How do Christians possibly rationalize these things?

[Mephistopheles]

Ritual Human and Animal Sacrifice

God sends himself to die for himself to allow himself to change a rule he created himself. (Jesus, New Testament)
Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son to God (Genesis 22:1-18)
Kill first-born humans and animals (Exodus 13:2)
More human sacrifice (Leviticus 27:28-29)
Jephthah Burns His Daughter (Judges 11:29-40 NLT)
God Commands Burning Humans (Joshua 7:15 NLT)
Josiah and Human Sacrifice (1 Kings 13:1-2 NLT) (2 Kings 23:20-25 NLT)
Human Sacrifice (Wisdom 3:5-7 NAB The Book of The Wisdom of Solomon is mostly in Catholic versions of the Bible.)
Child Sacrifice (Wisdom 14:21-23 RSV The Book of The Wisdom of Solomon is mostly in Catholic versions of the Bible. This passage condemns human sacrifice but acknowledges that it did happen by early God worshipers.)
Humans are Fuel for Fire (Ezekiel 21:33-37 NAB)
Burn Nonbelievers (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)

Rape

Murder, rape, and pillage at Jabesh-gilead (Judges 21:10-24 NLT)
Murder, rape and pillage of the Midianites (Numbers 31:7-18 NLT)
More Murder Rape and Pillage (Deuteronomy 20:10-14)
Laws of Rape (Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT)
Death to the Rape Victim (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)
David's Punishment - Polygamy, Rape, Baby Killing, and God's "Forgiveness" (2 Samuel 12:11-14 NAB)
Rape of Female Captives (Deuteronomy 21:10-14 NAB)
Rape and the Spoils of War (Judges 5:30 NAB)
Sex Slaves (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
God Assists Rape and Plunder (Zechariah 14:1-2 NAB)

Slavery

Slaves are clearly property to be bought and sold like livestock (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)
How Hebrew slaves are to be treated (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)
It is moral to sell your own daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
You can beat both male and female slaves with a rod so hard that as long as they don't die right away you are cleared of any wrong doing (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)
Slavery is still approved of in the New Testament (Ephesians 6:5 NLT) (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)
Beating slaves who didn't know they did any wrong (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)

Murder

Kill People Who Don't Listen to Priests (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
Kill Witches (Exodus 22:17 NAB)
Kill Homosexuals (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)
Kill Fortunetellers (Leviticus 20:27 NAB)
Death for Hitting Dad (Exodus 21:15 NAB)
Death for Cursing Parents (Proverbs 20:20 NAB) (Leviticus 20:9 NLT)
Death for Adultery (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)
Death for Fornication (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)
Death to Followers of Other Religions (Exodus 22:19 NAB)
Kill Nonbelievers (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)
Kill False Prophets (Zechariah 13:3 NAB)
Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)
Kill Followers of Other Religions (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB) (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT)
Death for Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)
Kill False Prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT) (Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NLT)
Infidels and Gays Should Die (Romans 1:24-32 NLT)
Kill Anyone who Approaches the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:48-51 NLT)
Kill People for Working on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
Kill Brats (2 Kings 2:23-24 NAB)
God Kills the Curious (1Samuel 6:19-20 ASV)
Killed by a Lion (1 Kings 20:35-36 NLT)
Killing the Good Samaritan (2 Samuel 6:3-7 NAB)
Kill Sons of Sinners (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)
God Will Kill Children (Hosea 9:11-16 NLT)
Kill Men, Women, and Children (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)
God Kills all the First Born of Egypt (Exodus 12:29-30 NLT)
Kill Old Men and Young Women (Jeremiah 51:20-26) (Note that after God promises the Israelites a victory against Babylon, the Israelites actually get their butts kicked by them in the next chapter. So much for an all-knowing and all-powerful God.)
God Will Kill the Children of Sinners (Leviticus 26:21-22 NLT)
More Rape and Baby Killing (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT)
More of Samson's Murders (The Lord saves Sampson from standing trial for 30 murders and arson by allowing him to kill 1000 more men.) (Judges 15:14-15 NAB)
Peter Kills Two People (Acts 5:1-11 NLT)
Mass Murder (1 Samuel 15:2-3 NAB)
You Have to Kill (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)
The Danites Kill the Next Town (Joshua 19:47 NAB)
God Kills Some More (Jeremiah 15:1-4 NLT)
God Promises More Killing (Ezekiel 35:7-9 NLT)
The Angel of Death (Exodus 23:23 NAB)
Destruction of Ai (Joshua 8:1-29 NLT)
Killing at Jericho (Joshua 6:20-21 NLT)
God Kills an Extended Family (1 Kings 14:9-16 NLT)
Mass Murder (Judges 20:48 NAB)
The Angel of Death (2 Kings 19:35 NAB)
Kill Your Neighbors (Exodus 32:26-29 NLT)
Kill the Family of Sinners (Joshua 7:19-26 Webster's Bible)
Kill Followers of Other Religions (Numbers 25:1-9 NLT)
Murder (1 Kings 18:36-40 NLT)
Kill All of Babylon (Jeremiah 50:21-22 NLT)
Micah Kills a Whole Town (Judges 18:27-29 NLT) (Note that God approves of this slaughter in verse 6.)

[Zetherin]

Kill Brats (2 Kings 2:23-24 NAB)

Well, that pretty much sums it up right there.

I honestly can't stop laughing.

[Mephistopheles]

Originally Posted by Zetherin

Kill Brats (2 Kings 2:23-24 NAB)

Well, that pretty much sums it up right there.

I honestly can't stop laughing.

Actually I think the funniest thing is something I forgot to add:

God sends himself to die for himself to allow himself to change a rule he created himself. (Jesus, New Testament)

[Didymos Thomas]

First, we try to avoid the trap of literal interpretation of figurative and allegorical language.

Also, not all Christians accept the same Bible. Some of us even reject literature that is found in all Bibles, and still some promote the use of scripture which did not make the canon.

[Mephistopheles]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

First, we try to avoid the trap of literal interpretation of figurative and allegorical language.

Also, not all Christians accept the same Bible. Some of us even reject literature that is found in all Bibles, and still some promote the use of scripture which did not make the canon.

Pardon me but I do not believe you speak for most Christians. Most Christians in America belong to churches and church-affiliations which preach literal interpretation of the Bible. I'm aware not all Christians are literalists; my good friend Craig is a non-literal Christian.

So really you aren't being helpful. I'm asking a question as to how most American Christians, being literalists, can possibly justify these things. If you want to say something like "I don't take it literally, so I interpret it thus" or "I don't accept that part of the Bible" then say so please.

[Didymos Thomas]

Pardon me but I do not believe you speak for most Christians. Most Christians in America belong to churches and church-affiliations which preach literal interpretation of the Bible. I'm aware not all Christians are literalists; my good friend Craig is a non-literal Christian.

I do not claim to speak for most Christians.

Good for your friend.

So really you aren't being helpful. I'm asking a question as to how most American Christians, being literalists, can possibly justify these things. If you want to say something like "I don't take it literally, so I interpret it thus" or "I don't accept that part of the Bible" then say so please.

Pardon me, but you did not give this sort of qualification to your question in previous posts.

If you want fundamentalist Christians to justify themselves, good luck. I think even serious attempts to justify their beliefs are against their beliefs.

Myself, I do not take the literature literally, nor do I accept all canon, and I accept some extra-canonical literature for my personal scripture. I also have no problem looking to other faith traditions for spiritual guidance. I am a Christian in that I find value in teachings attributed to Jesus. Some teachings attributed to him I think to be forgeries and nasty attempts to rule over the masses. I am even less attached to Old Testament literature, though, I can read through the stories and see the allegorical meaning and appreciate the stories for their content.

[boagie]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

First, we try to avoid the trap of literal interpretation of figurative and allegorical language.

Also, not all Christians accept the same Bible. Some of us even reject literature that is found in all Bibles, and still some promote the use of scripture which did not make the canon.

Thomas,

I agree about literal interpretation for the most part, but, I doubt these entries where ever meant to be taken metaphorically or allegorically, as embarrassing as that might be.

[VideCorSpoon]

Originally Posted by Mephistopheles

Pardon me but I do not believe you speak for most Christians.

Well I'm the one called "most christians" (I have the certificate that says so) and I gave Didymos the go ahead to give that statement to "every christians," my unpaid intern who gets me coffee two times a day.

I agree with Didymos on this one, Christians possess relativistic interpretations of the bible. And no one really takes the bible seriously in a fact sense. Even within the same sect.

[Didymos Thomas]

I agree about literal interpretation for the most part, but, I doubt these entries where ever meant to be taken metaphorically, as embarrassing as that might be.

Depends on which entry you are speaking of. Some of the OT is simply history of the Jewish people, and therefore, quite literal - though, many of those stories also manage to slip allegory in as well much like Plato gives us accounts of Socrates' last days, but the accounts are full of philosophical discourse and significance.

When we look at books like Genesis, and the various teachings of the prophets, it seems pretty clear to me that taking the language literal is the first step to serious error in understanding the literature. But if you had any specifics about this, I'd love to hear.

[boagie]

Surprize surprize no one is accountable, the perks of belonging to a committee which is not accountable either---what a revolting development!!! Keys to the psych ward anyone.