Quote:
Originally Posted by raytri
It is written with approval, and clearly God approved, because Asa is specifically described as having God supporting him, and the reward was 35 years of peace.
http://www.carm.org/kjv/2Chron/2Chron_15.htm
Followed or not, it was a commandment.
I suspect they were executed, to some extent or another, fairly regularly 4,000 years ago. It's not like the social code described there would have been unusual for its time.
I agree that modern Jews and Christians ignore such passages. My point is, if Jews and Christians can ignore the hyperviolent commandments of their scripture, why should I believe it's impossible for Muslims to do so?
They're still 600 years younger than Christianity and thousands of years younger than Judaism. You could have said the same thing about Christianity in the Middle Ages -- when the 1,400-year-old religion of Jesus was the basis for countless, endless wars and massacres.
Throw in the (IMO) backwards medieval cultures in the Middle East and the completely screwed up political situations there, it does not surprise me that such areas have difficulty overcoming an atavistic interpretation of Islam.
But the example of the West and other parts of the world show that a peaceful, modern Islam is, in fact, possible.
Agreed. Except that I think when you look beyond the Middle East, this new Islam you speak of is already being written. |
How am I surprised at what I am seeing. A non-Christian attempting to demonize Christianity through the out of context use of various verses. The verse you mentioned pertains to a past people, nowhere in the Bible does God tell all Christians to force their faith on others. Jesus says for believers not to judge non-believers and to try to save other people, not by force,but by sharing their faith. Sure, God has justice in the Old Testament which may not match up with modern notions of justice. However, we cannot judge God's actions wrong, we are incapable of making such a judgment.
There is not one verse in the Bible which tells all Christians, past and present, to force the word of God on others. The verse you mentioned had to do with a specific people at a specific period in time.
Also Islam's Allah is not the same as the God of Israel. They aren't even remotely close.