Is God A Moral Monster? | Decoding the Bible

In this video, Paul Copan gives an overview of the various difficult topics in the Old Testament that many people wrestle with & also unpacks some of the tools one can't bring to the text to help them navigate these challenging Bible passages.
@Paul_Copan has recently started his own KZbin channel if you are interested in more content like this: / @paul_copan
Here is a link to the book: Is God A Moral Monster?
www.amazon.com/God-Moral-Mons...

[@keepthechange2811]

God was showing us the weight of sacrificing a beloved son. And then He sacrificed his own beloved in Jesus without requiring it from us. His love is perfect and i cant wait to go home.

[@sentientflower7891]

God sacrificed his own son. Was God trapped into that outcome?

[@keepthechange2811]

@@sentientflower7891 God became a perfect man in order to clear us of our sins (broken commandments) and reconcile us to himself that we would have eternal life(original plan) And also to once and for all finish the sacrificial system. This was out of love. He didn't need to do it. We needed it done. You've got no basis for moral superiority over God or Jesus Christ. You've got no idea what's gonna happen when you die. But you like the idea of "sentient flowers"

[@keepthechange2811]

@@sentientflower7891 I ask. What would it take for you to believe???. All that's required for eternal bliss is that you believe God over everything else.

[@sentientflower7891]

@@keepthechange2811 if you are believing in the hope of receiving a gift in response you aren't believing you are selling.

[@sentientflower7891]

@@keepthechange2811 okay, I am just wondering how God found himself in the predicament in which he "had" to torture and crucify his son, knew in advance that it would happen and didn't do a single thing to avoid that outcome? Also, why did God kill the children of Bethlehem? Those deaths didn't save anyone and therefore weren't needed at all.

[@stevendouglas3781]

It’s bizarre that people forget that the whole point was that God didn’t want Isaac to be sacrificed, and that the Canaanites were irredeemably evil.

[@jjphank]

God wants all men to be saved first Timothy 2:4, second peter 3:9! God, predestines groups or plurals only, never individuals. Ephesians 1 -2 points: “ us and we” are pre-destined never “you and I“! And 11 times in 11 verses from 3-14 you have to remain “in Christ“ (in him, in whom) to be predestined! Romans 9:1-3 Paul is talking about the nation of Israel, all the way to the end of chapter 11 ! So, “Jacob, I loved, Esau I hated“ is genesis 25:23 “there are two nations in your womb“! It’s talking about ‘Nations,’ not individuals in the whole context of those three chapters! Stop taking it out of context, along with Ephesians 1! Of course, we have the story of Jacob and Esau and how Esau despised his birthright ! So God truly does love all people, he truly did make hell for the devil and his angels just as Matthew 25:41 says ! Even the 42 youths, mauled by the 2 bears, was because they mocked Elijah‘s rapture, a.k.a. the resurrection , they were saying “go on up Baldy “ ; and ALL their prophets just recently Were killed by Elijah and they should’ve known to stop worshiping Baal! Bethel was the headquarters of Baal worship, where this took place! 490 priests got killed by Elijah, There was no Priests around,; should’ve been a gigantic clue. So God never arbitrarily and haphazardly deals with any human being ! His love cannot be measured says Romans 8! But if you’re a Calvinist, it’s “his love cannot be measured , (Wink, wink)“! Come out of the false belief system of Calvinism ! Now you have no excuse because you cannot out argue this, let’s hear you try! Read Matthew 25 the parable of the Calvinists, a.k.a. talents ! Where the guy buried his talent calling God,- somebody who doesn’t judge rightly & he was thrown into hell as a result! He had the wrong view of God, & So Will a Calvinist, they’ll have a callous view of God & The love of Christs sacrificial death on the cross!

[@stevendouglas3781]

@@jjphank dude, I’m not responding to all that. Has nothing to do with what I commented. Best wishes.

[@sentientflower7891]

God lied to Abraham? The Canaanites were irredeemably evil? I can see why Christians could justify the Holocaust by your reasoning.

[@jjphank]

@@stevendouglas3781 it’s all about free will that’s why the Canaanites were evil, so what’s your point? That God made them evil? Nothing could be further from the truth.

[@jjphank]

@@sentientflower7891 you’re taking the Bible out of context, therefore, God will take your name out of the context of the biblical book of life! that means you’re going to hell unless you repent!

[@jeanne89]

“If you rightly understand yourself and your human nature, and you rightly understand the character and nature of God - and you need both of those pieces, because one requires humility and one requires acceptance-if you have both of those pieces in place, you will be so excited by who God is and what God has done for us.” “If you don’t want Christianity to be true, you don’t rightly understand it.” Very good!😊

[@nia5169]

This was truly enlightening. Thank you, Paul copan and thank you Brandon

[@joshua2707]

This is awesome Brandon, I'm very impressed you got Paul Copan to sit with you for an in-person interview! You're moving on up!

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

Haha! Yes, Dr. Copan is the man!

[@Psalm91ArmorUp]

@@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdommy prayers for you to continue this necessary enlightening process for those who do not have Christ in their hearts.

[@ricardochiesa9829]

Thank you so much for what you do. I've already accepted Christ in my life, but I think it's spiritually healthy to have hunger of knowledge of the word, precisely in order to reach others who are skeptics due to this what about-isms as you mention. Can't wait for more! ✝️🙏🤍

[@unpopularopinions9076]

Blessings and thanks to you Dr. Copan! I wrote a paper on your book, “Is God a Moral Monster”, back in college 10 years ago! Thank you for helping teach me how to think ♥️

[@Bill_Garthright]

_Thank you for helping teach me how to think_ And how was that? Are you saying you hadn't been _raised_ Christian? Or did he just comfort you in your existing beliefs? Maybe he taught you to become evidence-based, not faith-based? After all, there is nothing - literally _nothing_ - so silly, so harmful, or so wrong that it _can't_ be defended by an appeal to faith. Meanwhile, evidence is how we distinguish reality from delusion and wishful-thinking. Yeah, probably not, huh? :) So I'm really curious how you meant that. How _are_ you supposed to think, according to Dr. Copan? He was raised Christian himself. He _started_ with his belief in his particular god. Does he have *one piece of good evidence* that his god is actually _real?_ Or are we just supposed to believe Christians - well, his particular brand of Christian, anyway - instead of Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, and all of those other faith-based people who are just as confident - and just as lacking in good evidence, as far as I can see - in their claims which _contradict_ Christianity? Did he teach you to become evidence-based, or just to continue believing whatever you _wanted_ to be true?

[@buddyforbes7157]

A loving relationship is voluntary that is why God cannot force himself on all of us. Thank God the Patriarchs responded and now we have knowledge of God and how He lives us. Regarding your doubts on how this knowledge has been preserved all this time, you'll be happy to know that most scholars agree that the words of the Bible have been preserved quite well.

[@BrianWright-mi3lc]

Appreciate this, Brandon and Paul. Thank you!

[@wendypratt6837]

So looking forward to each episode of this series!

[@rachelhayhurst-mason7846]

Thank you both for a really uplifting interview! Looking forward to the next one! 😃 God bless you both 🤗

[@jdcamc]

Looking forward to the other discussions with Paul! Thank you for sharing!!

[@moriahw3947]

I don’t know if you’re done filming the series or whatever, but if you’re open to discussing specific points with Copan, could you guys maybe talk about the times in the Bible when God made Israelites inflict horrific punishments on each other? I’m a Christian but that’s one of my biggest stumbling blocks in trusting the goodness of God…in any other context, we’d say telling a group of people gather round and smash someone to death with rocks because they were picking up sticks to start a fire is straight out of one of the Saw movies, but it was actually a command from God. There are a few other similar instances like this that really hold me back. I’d love some clarity here. Thank you for what you’re doing 🙏🏻

[@victorwest8041]

It's all made-up bullshit.....wise up

[@redcat3583]

Looking forward to this series. Great idea

[@Practical.Wisdom]

Excellent interview, thanks for sharing, Brandon!

[@Balcamion79]

I appreciate these talks where they engage with the challenges rather than discounting their impact. The episode of @apologeticsroadshow, where he breaks down the story of Abraham and Isaac, is the most impacted rendering I've ever heard.

[@divine_moments_shorts]

Appreciate the deep insights you bring to the Word of God. It's truly enlightening.

[@serolf.h]

Awesome timing! I'm currently reading his book!!! So excited to listen to you guys

[@tabs91]

I finished this book of his just yesterday! Loved it

[@DomskiOKKK]

I’m currently reading this.

[@FISHResurrection]

This is your best video so far brother.... What a blessing Keep doing what you are doing.. The Law is still good. Matthew 5:17-19

[@bullfitnessbahamas]

It AMAZES me how some humans stand on this moral highground of how can God do this, how can God fo that...who do we think we are??...God CREATED any good thing that is in us!...and we think we can judge him??...he's the one who judges us!...also scripture CLEARLY states that HIS ways are not OUR ways!...there's many things we don't understand...I thank him daily that I don't have this kind of heart to question things I don't understand in scripture and to judge the morality of the one who GAVE us morality! 31:50

[@Roc-Righteous]

Well said, atheists talk BS about God being a criminal, murderer etc, but look at our world today- look who's doing the killing?

[@mybelovedgoodnews]

Great show, looking forward to the next one.

[@JJ_Hernandez]

Hey man, happy to see you doing some podcast style videos. I appreciate the work you do!

[@ggpt9641]

Thanks to God for the start of this series. Looking forward to what will be spoke and already has been, like the slavery issue in this video.

[@midimusicforever]

God is good!

[@The_Other_Ghost]

I bet you didn't have to stone your wife for not being a virgin.

[@BoluzB2]

Amazing! More please!

[@MrNikkiNoo]

Excited for this.

[@hSquaredSunshine]

🎉🎉🎉Awsome book!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[@8bit_misfit]

Love the approach to this topic. Appreciate you and your team.

[@MuhWasFalsePrpht]

You did it again Brandon! Another great video! ✝️🙏

[@originalvybepromotions7269]

excited for this series!

[@sirsleepy2472]

I love the content and I bought Paul’s book can’t wait to hear more. 👍🏽

[@kingwater6596]

This was Great I learned alot Looking forward to more

[@Practical.Wisdom]

I really love the Prelude in E Minor (Op. 28 No. 4) by Chopin played on the harp in the intro!

[@jeslordischus-wealthkwarte2833]

This has been so helpful! So much light for the broader context that Dr. Paul Copan gives that I had not really considered. I'm so much blessed by these shared insights🤍

[@aenigmatica8]

This is so enlightening!

[@EL0228]

Thanks a lot for doing this. Really appreciate it

[@Jair2435]

Great video. Lot of stuff to think on

[@michaelbabbitt3837]

Yes, it is a much-needed conversation. It is important to always research in good faith and charitably. This is in contrast to researching in a hypercritical/skeptical mindset where you look for the worst interpretation.

[@Paul_Copan]

Oh so true, Michael. They often operate in sound and slogans but aren't serious about looking into contextual, historical, and philosophical matters that are important for understanding these passages rightly.

[@Bill_Garthright]

Right. You can't be skeptical when you do "research." You have to always find what you really, really _want_ to be true (almost always because that's what you were taught to believe as a child), huh?

[@sentientflower7891]

@@Paul_Copan so is God allowed to command genocide or not?

[@samuelguzman5348]

​@@sentientflower7891God could kill all of us and still be righteous, for he alone is HOLY. Good thing he does love man the creature and thus provided a way for him to escape his wrath against them that are evil, and are hell deserving sinners.

[@Paul_Copan]

@@sentientflower7891 As we argue in our book (Dud God Really Command Genocide? {spoiler alert: “No”}, God will not command what is intrinsically evil.

[@reesehoover9963]

This is wild I was just talking about this idea with some of my friends today. It’s so difficult to understand the ethics in the Bible in instances like Abraham being told to sacrifice his son Isaac, but I found that God will never ask you to follow through on something that is contradictory to Gods character. It may be hard to believe but God will never tell you to do something that violates Gods own character

[@danielwallace8015]

Never follow through... just put you through the psychological torture first. Sounds like a loving God, where do I sign up?

[@sid5734]

@danielwallace8015 read bible and ask for guidance of holy spirit. 🙏

[@Bill_Garthright]

I'm always astonished at how faith-based people can rationalize away whatever they _want_ to rationalize away, even obviously evil stuff like Abraham and Isaac, Job, Jephthah, a worldwide flood, the treatment of Adam and Eve, etc. Of course, if you'd been raised Muslim, you'd rationalize away _different_ stuff, huh? If you'd been raised Hindu, or Mormon, or anything else, you'd have different things to rationalize away. But hey, that's the whole _point_ of religious faith, isn't it? The whole point is to believe whatever you _want_ to be true? But would _you_ tie up your child, place them on an altar, and raise a knife to sacrifice them, if a voice in your head told you to do that? If no angel came to stop you, what then? Would you go ahead and kill your child? And what would that do to your child even if you _didn't_ go through with it? What would that have done to _you_ if your father had done that? Christians are rarely as evil as their magic book, but you can sure rationalize away evil stuff, can't you? You just have to _want_ to rationalize it away. Well, I suppose that's why faith-based thinking is destroying my country and my world.

[@danielwallace8015]

@sid5734 I've done that... next suggestion?

[@Skylerrelyks93]

@@danielwallace8015do so again but humbly and expectant

[@dentonhahn2907]

Well now I have to go get Paul's book.😄

[@michaelbrickley2443]

The atheist/skeptic needs to understand we will get rewarded for sharing the Truth but it is not a seeking for self desire but, rather, a desire to see people set free in Christ. True shalom comes thru Jesus within, amen

[@reinhardtguldenpfennig6744]

I do feel you touched on an important point, that people do not want Christianity to be true. I think that is a massive part of how they approach and read the Old Testament. They do not want to or do not care to approach the O.T. in a way where they want to understand it. They would rather see the "buzz words" like slave and utterly destroy and just run with that as a proof against Christianity. The challenge then comes to get those people who have this preconceived idea against Christianity and the Bible to understand or to be more charitable in their understanding of the text, which i have found to be close to impossible once they made up their minds. But Dr Copan's books might be an amazing resource to give/recommend to actual seeker/skeptics. Thanks for this video and series! Looking forward to the rest of it. God bless you and Dr Copan in this endeavour!

[@jaflenbond7854]

Among thousands of Gods, who is the True and Sovereign God? ANSWER - The Creator is the One who should be honored and respected as the True and Sovereign God as written in Matthew 22: 37 and John 17: 3 Are Atheists and Religions worshippers of the Creator? ANSWER - No, All Atheists, Christians, and all Religions don't respect and obey the Creator's Sovereignty, will, and commandments, and are even mocking and degrading the Creator as worthless, useless, and undeserving to be honored and respected as the True and Sovereign God in their deliberate opposition and defiance of what were written in Matthew 22: 37 and John 17: 3 Who are the worshippers of the Creator on earth? ANSWER - All persons on earth who submit to the authority of Jesus Christ and believe his teachings about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" in obedience to what were written in Matthew 28: 18, Luke 4: 43, and John 11: 25, 26 are clearly the loving, kind, and respectful worshippers of the Creator on earth who can be trusted with anything and are worthy and deserving of the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death on a safe and peaceful earth without traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, and liars both in words and deeds as written in Revelation 21: 3. 4, 8 How will worshippers of the Creator live and exist on earth forever if they just become worthless and useless dusts on earth after their deaths? ANSWER - All human beings have no immortal souls and just become worthless and useless dusts on earth after their deaths just like the animals as written in Ecclesiastes 3: 19, 20 and 9: 5, 6 but loving, kind, and respectful worshippers of the Creator who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's disciples and followers, and many others will not remain as worthless and useless dusts on earth forever, instead, in the Creator's own right time and as written in John 11: 25, 26 Jesus Christ will RESURRECT them back to life so they can all happily and abundantly live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD" and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.

[@user-id1vu9kb7t]

"Why is there so much skepticism and resistance to the biblical God but so much openness and curiosity to the general spiritual?" Such a great question. This is something I think about a lot and something that irritates me more than it probably should.

[@brunocarneiro9688]

Because the God of the Bible has rules. People wanna feel good about themselfs but don't want to make hard sacrifices. The nee spirituality lets you Hook up with anyone you want. Take the drugs you want. And you Will still feel like you are a good person.

[@SmartAss4123]

@@brunocarneiro9688 If I wanted to do bad stuff I would be a christian because you can literally do murder and get way with it in the afterlife if you believe and repent. Without that I accept responsibility and duty we have to each other. Like a normal person should

[@brunocarneiro9688]

@@SmartAss4123 that makes no Sense. I don't understand how so many people think that this is the way christianity works. If you kill someone expecting that you Will go to heaven because God Will forgive you, you are mistaken. You have to truly regret what you have done. If you kill because you expect to BE saved, than it means you never had the intention of being a good person. Kinda like someone that ONLY regrets a crime when they get caught. That means nothing. Btw, i am not a Christian, but i have been researching religions this past year, and christianity seems to me to BE the One that i think could BE true.

[@SmartAss4123]

@@brunocarneiro9688 You just literally exemplified my comment. I said "if you believe and repent" In the very first paragraph. Wether or not they expect to be saved because it's in the bible. Unless you're god and you're able to read mens hearts like god apparently. Then have at it.

[@brunocarneiro9688]

@@SmartAss4123 then you understand. All of US have done bad things, but doesnt mean we deserve to BE in hell for all eternity. God Will forgive you if you truly see and own your mistakes. To me it seems the best God to have. Like a father that doesnt Turn his back on a Son because of his mistakes. As long as he sees that the Son is learning and becoming a better person.

[@Crafty.Veteran.Survival]

Love this. Hope to see you have Frank Turek on for an interview some day too!

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

Working on it! Would be epic!!

[@Crafty.Veteran.Survival]

@@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom 🙏

[@morganabernathy3192]

Please do more of these!

[@oliverjamito9902]

Love God of life for the living as a Child with Thy sincere conversations longing to LEARN. Remember do not murder my innocents little Minds God's glory! Which ye all came from 1st. What is old minds? Love you beloved and my pop without shame but with boldness! Sincere conversations =sincere answers

[@ariararia]

Love your channel

[@daverogg8701]

Ohmygoodness, I’m reading Paul Copan’s book presently. This is terrific that you’re talking with him!!!!

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

That’s so great!

[@Paul_Copan]

Thanks for joining us! Glad you're reading my book!

[@joestfrancois]

@@Paul_Copan How do you account for the verses in your bible that describe explicitly how to beat a slave? How do you explain that your Bible doesn't say what it says? 20 “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies [a]at his hand, he shall [b]be punished. 21 If, however, he [c]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his [d]property.

[@tabs91]

​@joestfrancois I just finished his book yesterday, and it does go into detail regarding those verses, especially in chapters 12 and 13 on pages 130, 131, 135, and 136.

[@sentientflower7891]

@@tabs91 four pages needed to explain away the inherent cruelty of God! I prefer Gods that don't require apologetics.

[@filippians413]

I may not always agree with or understand God's moral decisions when reading the Bible but I would rather trust His morals over my own or some other person's subjective morals. Without God, we just make up our own moral code as we see fit, and just look where that has gotten us.

[@apocatastasisnet2815]

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whoever you choose to obey?” - (Romans 6:16) "Why do you not judge.. also for yourselves.. what is righteous?" - asked Jesus (Luke 12:57) "The Buddha once rebuked his most devoted disciple for wanting to introduce rules to govern the order.. saying: “`Ah! Kassapa, you are ever fond of the making of rules. But the mind of man is ever facile to evade rules unless the heart be willing to keep them, and then no rules need to be imposed, for a man will make them for himself. As people cease to live the true teaching, rules and precepts are made. But no rules or precepts can shape the lives of men and women.... They are counterfeit teaching. " “When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others.” - taught Confucius "As a rule the individual is so unconscious that he altogether fails to see his own potentials for decision. Instead he is constantly and anxiously looking around for external rules and regulations which can guide him in his perplexity. Aside from general human inadequacy, a good deal of the blame for this rests with education, which promulgates the old generalisations and says nothing about the secrets of private experience. Thus, every effort is made to teach idealistic beliefs or conduct which people know in their hearts they can never live up to, and such ideals are preached by officials who know that they themselves have never lived up to these high standards and never will. What is more, nobody ever questions the value of this kind of teaching." - Carl Jung "Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamour for, a leader." - added Hermann Hesse

[@JFskeezix]

Great conversation and topics. One thing I'd like to see in the next video is a change in the camera angles. Normally if you can see someone's eyes it feels like the viewer is part of the conversation. But this time it really felt he was only talking to you, because we couldn't see his eyes. Hopefully this is a useful tip. God bless you!

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

Good idea!! The next few will look similar to this, but I’ll fix that for the future! 🙌❤️

[@JesustheProtector]

Because he was really only talking to him 😂 do u have a bit of ocd

[@followerofchrist6694]

I went from atheist to believer in a split second when Christ Jesus revealed himself to me. Looking back on my own behavior and seeing other atheists who argue with me, I am convinced that atheism is a fit of solipsism. People want to be their own god and make things their own way. If not solipsism, then dishonest paganism. My own mother says she is an atheist but believes in “Mother Nature” and “goodness”. That is idolatry and pagan, making your own god.

[@joestfrancois]

wrote " making your own god." Everyone makes their own god. Do you permit women to speak in your church? Do you wear your hair long? Do you pray for elected men in power? Your Bible talks about these things and if you don't do them you have created your own god.

[@Peter-wl3tm]

@joestfrancois “Do you permit women to speak in your church? Do you wear your hair long? Do you pray for elected men in power? Your Bible talks about these things and if you don't do them you have created your own god.” How does not doing those things mean you have made your own god? Moreover, before pulling different verses from their context, make sure you know the context. Imagine telling the police that a particular bystander punched another guy on the bus, however, someone comes and says, yes this bystander punched the other guy, but he punched him because he was trying to rob the old lady on the bus. You see how much context make a difference, one person gave a report without context and it made the bystander, that threw the punch, look like aggressive thug. The other person said the same exact thing, the bystander threw a punch; however, that particular person gave the contexts that punch restaurant in order to stop a robbery. You see how contacts actually sheds light or in the particular thing being discussed and without context, you can really screw up what is being said

[@joestfrancois]

@@Peter-wl3tm wrote "How does not doing those things mean you have made your own god? Moreover, before pulling different verses from their context," You hear christians say all the time, "Oh, it is in there, but I don't follow that." They pick and choose what they want to believe. Those verses are some of the first one's 21st century christians throw away, they are not random. When you do that, throw away stuff, you have edited christianity, and it reflects you, not what is written in your Bible. So think a little now. if Jesus, or Paul, who can be argued as having contributed more to christianity than Jesus, but if either showed up in your church, would they be happy? Would they think you were followers of Jesus Christ? Jesus seems like a good enough dude in your Bible, but Paul, geez, what would your church do if he went off on a woman that spoke in your church? And if you are not going to a church, not a member, your bible says not to forsake the gathering of the brethren, so you are editing christianity there too. Dude, every theist makes their own god.

[@kojoantwi9723]

Hey I will love to see you have a conversation with Voodie Baucham, I believe that will be a great conversation.

[@BScott7220]

11:27 OK, the titles are kinda funny just blurted out like that. On a more serious note, as an atheist-agnostic, this is one of the best Christian-themed YT channels I've seen.

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

I appreciate that brother! And thanks for tuning in!

[@MathewSimonGospel]

God was testing Abraham's faith to see if he truly believed in the promise of descendants: Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac believed that God would even raise Isaac from the dead. HEB 11 "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death." Eventually God gave up His only Son, Jesus who died and rose from the dead. This is why it's all about faith in Jesus. Everything in the Old Testament points to our Lord and God, Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved - this is God's grace and love for us.

[@Bill_Garthright]

_God was testing Abraham's faith_ Why? Christians - _modern_ Christians, at least - always tell me that their god knows everything. So what was the point of "testing" Abraham when God already knew the result? _Isaac believed that God would even raise Isaac from the dead._ Why? What would make any rational person think so? And where in the story does it say _that?_ It doesn't, right? You just made that up, didn't you? Would you kill _your_ child if a voice in your head told you to do so? Note that Abraham didn't even _question_ if it might be Satan telling him that, instead of God. Of course, that was before "Satan" had been invented, huh? But still. Would you kill _your_ child just because a voice in your head told you to do so? Would you tie up your child, place them on an altar, look them in the eyes, and raise your knife to sacrifice them to the voice in your head? And what would that do to the child even if you _didn't_ go through with it, at the end? _Jesus who died and rose from the dead._ *Evidence?* _This is why it's all about faith in Jesus._ Because you have no good evidence that your religious beliefs are actually true, but you really, really want to believe what you were taught to believe as a child, anyway? _Everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved_ *Evidence?*

[@soversetile]

I have to figure out a way to describe Christ to my brother as to plant seeds so he can ask questions about his Jehovah’s Witness religion

[@Bill_Garthright]

@@soversetile _I have to figure out a way to describe Christ to my brother as to plant seeds so he can ask questions about his Jehovah’s Witness religion_ Explain that Jesus is just a character in a story. Some kind of "Jesus" probably existed, but we have nothing from Jesus himself, and nothing from anyone who'd ever _met_ Jesus, as far as we can tell. It's just a story, and stories aren't always true. But good luck convincing him of that! After all, religion is all about believing whatever you _want_ to be true, not about what you have good reason to think really _is_ true.

[@CatchCraftInc]

Build an audience by uploading all those clips, and then start your show. Nicely done

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

Don't worry! I'll still be doing commentary and reaction videos! I just think that longer form content is also important to integrate in. But thanks for the encouragement!

[@charlesking9120]

When I was an atheist I rejected the Biblical God because I was at last a grown-up, making my own decisions and mistakes for which I had to pay. Becoming Christian meant going back to being a child, putting myself under the thumb of a new parent who demands my obedience or else. Why would I volunteer for such a thing? I'd have to be crazy. This is why other gods were always more appealing to me.

[@onestepaway3232]

rape in OT was death. The passage about marrying is when non married people are caught in the act and not married, consensual sex.

[@ronsanchez29]

Great discussion. 🙏🏼

[@warren286]

Atheists don't want God to be true bc once they do, they convict themselves of their sins.

[@CrypticHowl]

And it would take a massive hit to their pride and public persona they've built up.

[@Bill_Garthright]

@@CrypticHowl Right. It's not that _you_ are so terrified of death that you need a fantasy to comfort you. It's not that _you_ just desperately want to believe the stories you were taught to believe as a baby. It's not that _you_ really, really want to go to magic Disneyland after you die. It's that we atheists don't _want_ your god to be real? Heh, heh. Well, tell yourself whatever you need to be comforted, since that's all you seem to care about. Imagine whatever you like about _me,_ since imagination is all you have, huh? I don't care. (But please, keep your sexual fantasies about all of my "sins" to yourself. Fantasize all you like. I just don't want to hear it.) But if you want _me_ to believe your religious claims, how about one - *one* - piece of good evidence that your god is real, rather than just imaginary? Just *one,* please, but specific enough and in enough detail that I can judge it for myself. Because evidence is how we distinguish reality from delusion and wishful-thinking. Yes, I suppose that _you_ maybe not care about distinguishing reality from delusion and wishful-thinking, but I _do._

[@LandonMetochoi]

@@CrypticHowl @warren286 Wow. I’m really saddened to see the bias and bigotry in how you view us as atheists. We’re really just like you, mostly. We don’t believe because we don’t find the evidence compelling or credible, not because we’re prideful jerks, dude. Maybe take time to have conversations with us?

[@CrypticHowl]

@@LandonMetochoi I don't view all atheists like that, for me it's on a case by case basis.

[@LandonMetochoi]

@@CrypticHowl Ok, I’ll take your word for that. Do you agree with what the OP said? That we don’t want god to be real bc we will be convicted of our sins?

[@bobbyadkins6983]

Is God was, there would be no hope for any of us. All of our abilities, every single one of them, are made possible by God. The ability to do anything good, to be able to think correctly or rationally in any way, is from God. Anything good about us is from God. We can't make a single right move without Him. Anything we do that is morally good is made possible only by God.

[@vanessaor2760]

Free will

[@bobbyadkins6983]

@@vanessaor2760 Made possible by God.

[@joestfrancois]

Thomas Paine liked Jesus. He said of the Old Testament: “Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon, than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel.”

[@mrhyde7600]

4:10 The "what about" argument is valid if it's pointing out a contradiction. Your god is all loving? What about hell? Your God is just? What about one guy opening the ark of the covenant and tens of thousands of people dying? That's valid.

[@user-re5dl3ir3h]

Gotta be honest, I was expecting more/better answers, especially as Turek often recommends this guy's book. I get that he didn't try to answer many of the major questions, but the ones he even delved into slightly I felt unsatisfied. God must be Good, or He is not worth worshiping/trusting. God also must be never-changing, else we cannot trust He will change His mind on what constitutes morality. Hoping that there will be better answers once Paul takes some time to deep-delve some of these questions rather than skimming them in description. I believe God is Good, and Just, and Trustworthy. I take this as an axiom, therefore when I see passages in the Bible that describe a God who is essentially acting evil, then I distrust those passages, not the nature of God. But then, I'm not sold on inerrancy, so it isn't as much of a problem for me, but these are valid serious questions for fellow believers.

[@antonjoubert6980]

The point is, Abraham thought it perfectly normal and acceptable for god to demand human sacrifice. The only moral response to being asked to kill your child is "f-off!", and let's not pretend Christianity is not a cult of human sacrifice, it does, after all, celebrate one human sacrifice, as if it was successful...

[@linusloth4145]

Tell this the abortion clinics and their advocates you bigot. It was not only a human but God himself that gave himself away to be killed by humans.

[@shanejohnson1034]

Isaiah 45:7 says it all, god had some messed up commands, and Jesus promoted this (Matt. 4:4).

[@colmortimer1066]

One of the biggest most shocking things I read in the bible was in Numbers 15, where a guy was stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath...which is made worse by the fact that is the only commandment Christ kind of said was not all that important. A guy was killed in a very brutal way for doing something Christ rejected/changed. He even did work himself, healing people and allowed people to harvest grain on the Sabbath. That one bugged me as a believer, so I can see why atheists have issues with such things. I am looking forward to other episodes of this.

[@honorablevessel]

In what way did Jesus ever say the sabbath wasn't that important? It's literally one of the Ten Commandments (ie, the Law). Jesus definitely said "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matthew 5:17). And He also said "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). Finally, in 1st Corinthians 5:7 we learn that Christ IS our Passover. Remember that the lamb's blood over the door, which saved the Israelites from the angel of death, was a representation of the blood that Jesus would spill as the perfect and final sacrifice. Passover is the highest Christian holiday and has never lost any importance at all. It is also important to know that the man collecting sticks on the Sabbath was knowingly and blatantly in disobedience to the Law of God, which was already well established. God had warned the people that if they did not punish sinners amongst themselves, then everyone would suffer the punishment. The mindset of the man is what is of importance. Disobedience to God is never tolerated. When Jesus did healing on the Sabbath whe was doing God's work and did not have a heart filled with disobedience toward the Father.

[@campaigningmc7812]

This verse occurs right after the law of presumptuous sin is established where. “…the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall surely be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.” Notice the word presumptuous, which, in the hebrew context, implies that the action is done with open disdain for God’s word and will. It is not just committing a sin, but doing it with the express purpose of rebellion against God. For this reason, they would be cut off from their people, and he would have to actually pay the price for his sin, for he separated himself from God through both sin and through his volition. The man who collected sticks on Sabbath may very well have been doing it presumptuously, for the entire congregation of Israel knew of the holiness of the Sabbath. May God bless you.

[@campaigningmc7812]

Oh I forgot this, but, at the same time, this event happens only a couple of verses after the procedures for atonement of “unintentional sin”, are revealed to the people, which further supports this point.

[@colmortimer1066]

@@honorablevessel He said something to the effect not working of the sabbath was for us to have a day off not to deny ourselves, nor to be punished for. That's what I meant there...which absolutely nothing you said here actually countered. Don't get so triggered especially when we agree.

[@MathewSimonGospel]

I think its because the sin committed was willful, defiant and rebellious. In the Numbers 15, it warns about such sin just before the guy breaks the sabbath. "‘“But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you. ‘“But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, utters blasphemy against the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.”’ We see the same warning to Christians here in Hebrews 10 about willful/rebellious sin. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Jesus was not breaking the Sabbath. He was doing the work of healing and loving people. The entire law is fulfilled in loving one another. Jesus never did any selfish work on the Sabbath for Himself or his own gain. He said this MATTHEW 12 "Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ He said to them, ‘If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus." The Pharisees hated Jesus because they looked at the letter of the law and missed the spirit. Jesus was not a law-breaker but He perfectly fulfilled the law. This is why under the New Covenant, we are not commanded to keep the Sabbath but simply this: BELIEVE in Jesus and LOVE one another because Love is the fulfillment of the law. 1 JOHN 3 "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. " ROMANS 13 "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law." ROMANS 14 "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. " In the Old Covenant, it was by the LETTER of the law (circumcision was required, Sabbath was required) but now we are in the New Covenant which is all about the SPIRIT (faith, love, hope). The death of Jesus ended the ceremonial law about circumcision feast days and sabbaths. That is why we are not judged based on the sabbath anymore. COLOSSIANS 2 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. "

[@WePlugGOODMusic]

Is episode 2 out yet? Please help tackle Lev 25 in detail

[@willievanstraaten1960]

26:38 “that God has good reasons for allowing history to play itself out and that he's he's achieving his purpose” And what would that good reason be?

[@linusloth4145]

Creating free creatures to love and who have the freedom to love back

[@willievanstraaten1960]

@@linusloth4145 @linusloth4145, Linus Loth: "Creating free creatures to love and who have the freedom to love back" Fortunately, the Bible and the 6,000-year-old human and universe are mythical fiction. If not, all humans would be psychopathically jealous, murderers, killers, always angry, totally egocentric, and make silly and stupid laws because he created them in his image. Most humans are not like that so they were thankfully not created in his evil and cruel image.

[@mrhyde7600]

@@linusloth4145 that makes sense until you think about it. "Free to love", as if love is a choice? I didn't choose to love my girlfriend or chocolate ice cream or heavy metal music, yet here I am. I've tried forcing love out of my own free will in each of those categories and it's never worked. "Creating free creatures", free creatures that are free to do precisely as God wants us to under the threat of a mints punishment? Boy, that's some freedom! And he made everybody distinct and unique with different dispositions and different intelligence levels and free will which can only be characterized by doing something different which means other than what God wants? And we get punished for it? Oh boy! I'm glad God created free creatures! My sarcasm may have been over the top, but it is for making a point.

[@linusloth4145]

@@mrhyde7600 So, you feel like a automaton externally controlled by genes and environment? Determined to do things you don't like? If God is just, He has to punish injustice and sin. If you obey out of fear of punishment you don't love God, you love yourself and want to avoid facing God and the discomfort of punishment. That's the point: Nobody lives a perfect life. Everybody deserves punishment. That is why God in Jesus showed his love for us on the cross, taking the punishment we deserve on himself. Paying the fine we would have to pay. If we accept the free gift of forgiveness from Jesus, we are made righteousness before God, as Jesus takes my punishment in exchange for His righteousness that I recieve. If I grasp the magnitude of His love for me that melts my heart. I want to follow and obey Jesus out of love and gratitude for what He did for me

[@mrhyde7600]

@@linusloth4145 Love isn't a choice. Neither is belief, but I doubt you'll ever actually address the specific issue I bring up - kinda like im having to remind you now that you said WORDS back to me but I don't count it as a RESPONSE since you didn't bother acknowledging anything I SAID. It's like we just take turns talking. But anyway, freedom to love doesn't make any sense if we can't specifically choose what we love. It's a meaningless empty phrase that you just threw out there apparently meaninglessly since it means nothing. Free creatures, pretty much same thing as the freedom to love… Sure, we are free creatures if you redefine what free means. I know you're holding a gun to my head but I am free to punch you in the face! Sure you can shoot me but I am free to punch you in the face! Nobody's "stopping" me from doing anything, right? It's not "mind control"! because that's the only thing to consider in freedom isn't it?

[@Peter-wl3tm]

One objection that I seem to come across when it comes to slavery is, if God forbid murder specifically in the 10 commandments why didn’t He forbid slavery in that same way.

[@Ejacunathan]

Because if you read the bible, slavery was a mutually agreed contract between owner and owned. And there were ways for these people to regain their independence. Slavery was a choice and therefore justified. It's the same thing as people who work a corporate job. You sign a contract which limits your rights and abilities during the hours you are scheduled to work. That's the same thing as biblical slavery. Except the slave owner had the responsibility to take care of the slave.

[@joestfrancois]

@@Ejacunathan wrote "Because if you read the bible, slavery was a mutually agreed contract between owner and owned." “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies [a]at his hand, he shall [b]be punished. 21 If, however, he [c]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his [d]property."

[@JesseDriftwood]

@@EjacunathanThat’s a dodge. The real question is why wouldn’t God include a law that says “thou shall not own another human as property”? Particularly if this God is the source of objective morality, and opposes slavery.

[@JesseDriftwood]

“Why is there so much skepticism for the biblical God, but so much openness to the spiritual?” So many ways we can tackle this question. For the non-believer, the Christian God is just one potential option under the supernatural/spiritual umbrella. So they could easily say “Allah in the Quaran doesn’t seem real, but I still feel like there’s something bigger than me going on”. This is how a lot of people think, even if they leave Christianity they don’t feel like they’re leaving god, and they go on to form other supernatural beliefs. You started by talking about atheists that just didn’t want this to be true (a weird position I’ve never really understood, or encountered), and then shifted to people who want ouija boards to function. I don’t think these two people are the same.

[@lyesblanco3821]

Yea Jesse. It is because you know, we want to continue to « sin ». And of course, we WILL NOT look at the evidence in front of us that screams for the biblical God, for example a banana 🍌 according to Ray Comfort. Because we are evil creatures, unaware of a God that condemns people for eating shellfish which he created. Ah, Deuteronomy. My favorite

[@iselamagana6351]

Thanks!

[@Daily_Dose_Of_Wisdom]

Thank you! 🙏❤️

[@brianmoy1556]

Just looking at the bite out of the apple on the computer. 🤔

[@IgnoranceBegetsConfidence]

Yez

[@humbledmisc]

So Dawkins would possibly answer the question of "why do we have fingerprints?", with "Science just works?" Science doesn't care about holding you accountable for your actions, but God might.

[@johanneshartman4618]

JESUS IS LIVE!

[@ssj4gogeta130]

*without the v and n an a is n lie!!!!!*

[@AlphonsoFrett]

Hell NO! The embassarment that hit me for putting up with false teaching 😅 caused me to see why God commanded what he commanded in order to protect us from getting eaten by evil

[@fugitivemoses7515]

In addition, if u read the book of Ezekiel 20:25-26, God later explains His reason for giving the Israelites harsh laws when they lived in the wilderness.

[@Jesusisking247]

God is Holy Holy Holy, God is perfect, and good in all his ways, righteous anger is good. What you have to understand is we are all sinners and have sinned against a perfect God and we all deserve Hell. He created us we rebelled and then he came to earth when he didn't have to to save us. We are the problem not God, but he can save us through Jesus christ sacrifice when we accept it.

[@velkyn1]

typical sick cultists who need to be sycophants to an imaginary tyrant.

[@tomsea6017]

Sometimes my challenge with discussing the Biblical issues with regards to women is that we fail to adequately admit the complexity of ancient societies and how the men didn't have it easy compared to women. The average man was sent to war as a young man and died. They didn't get to even be treated poorly, they were just sacrificed in war, whether in defence of their people or in seeking to secure enough posterity to even merit reproduction. So we can't just discuss the woes of females in those context as if they were oppressed and the men had it easy. When it comes down to the very basic "animalistic" desires, more women got to reproduce while most men didn't. So we have to be careful when talking about these and almost apologising for the laws in the OT - which were by far more empowering for women, considering context. Life in those times weren't easy for anybody.

[@willievanstraaten1960]

13:08 “It's I have encountered God through Christ and it becomes the central feature of your life it becomes the thing that guides all else and the thing uh that elevates” Very nice rhetoric, but how did you encounter god through Christ and how was he different from the savage described in the Old Testament?

[@pabs5270]

My theory on Abraham. Human sacrifice was a common practice. God wanted to dramatically show that this wasn’t man’s ideal, so a substantial lamb was provided. It’s the only reasonable explanation.

[@zonderbaar]

So when do You guys talk about Isaac ? Did I miss that ?

[@MortenBendiksen]

I also read the OT as an atheist and found it horrible. I now realise that it is written by and for an ancient human mind, it needs to address the categories of those minds. It can't really go outside those categories, except in very broad brushes through typology and symbolic referring to stuff we perhaps later could understand. Also, a lot of it's meaning is lost on us, unless we understand that it must carefully manage a balance between using existing notions, and telling something new, and use the space carefully, it's not even actually texts but oral transmission and memory which is the limits. Not only are there concepts we have now that didn't exist. There are also things that are lost to our consciousness which was readily available to the ancient one. Such as the concept of wind-breath-spirit, which is just one we know of. These things were not distinguished between, neither in OT or NT, btw. They are one and the same. When you read "the wind blows where it will...and so it is with everyone born of the spirit", it should actually be read "the spirit blows where it will...and so it is with everyone born of the spirit", or "the wind blows where it will...and so it is with everyone born of the wind", or "the breath blows where it will...and so it is with everyone born of the breath", or actually all of them at the same time, plus any mix of them. Translstors aren't often thinking deeply about how words can point to wildly differing concepts than exist today. They usually assume it means one of our modern concepts, like it's just a word that means different things, which is normal to us. But it's not, it's actually s unified concept. And most words traced back were like this, united concepts which to some degree might overlap with our concepts, and sometimes not so well. To really translate as well as possible requires using many more words than in the original. But then you risk adding stuff as well. It's really difficult. My final point is, while we must keep scriptures sentral, we must also approach them in a mystical fashion, humbly, as a strange creature we do not know. Christ in us, is what we need to first and foremost live out, and scripture used as a weird and mysterious inherited object of wild treasure and infinite potential, but not something we "figured out", and heave the correct view on.

[@mosog8829]

Job 4:17 " Can a man be more righteous than God"? So if one ask a question about God being a "moral monster" is like saying their are people who uphold a higher moral standard than Him.

[@sentientflower7891]

Don't criticize Moloch.

[@mosog8829]

@@sentientflower7891 Whatever that means

[@sentientflower7891]

@@mosog8829 are you more righteous than Moloch?

[@willievanstraaten1960]

16:42 “NEAR EASTERN TRASH TALK there's hyperbole there's an exaggeration which is common in Egyptian Assyrian accounts and so forth and the Bible picks up on that uh you know so that's helpful to know there's hyperbole there's an exaggeration.” Thanks, I could not explain the Bible better. I shall remember this one.

[@sweatshirty]

“We know who God is and He tells us how to live a right life in this book here” people: 😡😡😡 “here are a couple crystals, they will make you happy and make you rich, also God is whatever you want, nobody can know who God really is” people: 😮

[@fernandof1293]

Hey I'm really struggling with my faith right now, and my "what about" is the story of Noah's ark and the global flood. I'd love it if you could make a video about the global flood and how something like that could possibly be true.

[@MrNikkiNoo]

Does everything in the Bible have to be historically accurate or factual to be valuable or hold some deeper truth? There's no claim in the Bible that it's all fact. That's just how I see it. Please ignore if unhelpful.

[@quadrasaurus-rex8809]

J Warner Wallace has a lot of good info on that as well as “answers in Genesis”. Both are on KZbin. I pray for your strength in faith brother.

[@Bill_Garthright]

@@quadrasaurus-rex8809 _J Warner Wallace has a lot of good info on that as well as “answers in Genesis”._ Well, if you want to be lied to, those are good places, I suppose. But if you just want to be comforted in whatever you were taught to believe as a child, there are lots of religious channels which will cheerfully lie to you - Christian and Muslim alike (depending, of course, on which one you were taught to believe as a child). If you care about the truth, I'd check out other channels, as well. I'd highly recommend Paulogia, for example. But if you just want to be comforted in whatever religion you _want_ to be true, regardless of whether it really _is_ true, then there are lots of religious channels on KZbin which will happily provide that comfort, if you don't think about it very much.

[@Bill_Garthright]

_the story of Noah's ark and the global flood_ There was no worldwide flood. Period. But you don't have to be _that_ crazy to still be a Christian. You can accept reality to _that_ extent and still believe in the religion you were taught to believe as a child. Lots of Christians do it. You don't _have_ to be as loony as the "Answers in Genesis" people. After all, Christians can't even agree with _other Christians_ about much of anything, let alone with the other faith-based people in the world, even when you're all supposedly following the same magic book supposedly provided to you by the same supposedly all-knowing deity. If your god exists, he must be the world's worst communicator, huh? But again, you _can_ be a Christian without rejecting reality to _that_ extent. Lots and lots of Christians do it. Personally, I've seen no good evidence that _any_ god exists, let alone a particular one. But if you really, really want to cling to the religion of your childhood, you can do that without being _completely_ loony. Wherever you end up, good luck!

[@Bill_Garthright]

@@MrNikkiNoo _Does everything in the Bible have to be historically accurate or factual to be valuable or hold some deeper truth?_ Good point! I agree with you. But then, how do you determine which parts are true and which aren't? Is it just which parts you really, really _want_ to be true? Or do you care about which parts really _are_ true? Evidence is how we distinguish reality from delusion and wishful-thinking. (Obviously, there is nothing - literally _nothing_ - so crazy, so harmful, or so wrong that it _can't_ be defended by an appeal to faith. Just look at all those other religions, if you're not willing to look at your own.) So, which parts of the Bible do we have good evidence are actually _true?_ We know there was no worldwide flood. It's not just that we have no good evidence there _was,_ but that we know there wasn't. Scientists in many different fields have shown that to be just fiction (probably based on a local flood, originally, then exaggerated as the story got passed around). Heck, we even have historical records from civilizations which lived during the time young-Earth creationists claim there was a worldwide flood, and they didn't even _notice_ it. And there are a lot of other things in the Bible we now know aren't literally true (even though some Christians still cling to what they _want_ to be true). On the other hand, Jerusalem is a real place. We know that Jerusalem exists. Of course, we know that London exists, too. But that doesn't make Hogwarts real. And when you start looking at the evidence - when it comes to the Bible _or_ the Harry Potter books - there seems to be no good evidence of the magical stuff. And the magical stuff is what's important. After all, _Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter_ gets lots of things right about the life and times of the former president. But that's _still_ not good evidence that vampires are real. I regularly ask Christians for just *one* piece of good evidence, specific enough and in enough detail that I can judge it for myself, that _any_ of the magical/supernatural stories in the Bible actually happened. Their choice. And I will _give_ them - and you - a guy named Jesus who was crucified by the Romans. But there isn't any, as far as I can tell so far. There's just a whole lot of wishful-thinking. I talk to Muslims on KZbin, too. I also ask _them_ for *one piece of good evidence* that their god is real and their religious beliefs are actually true. Nothing. By and large, they believe for the same reason Christians do. That's what _they_ were taught to believe as a child, so that's what seems normal to them and that's what they really, really _want_ to be true. As far as I can tell - in both cases - it's all just wishful-thinking. And that's the problem. Well, not for _me._ But that's the problem for any rational believer who is willing to accept that some things in their magic book might not be true. How do you then determine which are true and which aren't? Is it just which parts you _want_ to be true? But then, maybe you want _all_ of it to be true. Do you care about the truth of your beliefs, or do you just want to be comforted in whatever religion you _want_ to be true? If you actually _care_ about the truth, that's the path towards atheism, I'd say. That's how you get there, by actually caring about the truth. But I've had Christians tell me flat-out that they didn't _care_ if their beliefs were true or not, because they wanted to believe them anyway.

[@davide724]

If truth is inherently good for us to know then let it be known. But if truth isn't inherently good for us, who then would want to know it? If we seek truth for our benefit, would we still seek truth if we knew it would be to our detriment? What if no god is responsible for truth? Why then would one believe that truth will be beneficial? In other words, why believe that a mindlessly created or mindless eternal reality that you inhabit would provide you with what would benefit you rather than what would be to your detriment? And to what extent, truth properly interpreted, be beneficial for us? Would you still honor truth if truth would ruin you? If truth was your enemy rather than your friend? If truth was a poison rather than a cure? And by truth, I mean reality properly understood.

[@Bill_Garthright]

So,... you don't give a crap about what's true and what isn't? OK, then believe whatever you _want_ to be true. You will anyway, right? I _do_ care what's true and what isn't. As much as possible, I want to believe what's true and _not_ believe what's false. Show me I'm wrong about something, and I will change my mind. And I will _thank_ you for the correction. I think it's beneficial, yes. When I cross a busy street, I look both ways, because I think the truth is beneficial. Don't you? When a scammer wants my money, when a politician wants my vote, when I'm deciding what to eat or drink,... for everything in my life, it's beneficial if I can distinguish what's true from what isn't. It's beneficial for me and it's beneficial for society. (Here in America, faith-based thinking is destroying my country and my world thanks to people like you - people who don't _care_ what's true and what isn't.) So, yes, I _do_ think that the truth is beneficial. But even if it wasn't, I'd want to know the truth. The truth isn't my enemy, even if the truth isn't what I want to hear. But even if it _was,_ I'm brave enough to accept the truth. I'm not a child who needs to be comforted by a pleasant fantasy. No, my dog isn't living on a farm upstate. Anyway, if all you've got backing up your religious beliefs is that you really, really _want_ to believe that stuff,... well, that's up to you. But I care about the truth. And evidence is how we distinguish reality from delusion and wishful-thinking.

[@AetherialSatori]

Universal balance encapsulates what the original creator consists of... The ability to do as much harm as show love. The reason Christianity would be the wisest decision on humanities part is because it stops there. Nobody thinks any further.... But the ultimate truth of the world is that it has no concern with forgiveness and love. That will work itself out regardless. But the more you push in one direction, the counterbalance is automatically created out of that... I love Jesus, believe in Jesus and wish that's what this was. But here? The world is upside down. No good deed goes unpunished...

[@lyesblanco3821]

Aaaaah again, some questions here. I think I heard Dr Paul compare ancient slavery to modern sport players, because they are also « traded ». Yea. Servitude versus millions of dollars. I mean Yea. Okay… But just to check some things here : - Are you 2 saying that slavery was « good », or « better » ? Where do you get your references, in an ancient world full of blood rituals, murders, barbarism, etc. - Did parents sell their children as slaves for money in ancient Israel ? Was it moral ? - As Malachi 3-6 says, God does not change. Same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Do you apply that same biblical morality to your modern life today ? - I think servitude is called human trafficking today. Slave means, according to most dictionaries, deprived of liberty and fundamental rights. Do you think they were playing Monopoly with their slaves at that time ? Instead of beating them, raping them and consider them full property ? Do you think it was « not so bad » ? - talking about morality, Do you believe that any context at all could justify stoning to death an adulterous woman ? Ancient times included. From a God that doesn’t change, once again. - Do you think Adam lived 930 years ? Just saying, as we talk about the Old Testament, this a major topic that stops many people from believing. As we all know, life expectancy in the ancient times you know…. Sometimes, atheists, very often ex-believers, really want « God » to be true. I mean, think about it : it simplifies a lot of things. We also look for meaning, truth, have existential questions. It’s such a claim you are making here. Why do you think atheists would have a problem with a divine authority ? Because they « want to sin » ? I won’t even start on sexual inter courses between 80 years old man and his daughters, treatment of homosexuals or people eating shellfish or wearing mixed fabrics, etc. Again, no offense, just waiting for real answers. « Looking forward » too 👍

[@beerellarakesh161]

Dear brandon i have a question can i ask you??

[@sentientflower7891]

Whatever you do don't say "Let's go Brandon"!

[@tlbx57]

Father God almighty knows that mortal human existence is temporal, created for his purpose. Who are we to judge God's morality?

[@XX_MelobraacRedux]

I feel like people purposely leave out the part that it was a test when they say “God told Abraham to kill his son Isaac”. Like blatantly being disingenuous to the point of that, to show how wicked the people were that they were going to drive out, as the Lord has never told anyone to sacrifice anyone to Him, nor did it ever cross His mind.

[@sentientflower7891]

God does command and receive human sacrifices in the Old Testament.

[@campaigningmc7812]

@@sentientflower7891 If what you are referring to is the judge of Israel who offered his daughter to the Lord, then you have to understand that the offering is not an actual human sacrifice, but rather, consecrating a person to the Lord. The laws for consecrating someone to the Lord are in Leviticus, and they are not about literally killing humans, but rather, serving the temple and the Lord as literal servants and workers (but not priests since that was to only be done by Levites in the old testament [with the exception of I guess Melchizedek which foreshadows Jesus being our Eternal and Perfect High Priest and new testament realities]) In fact, God expressly forbid human sacrifice when he told the Israelites in Leviticus 18 to not sacrifice their children through the fire of Molech. As for warfare, it does not count as sacrifice, but rather, a sort of final judicial action by the Lord on the wicked.

[@sentientflower7891]

@@campaigningmc7812 you are reading an edited text that was deliberately obscured so as to avoid the conclusion that God demanded and received a human sacrifice.

[@campaigningmc7812]

⁠@@sentientflower7891I am literally not i am reading directly from Judges 11. If you read it directly from the original Hebrew, you can tell the meaning. Here is how you can tell that it is not human sacrifice. 1.) Human sacrifice is opposed in Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5, Deuteronomy 12:31, 18:10 2.) He permitted his daughter to bewail her virginity for two months, which implies that he did not sacrifice her immediately. This fits the idea of consecrating her to the Lord more than sacrifice does. 3.) This continues with saying that she “knew no man” before her death, which continues to imply that she lived after the consecration. 4.) There are other examples of consecration of humans (and women) in the sanctuary. Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22, and Luke 2:36, 37 all support this. 5.) Finally, in the statement in verse 31 where he says that whatever comes from the door shall be the Lord’s, the ORIGINAL UNALTERED Hebrew word for “and” it shall be a burnt offering can be translated as “or” (Which means that it can be interpreted as either consecration to the Lord OR sacrifice. Either way, it was considered a tragedy and people mourned this event every four years in Israel, all because of the rash vow and lack of faith of Jephtah. Forgot to add that in so I edited it in a couple of minutes after.)

[@campaigningmc7812]

@@sentientflower7891This is all directly from the NKJV 1982 version. I understand why the idea of God can be frightening to you, but an intellectual approach to the faith shall be greatly helpful into understanding the Bible as God intended. Shalom.

[@Sunburst6520]

As a child, I would have dreams in be in many nightmares where underground tentacle monsters could sense my slightest movement and impel me, wars, dreams of persecution, the grim reaper, things would get wild. I remember calling on the old testament name of God Jehovah, and I remember things did not end well for me when I was being assaulted by a witch. However, ever sense I was a child the name of Jesus has never failed me, when I began to call on his name Even recently, a spider demon with a human face around the size a 42" TV was crawling on my wall when I awoke from my sleep. I spoke the name of Jesus quite a few times and I attained Mercy unto myself, for that because Jesus has the authority for this reason. John 3:35 " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 1 John 2:23 "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." I believe that God cares for his creation and dosen't want to lose them, because I believed in Jesus and had the humility to honor his name many times throughout my life. I attained mercy through the New Covenant, agreement, or Testament. Only parts of the old still apply. The old prepared place for the New. I believe Love is many things, and is doing many things read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (KJV) and study the langauge of the time (Middle English) and do for yourself an order of operations properly like you would use in Algebra. A few things I believe Love does it when you matter greatly it is a kindness(: an act to preserve and help you), that never lies to you. I will always believe in Jesus and will burn anything that comes against his word in my heart. I should add when I saw Mr. Spider Demon (Who had the face of a man with spider legs) I was in great fear and panic, but when I called on Jesus and continued calling out his name and like in any good relationship with enduring faith and belief I attained peace and serenity by his mercy. John 1:1-5 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Darkness in hebrew is often a metaphor for ignorance. Proverbs 4:19 “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” A concept of the word is the idea that is behind it or what should pop into your head by what the author is meaning. If you do not have the idea of the word correct you have a misconception and it changes the whole story.

[@goodjoeblack5232]

Part 2?

[@JesseDriftwood]

I’m happy to grant that the Israelites could have been *more* moral than the cultures around them, I’m happy to grant there are verses that do imply extra care for the foreigners, but this doesn’t make some of the very objectionable parts go away. Even if we’re only addressing the servitude aspects and not the massacring of distant lands and keeping the women and children as plunder, there are still some really messed up parts. For example, if an Israelite gives his servant a wife and that wife bears children, when the servant is able to go free on the 7th year, the woman and children of the servant remain under ownership of the master. If the servant wants to remain with his family (his nuclear family), then he is to have his ear pierced and commit to a life of servant hood to the master. So while on one hand we’re saying “voluntary servitude is more like a working contract! It’s fine” and on the other hand we laws that hold the family of a servant hostage (functionally speaking) if he wants to stay with them. Also, fathers are able to give their daughters away as servants, but they are not to go free on the seventh year as the male servants are. These verses make loads of sense when viewed from the lens of natural history, but they seem *very* hard to square with a God who is best seen in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I’ve never heard a compelling explanation to these types of verses.

[@joestfrancois]

23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. There must be some explanation why this doesn't say what it says.

[@ainsleystevenson9198]

Perhaps we should just ask, ‘How did Jesus interpret the OT?’ Did he believe Gods perfect eternal law is Gods perfect eternal character and understand God cannot behave lawlessly, change nor deny himself, or, did he believe God exists outside of his failure, alterable, temporary law therefore is free to behave lawlessly? The Pharisees and Saul interpreted the OT in a manner portraying God is an unforgiving punitive lawmaker but when Paul was converted to believing God is exactly like Jesus, he needed to go away for a time to reinterpret scripture and learn it anew. It’s a difficult transition because it is in essence changing Gods.

[@anahills3836]

Here is what I would like to know. Why does God treat the people of Israel (and other nations also) as if they were one entity? For example, God sends them prophets over many years, telling them to stop their evil practices and warning them of the punishment that will be theirs if they continue to disobey. Finally, he brings judgment upon them, perhaps hundreds of years later. So generations of sinning people were able to live in their land, but then one or two generations take everyone's punishment and spend their lives in exile. Or, in the case of the Canaanites, one generation is punished when the Israelites are told to kill them.

[@honorablevessel]

10:49 So basically you don't believe that there are people who are utterly evil? Not only are there absolutely people who would despise the Bible even it they perfectly understood it, but there are many alive today who already fit the bill.

[@sentientflower7891]

Have you read "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"? Christianity loved that book.

[@honorablevessel]

@@sentientflower7891 I am familiar with the book, something that I don't think can be said for 99.9% of Christians. I'm not sure what you meant by saying Christianity loved the book?

[@sentientflower7891]

@@honorablevessel Christianity loved that book. There was a time when lots of Christians read it & actively responded. Have you no history books?

[@honorablevessel]

@@sentientflower7891 What evidence do you have?

[@sentientflower7891]

@@honorablevessel read Martin Luther, "On The Jews".