34:7 God would bring “punishment for the error of fathers upon sons and upon grandsons.” 2 Kings 5:27 “So the leprosy of Naaman will stick to you and your offspring to time indefinite.” (Also Ex 20:5, Isa 14:21, Duet 24:16). Ex 20:25 tells us of God’s sense of justice. He is a “jealous God, bringing punishment upon sons for the error of fathers, upon the third and fourth generation.” Compare with Joshua 7 - Achan’s family, and even his animals are stoned. Romans 5:12,19, 1Cor 15:22 - death is caused by Adam’s sin.
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StinkyPantz
"Thou shall not kill" is a law. An "eye for an eye" is like an amendment to the law. So it's basically saying, you shouldn't kill UNLESS this person has already killed and if that's the case, the only fair justice is death for them also.
So no, I don't see it a contradiction.
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RunningMan
If you are going to adopt the Bible's judicial codes, like capital punishment, you will find yourself in a rather difficult position.
For example, gathering wood on the sabbath was a capital offence in ancient Israel. (Num 15:32-36) So was blasphemy, false prophesying, being a stubborn child, and just about everything else.
On the other hand, you could keep slaves and have multiple wives and concubines.
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Farkel
Those words were mistranslated. They should be rendered like this: "Thou shalt not kill an eye."
Farkel
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zucker
The divine logic is, "We must kill people who kill people, so that people who kill people know that killing people is wrong.
zucker