Biblical Unsolved Murders and God's Wisdom
by Brad
Used by permission, from the Agnostic Review of Christianity website
Christians are constantly telling non-believers how holy, righteous, just, and wise their God is.
At the apex of wisdom resides this Bible God, whose instructions and words are so wonderfully wise and profound that they make the thoughts of mere humans look infantile and foolish.
Anyone who has endured a Christian sermon knows how most Christians love to tell the world about their God, who they claim everyone should recognize as the great, wise, all-holy Master of the Universe.
Christians will proclaim that everyone should read God's holy word, the Bible, and apply the instructions that God set forth within it's pages, as these words rise far above the word or wisdom found anywhere else in the entire universe. We should all do what God tells us through his word, the Bible.
The Bible itself cheer leads the alleged "word of God" in many places. Of course, the writers wanted people to believe that the Bible God was the sole source of anything that was really wise.
Of course, Paul used this to his advantage by saying that anyone who thought the Christian message was foolish was a lost fool, while anyone who believed it was a wise follower of "God".
1 Cor 1:18-20,25
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Let's take a closer look an some of the great wisdom that God gives humanity.
What does this great, wise God say about the common situation of unsolved murders? What should humanity do about this if they run across it in their lives?
These are the instructions of what should be done in such cases directly from the mouth of God:
Deut 21:1-9
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:
And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
All of that certainly sounded wise didn't it? People who find a dead body and classify it as murder must measure which town is closest to the dead body and then the leaders of that town must select a young cow, take it to an valley with a stream running through it, that is not plowed or planted, behead the young cow, and then wash their hands over the carcass of the dead young cow. God's priests must go there also, and they will say incantations(blessings) in God's holy name. After all these inane actions, the people of the town which was nearest the discovered dead body would be absolved from whatever guilt was present. All this nonsense is deemed doing what is "right in the Lord's sight".
Any thinking person has to wonder why any God would require that a completely innocent animal be killed as part of this ridiculous atonement process.
The Bible God has little or no regard for animal life in general. Christians aren't in the least bothered by this, although if they stopped and thought about how their loving Creator has such a shallow regard for the very life forms he created, they might actually ponder what that says about this holy deity they worship.
God has no problem destroying animal life as part of his cosmic game.
God of course, had no problem exterminating animals in the flood but he also likes the aroma of burnt sacrifice and gives detailed instructions on how his people can make him happy.
Lev 1:5-9
And he(priest) shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.
And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:
And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour(aroma) unto the LORD.
Lev 1:14-17
And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he(priest) shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:
And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:
And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour(aroma) unto the LORD.
These above examples are just a small sample of the types of antics that "God" wants to have performed in order to please him.
The Bible God also has no problem ordering that animals be mutilated and tortured if it's part of his divine cosmic plan on earth.
Josh 11:6
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough (hamstring) their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
Of course, Christians will simply claim that everything is God's created property and he can do with his property as he sees fit, so none of this is worth raising so much as an eyebrow about.
In others words, Christians have employed their standard rationalization to make all these examples of barbaric, self serving, and warped behavior on the part of their God squeaky clean and holy.
That rationalization goes like this:
If the Bible God does it, it must be holy, just, righteous and proper because the Bible says God is all holy, just, righteous, and proper.
Christians will sometimes attempt to employ another rationalization by claiming that God changed his ways and Jesus is the new "kinder" version of God.
This second rationalization falls flat on it's face because the Bible itself trips it. The Lord God doesn't change nor does he change his mind.
Mal 3:6
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
1 Sam 15:29
And also the Strength of Israel (God) will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
Jesus doesn't change either:
Heb 13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
If Jesus is also God, as most of Christianity proclaims, then Jesus is the same barbaric, self-absorbed tribal deity that his Father is.
Much of the alleged "wisdom" that Christians advertise that their God has isn't really wisdom after all.
It's nothing more than ritual, tribal customs of men, and crude self-exalting behavior all dressed up as the word of an infallible, holy deity.
It's high time Christians pull their heads out of the sand, stop the false advertising, and actually look at their God objectively.
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