- Joined
- Nov 14, 2015
My favorite one is always the Abraham one because people clearly just don't get it.
Isaac was Abraham's second and legitimate son, there was no one in the world he loved more than the fact he had a son to continue on his legacy. God had kept his promise with Abraham and everything looked good for Abraham. Now, in the Abrahamic times, people sacrificed their firstborn all the time, so it was something that wasn't very uncommon. God told Abraham to go up and sacrifice his son as a test on multiple parts. First, he wanted to prove that Abraham was willing to trust him and second he wanted to show that he was different from other gods.
When Abraham reached the mountain (supposedly the temple mount) where he was going to sacrifice Isaac. He did not hesitate, so he validated to God that he was willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. God stopped Abraham from finishing and instead gave him a ram to use for a sacrifice.
Now atheists love to stop there because no context makes them sound superior, but there are a few things left out of this story when it is brought up.
First, by his unwavering faith, Abraham was given the blessing of being the father of many nations. Almost every nation in between Iraq and Egypt has claims of descending from him. Both of his sons went on to be the patriarchs of very powerful nations.
And the second was God abhorred human sacrifice, in fact, it is just about the worst thing someone can do. In the Bible, God hated the other gods, but there was one he hated above the rest by a long shot; Molech, the bull headed god that encouraged child sacrifice. Abraham's time had multiple variations of Molech, so he had seen it before. God used this to show that he would never encourage human sacrifice. In fact, in Hebrew law, a murderer could sit on the altar and be untouched, because killing him would be considered a sacrifice (the moment he got off he was fair game though). Molech was truly hated by God and he made sure to show it. When Josiah drove out the other religions from Jerusalem, the only holy place he defiled was Gehenna. Gehenna was the field that former king Ahaz had used to sacrifice his sons to Molech. Josiah instructed all citizens of Jerusalem to make Gehenna the new city garbage dump. And thus the same fires that burned children days before became the fires that now simply burned their trash. Some people think that the burning trash heaps are where we get the "fire and brimstone" interpretation of hell from.
It's hard to understand the bible even with context, and these guys are doing themselves no favors (even if it is on purpose).
Isaac was Abraham's second and legitimate son, there was no one in the world he loved more than the fact he had a son to continue on his legacy. God had kept his promise with Abraham and everything looked good for Abraham. Now, in the Abrahamic times, people sacrificed their firstborn all the time, so it was something that wasn't very uncommon. God told Abraham to go up and sacrifice his son as a test on multiple parts. First, he wanted to prove that Abraham was willing to trust him and second he wanted to show that he was different from other gods.
When Abraham reached the mountain (supposedly the temple mount) where he was going to sacrifice Isaac. He did not hesitate, so he validated to God that he was willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. God stopped Abraham from finishing and instead gave him a ram to use for a sacrifice.
Now atheists love to stop there because no context makes them sound superior, but there are a few things left out of this story when it is brought up.
First, by his unwavering faith, Abraham was given the blessing of being the father of many nations. Almost every nation in between Iraq and Egypt has claims of descending from him. Both of his sons went on to be the patriarchs of very powerful nations.
And the second was God abhorred human sacrifice, in fact, it is just about the worst thing someone can do. In the Bible, God hated the other gods, but there was one he hated above the rest by a long shot; Molech, the bull headed god that encouraged child sacrifice. Abraham's time had multiple variations of Molech, so he had seen it before. God used this to show that he would never encourage human sacrifice. In fact, in Hebrew law, a murderer could sit on the altar and be untouched, because killing him would be considered a sacrifice (the moment he got off he was fair game though). Molech was truly hated by God and he made sure to show it. When Josiah drove out the other religions from Jerusalem, the only holy place he defiled was Gehenna. Gehenna was the field that former king Ahaz had used to sacrifice his sons to Molech. Josiah instructed all citizens of Jerusalem to make Gehenna the new city garbage dump. And thus the same fires that burned children days before became the fires that now simply burned their trash. Some people think that the burning trash heaps are where we get the "fire and brimstone" interpretation of hell from.
It's hard to understand the bible even with context, and these guys are doing themselves no favors (even if it is on purpose).
I'm Catholic too, and I always saw Mary as a role model--mostly, truth be told, because of her sheer strength. The flight into Egypt was only the beginning, cripes ...
