I kill ... I wound ... I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. -- Deuteronomy 32:39-42How many people did God kill in the Bible?
It's impossible to say for sure, but plenty. How many did God drown in the flood or burn to death in Sodom and Gomorrah? How many first-born Egyptians did he kill? There's just no way to count them all.
But sometimes the Bible tells us exactly how many were killed by God. Here's a list of those that I can find. (If you find any that I've missed, let me know and I'll add them to the list.)
So far I come up with a total of 2,391,421 (not including, at least in some cases, women and children).
| SAB, Brick Testament | Number Killed | Cumulative Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot's wife for looking back | Gen.19:26, BT | 1 | 1 |
| Er who was "wicked in the sight of the Lord" | Gen.38:7, 1 Chr.2:3, BT | 1 | 2 |
| Onan for spilling his seed | Gen.38:10, BT | 1 | 3 |
| Pharaoh and 600 chariot captains (plus his entire army) | Ex.14:8-26 | 601+ | 604+ |
| For dancing naked around Aaron's golden calf | Ex.32:27-28, 35, BT | 3000 | 3604+ |
| Aaron's sons for offering strange fire before the Lord | Lev.10:1-3, Num.3:4, 26:61, BT | 2 | 3606+ |
| A blasphemer | Lev.24:10-23, BT | 1 | 3607+ |
| A man who picked up sticks on the Sabbath | Num.15:32-36, BT | 1 | 3608+ |
| Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (and their families) | Num.16:27, BT | 12+ | 3620+ |
| Burned to death for offering incense | Num.16:35, 26:10, BT | 250 | 3870+ |
| For complaining | Num.16:49, BT | 14,700 | 18,570+ |
| For "committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab" | Num.25:9, BT | 24,000 | 42,570+ |
| Midianite massacre (32,000 virgins were kept alive) | Num.31:1-35, BT | 90,000+ | 132,570+ |
| God tells Joshua to stoned to death Achan (and his family) for taking the accursed thing. | Joshua 7:10-12, 24-26, BT | 5+ | 132,575+ |
| God tells Joshua to attack Ai and do what he did to Jericho (kill everyone). | Joshua 8:1-25, BT | 12,000 | 144,575+ |
| Joshua kills 5 kings and hangs their dead bodies on trees | Joshua 10:24-26, BT | 5 | 144,580+ |
| God delivered Canaanites and Perizzites | Judges 1:4, BT | 10,000 | 154,580+ |
| Ehud delivers a message from God: a knife into the king's belly | Jg.3:15-22, BT | 1 | 154,581+ |
| God delivered Moabites | Jg.3:28-29, BT | 10,000 | 164,581+ |
| God forces Midianite soldiers to kill each other. | Jg.7:2-22, 8:10, BT | 120,000 | 284,581+ |
| The Spirit of the Lord comes on Samson | Jg.14:19, BT | 30 | 284,611+ |
| The Spirit of the Lord comes mightily on Samson | Jg.15:14-15, BT | 1000 | 285,611+ |
| Samson's God-assisted act of terrorism | Jg.16:27-30, BT | 3000 | 288,611+ |
| "The Lord smote Benjamin" | Jg.20:35-37, BT | 25,100 | 313,711+ |
| More Benjamites | Jg.20:44-46 | 25,000 | 338,711+ |
| For looking into the ark of the Lord | 1 Sam.6:19 | 50,070 | 388,781+ |
| God delivered Philistines | 1 Sam.14:12 | 20 | 388,801+ |
| Samuel (at God's command) hacks Agag to death | 1 Sam.15:32-33 | 1 | 388,802+ |
| "The Lord smote Nabal." | 1 Sam.25:38 | 1 | 388,803+ |
| Uzzah for trying to keep the ark from falling | 2 Sam.6:6-7, 1 Chr.13:9-10 | 1 | 388,804+ |
| David and Bathsheba's baby boy | 2 Sam.12:14-18 | 1 | 388,805+ |
| Seven sons of Saul hung up before the Lord | 2 Sam.21:6-9 | 7 | 388,812+ |
| From plague as punishment for David's census (men only; probably 200,000 if including women and children) | 2 Sam.24:13, 1 Chr.21:7 | 70,000+ | 458,812+ |
| A prophet for believing another prophet's lie | 1 Kg.13:1-24 | 1 | 458,813+ |
| Religious leaders killed in prayer contest | 1 Kg.18:22-40 | 450 | 459,263+ |
| God delivers the Syrians into the Israelites' hands | 1 Kg.20:28-29 | 100,000 | 559,263+ |
| God makes a wall fall on Syrian soldiers | 1 Kg.20:30 | 27,000 | 586,263+ |
| God sent a lion to eat a man for not killing a prophet | 1 Kg.20:35-36 | 1 | 586,264+ |
| Ahaziah is killed for talking to the wrong god. | 2 Kg.1:2-4, 17, 2 Chr.22:7-9 | 1 | 586,265+ |
| Burned to death by God | 2 Kg.1:9-12 | 102 | 586,367+ |
| God sends two bears to kill children for making fun of Elisha's bald head | 2 Kg.2:23-24 | 42 | 586,409+ |
| Trampled to death for disbelieving Elijah | 2 Kg.7:17-20 | 1 | 586,410+ |
| Jezebel | 2 Kg.9:33-37 | 1 | 586,411+ |
| God sent lions to kill "some" foreigners | 2 Kg.17:25-26 | 3+ | 586,414+ |
| Sleeping Assyrian soldiers | 2 Kg.19:35, 2 Chr.32:21, Is.37:36 | 185,000 | 771,414+ |
| Saul | 1 Chr.10:14 | 1 | 771,415+ |
| God delivers Israel into the hands of Judah | 2 Chr.13:15-17 | 500,000 | 1,271,415+ |
| Jeroboam | 2 Chr.13:20 | 1 | 1,271,416+ |
| "The Lord smote the Ethiopians." | 2 Chr.14:9-14 | 1,000,000 | 2,271,416+ |
| God kills Jehoram by making his bowels fall out | 2 Chr.21:14-19 | 1 | 2,271,417+ |
| Judean soldiers | 2 Chr.28:6 | 120,000 | 2,391,417+ |
| Ezekiel's wife | Ezek.24:15-18 | 1 | 2,391,418+ |
| Ananias and Sapphira | Acts 5:1-10 | 2 | 2,391,420+ |
| Herod | Acts 12:23, BT | 1 | 2,391,421+ |
122 comments:
so in california God would DEFINITELY be sittin on death row.
You counted Nadab and Abihu twice.
Thanks for the correction.
they all deserved it...
What about his own son??? Wasn't it God's plan even if others carried it out?
What would be really interesting to know is how many people God's rival, Lucifer, has murdered. Who is truly the champion in the "Death" match?
I think you ought to make a distinction between different kinds of killing, although I have no doubt the total would be high. On one level, if you want to count anybody who died as a result of God's action, then that's everyone who ever lived.
What I think is perhaps worthwhile in looking to this list in detail is, who among these people were killed for what purpose? I would suggest these categories:
A) Killed as a result of their aggression against the nation of Israel. (example)
B) Killed as a result of enmity between them and Israel, but not specifically the violent agression of the victim in particular.(possible example)
C) Killed as a result of their sin that made God angry. (example)
D) Killed as a result of somebody else's sin. (example)
E) Reason not given. (example)
I think each of these categories deserve different consideration. Definitely A and maybe B are a matter of defensive killing. Many of those in category C make some sense from a theological point of view. I think D and E are the real tough ones.
Outstanding, great post, very interesting. I had always known there was a lot of killing by God in the Bible, but I had never spent the time to count it up. Now I don't have to, thanks!
I agree, Brucker, it would help to categorize them. Maybe I'll do that before long.
What about the flood? God killed everyone on earth except Noah and his family.
The question you did not ask was; Is God justified in killing these people.
If God is who He says He is, then He is justified in all that He does. He is the ultimate standard for what is just and unjust.
He can kill who He pleases and is righteous in doing it.
Before linking to this, I looked to see if you were fudging the numbers and where the big numbers came from among the 1's and 2's. So I looked at the Ethiopians who contribute half the total and heck, he just "smote" them. He didn't kill them all. He just made them flee. Not like the #2 item where it tells you there were 500,000 slain. Same with the Syrians. This list, to be most persuasive, should contain only people God killed directly and not people who were killed by the Israelites in battle.
i personally dont think that someone's crime necessarily justifies their death! if you kill someone for doing something bad (even if they've killed someone), then you're just as bad as they are.
Those she-bears sure loved them some good finger lickin' chil'en.
you forgot all of the kings listed in Joshua. Why don't you list all of the cities that were destroyed as well. Again, at least 12 entire cities destroyed in Joshua.
12:9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
12:10 The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
12:11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12:12 The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
12:13 The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
12:14 The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
12:15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
12:16 The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
12:17 The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
12:18 The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
12:19 The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
12:20 The king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
12:21 The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
12:22 The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;
12:23 The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
12:24 The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.
Anonymous said...
"You forgot all of the kings listed in Joshua."
Yes, I suppose I could count the 31 kings that the Israelites "smote", although the text doesn't explicitly say that God assisted in their killing -- which is what I was trying to include in the count. So I'll probably leave them out.
"Why don't you list all of the cities that were destroyed as well. Again, at least 12 entire cities destroyed in Joshua."
Because the number of people killed isn't provided, and it also isn't clear that God assisted in the slaughter (although it does seem to be implied by the "Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite" in Joshua 12:6).
You will rightfully burn in the realm of nothingess forever when you die you silly fool; unless you get out of that shallow paradox you think you're so smart in and start believing in the One and Only God that created you and gave you a choice to acceot It or deny It in the fist place. And if you deny It, you will be destroyed by your own making. All Satan did was feed you many lies and prove you are an obvious sucker that has bought into this shallow thinking. Lies and people kill people, not God, not guns. Suckers like you do deserve death. But you can also save yourself by believing in Who Jesus said He was. I feel sorry for your shallow, tainted brain.
"Lies and people kill people, not God, not guns."
Either God killed Aaron's sons, or that Biblical account is a lie. Which is it?
To the dumbass "SoldierUnderCommand" who said god is just in killing people for any damned reason he pleases, by this flawed logic, a parent would be correct in murdering their own children for any damned reason they please. And of course that's not true, so neither is god justified in his murders.
I think you have forgotten the 'man of god' from 1st Kings Chapter 13
Joshua Ditty said...
I think you have forgotten the 'man of god' from 1st Kings Chapter 13.
Thanks Joshua, I've added it to the list.
Jesus Christ, that's a lot of people (no pun intended)!
Nice work!
It's kinda like trying to get a count of how many people Rambo killed; both killed a lot of people, both are fictional characters, thankfully!
To Mr. Caring guy who wrote this gem:
"You will rightfully burn in the realm of nothingess forever..."
...nice, wow, you seem really angry about something. I wonder why such a knowledgeable, intelligent, righteous person like you who's most definitely guaranteed a front row seat into heaven would become so upset at a few people who feel differently than you. I mean you know the truth, right? Why all the anger? I don't recall Jesus getting angry, do you? Not very Christian of you, huh?
Poor guy, you're just mad because the insecurity of your beliefs is being exposed and you don't like it! It's pretty obvious.
Interesting that the only two deaths in the New Testament (After Christ has atoned for human sin) Are "ghosts" given up by the individual due to their actions...
If you're being technical, you might as well add JC too...
"SoldierUnderCommand said...
The question you did not ask was; Is God justified in killing these people.
If God is who He says He is, then He is justified in all that He does. He is the ultimate standard for what is just and unjust.
He can kill who He pleases and is righteous in doing it."
Baddabing Baddaboom. You hit the point dead center.
To Mr. Anonymous who claims that parents and God are on an equal playing field, you are wrong. Let me tell you why:
The reason that parents cannot kill their sons is because we live in a world of laws.
God however, is exempt from all human laws. God is neither subject to even the laws of Physics, nor Time itself.
He is Omnipotent, and created this world that we dwell in. As the creator of the Universe, He may do so as He pleases, and as stated previously, be "righteous in doing it".
God, in a matter of speaking, has the one true 'License To Kill' that which He has created.
I am more than a little confuzed. I fail to see the import of asking how many people god has killed mainly because the scriptures you are basing your numbers on has never been proven. The bible is taken on faith of the accuracy of what it written. Unfortunatly, people dont usualy think of what wasnt written. Seeing that the number is probably much higher. The only question I have is "So what?"
'Suckers like you do deserve death.'
Ah, religious love at its highest. We don't accept your silly immorally-ridden religion so we deserve to die.
That's nothing compared to some hate mail at FSM, but that's for another day.
/Buzz off bozo.
I think my biggest concern is not God that is killing people, since he is in fact creating them just the same, but what is his so called 'plan' that we all end up with? I mean, really did he plan to kill all his creations and flood the earth and only save Noah and his family? Seriously, what about everyone else? What about each and every individual, kinda makes me think we're more than insignificant, we're meaningless to him.
It is bad enough that god takes credit for killing two million plus people in the old testament, but in the new testament he must top himself by promising to send billions of unbelievers into eternal suffering after death. What a wonderful expression of love??
we should also analyse the texts of Koran and Torah to investigate the possible body count in the major "sacred texts"... I think this would clarify that insitutionalised religions have many times killed "in the name" of god because they wrote a text that tries to give them justification for doing so. A God that kills people and judges them is oretty much the most Ungodly thing there is.... thanks for such an interesting post!
Dear regigios nut with the long "burn in the realm of nothingess forever" rant,
Exodus 23
23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
23:32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
You're covenanting with us...I'll see you in hell brother^^.
"unless you get out of that shallow paradox you think you're so smart in"
If you have read the bible you will find more paradoxes there then here.
"All Satan did was feed you many lies and prove you are an obvious sucker that has bought into this shallow thinking. Lies and people kill people, not God, not guns."
Religious nuts and politicians lie not Satan.
God blows -,-
Looks like "smoting kills"
What kind of super hero would God be if he couldn't bust a few chops now and then.
As Horkios, Zeus was the keeper of oaths. Liars who were exposed were made to dedicate a statue to him.
What sort of punishment is that??
"You will rightfully burn in the realm of nothingess forever when you die you silly fool; unless you get out of that shallow paradox you think you're so smart in and start believing in the One and Only God that created you and gave you a choice to acceot It or deny It in the fist place. And if you deny It, you will be destroyed by your own making. All Satan did was feed you many lies and prove you are an obvious sucker that has bought into this shallow thinking. Lies and people kill people, not God, not guns. Suckers like you do deserve death. But you can also save yourself by believing in Who Jesus said He was. I feel sorry for your shallow, tainted brain."
Next time the pope wants to quote somebody about the brutality of Islam, he should take a look at this moron in his theological backyard. It's comforting to be able to accept things like the Bible or Hesiod's Theogeny on faith, since it removes all responsibility from the individual. To think for one's self, however, is much more difficult. A tyrant God is no God at all.
Well it sure is a pity this God has stopped killing people as this little wee world is definitely getting overcrowded! :^)
Quoting "You will rightfully burn in the realm o..."
Did u know that u are just a "laboratory rat" for god :)? Did u know that god sent us to the earth just to suffer and laugh at satan? Look u fagget, Adam and Eve rebelled against Jehovah. They said: " We do not need Jehovah as our Ruler. We can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong". So instead of blow those faggets out of the earth, the moron
allowed satan to show how he would rule mankind (We all knew he would fail). God also allowed humans to govern themselves under Satan's guidance. And god is so sick, that he's taking so long because he LOVES to see his rats suffering, so shut the fúck up and look who ur real "father" is u douchebag
God is the one who lit the "candles of life" within every person born on this planet. As the creator, he has rightful authority over that which he creates. Due to the way life was created, God personally allows for the death of every living thing, including us. Like it or not, he who lights the candles gets to blow them out, in any way he sees fit. Murder, car crashes, old age, disease, etc, etc. I wrote a song one time that sucked. I threw it in the garbage. Do I not have that right? Can the clay say to the potter, why are you destroying me? I think not. He gave us all the gift of life, and he can take it away.
Bryan Parker said...
"God however, is exempt from all human laws. God is neither subject to even the laws of Physics, nor Time itself.
He is Omnipotent...yadda yadda"
That's quite paradoxical. As a human, our entire concept of cause and effect presuppose a time frame in which any given event takes place. Think about it...for you to claim that something 'caused' or 'created' something else, you have to have accepted the premise that the cause came before the effect.
So, in order for your Creator to live up to his name, time must have existed. Humans simply cannot fathom a "beginning of time", because the term 'beginning' implied that there was time BEFORE that event, in which that certain event never took place. Again, causation presupposes both existence and time. Either god is subject to the the contraints of time and therefore is not omnipotent or he does not exist at all.
You make two mistakes. First, you are ommitting the The New Testament's message that God has sacrified Himself for us. Then, you are judging God as if He were a mere human being.
Religious wars are naught but,"hmm lets see who has the best imaginary friend..." Fucking retards...btw the reason humanity exists is this..."To fight and die is why we're born." Suck on that. May Tyr guide you in battle. Vahalla can wait,Im going to war. -BloodyChuckles
how many people were born as a result of G!d
Good job counting the people who died in that book, I wonder how many other people in history have tried that over the years. Its a pitty it never be possible to count the people who died as a result of that book. We could have put a shrine or somthing to the damage its caused like they do for the world wars and car accidents.
As for all this talk about is it ok for a god to kill what he created the answer is simple. There is no god, there is no intelegent design, nothing is planned out to kill you at that exact moment of your death. Ultimatly, shit happens.
I am 33 and have just read the bible from cover to cover for the first time (took me about three weeks). When I was a kid I had to go to go to Sunday school for a few years and had bible study back then I found it all a bit dull (I think I was only told to read the new testament). I am not really a religious man but I read it in the spirit of trying to understand something that a lot of other people hold as being important to them and thereby improving my understanding of other people. On this re-visit to the bible however I found it compelling reading.
I was shocked at how violent the old testament is and how sadistic and thoroughly unpleasant it would seem that god is (if he / she exists)! I couldn't really find anything in there would make me think god was nice or admirable. From the old testament. The only thing I really got (apart from interesting look into history) was that god is very scary, moody and violent. So after reading the bible the obvious question for me was "so how many deaths".
So I thank you for the information. I will probably read more of the site it's very interesting.
Regards
Paul
"Anonymous said...
You will rightfully burn in the realm of nothingess forever when you die you silly fool..."
How exactly can you 'burn' in a realm of NOTHINGness? That's just silly... fool.
Have fun in Hell.
---------
That's quite paradoxical. As a human, our entire concept of cause and effect presuppose a time frame in which any given event takes place. Think about it...for you to claim that something 'caused' or 'created' something else, you have to have accepted the premise that the cause came before the effect.
So, in order for your Creator to live up to his name, time must have existed. Humans simply cannot fathom a "beginning of time", because the term 'beginning' implied that there was time BEFORE that event, in which that certain event never took place. Again, causation presupposes both existence and time. Either god is subject to the the contraints of time and therefore is not omnipotent or he does not exist at all.
Thu Oct 26, 02:33:00 PM 2006
-------
http://christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c039.html
Read the whole thing please, I hope it makes sense (btw I used to be like you)
Great work here Wells. I'm writing a paper on theology, and started counting God's kills in the Bible in order to point out some necessary conditions in defining an "omnibenevolent" God from Biblical exegesis; after finding one or two I remembered, I found your site. Thanks so much for your help.
First of all, we must respect other points of view, talkig about the religion tends to be very polemic,
to say the truth, I do not believe in any god (Yavee specilly), so i cannot apply the subjectivity to say, "god is the creator, so he can do as he please" we must understand that the bible was written by a small civilization, only willing to worship its own god, the mentality of these ancient civilizations was very hostile and stubborn, so, please answer these question, If God helped his crowd (Israel) by destroying others civilizations to the ashes so they could win power and lands, and now a days it seems the same way (the cruel battles that have had israel against palestina, libano, etc) (why didn´t he protect the jews in world war II........) Why did God make the most stupid, ridiculous and bloody things to "raise" the jews as the most powerful race in the world, and why the hell he does not help the people whom really need help (In africa, In India, In Latin America, In china), why he lets the robber, the assesin, the corrupt, raise higher, and why he did punish people who had flow of semen, virgins that did not show her cothes with the blood of her first relation, cruelty to blasphemy, prophecy and destruction, etc...???
Even jesuschrist was jew, and he was proud of it, he did not want to spread the "word" to another people, only jews, (women of cananea), i admit he was a wise guy, but he´s that smart to consider him the absolut truth, the bible is what it is today becouse of a smart move that was made in roma between the III an IV century, during the reign of constantin, blame the jews for the death of jesus and make the romans the innocents guys and the chosen ones to spread the "truth"....but please, only as a request, do not read these polemic comments with a closed mind, try to see them with all the objectivity possible..... thanks.......
Your quote at the top should read:
See now that I, eve I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Talks about how God is like THE God, over everything - death and life. In the Old Testament He deals out both.
But killing isnt murder, and when God does something there is a reason.
In recent news Saddam Hussein was killed for what he'd done, and even many who are against the death penalty were for
his death. Certainly I'm against the death penalty, but I note that here its God carrying it out and not a human, its an
all-knowing judge who is never wrong.
so...
1.
Lots wife had just been liberated, rather than assasinated.
She was warned not to look back. What she was looking back on was, I think, a sight humans cant take in, a bit supernatural.
She turned into salt.
2.
What do we know about this guy? He was wicked in the sight of the Lord. So what did he do?
We dont know. Could've committed attrocities I can't even think of.
3.
Thats a fair point, but I would argue that you need to take into account the context.
For me reading that the first time it just looks like the main topic is the sperm.
But in context:
Children, specifically descendants, were of huge cultural importance at this time.
When the husband died, it was his brothers responsibility culturally to insure that his
family line continued and he did have offspring. Now to me thats offensive, but this is
a completely different millenia, a totally different culture here.
Its my understanding that in this kind of society where your industries are agriculture
and war, wives didnt have much else to tie their dreams to apart from descendants and
family (unless you get a slightly butch wife into the war fighting and the shepharding and that).
Its my understanding from context that Omans act of withdrawing his sperm was out of
absolute hatred and loathing for his brother.
4.
That is a pretty powerful example.
From a spiritual point of view they have been liberated out of Egypt by miracles like the parting
of the red sea, and the very acts that brought about that liberation from 440 years of slavery.
They are only alive because God protects them from their enemies. They are only alive because
God gives them food (manna) to survive. Thats them from a spiritual point of view - dependant on God.
Now they've tried to cut off God - which is to cut off their entire food supply, cut off their protection, and
to throw their fledgling nation back into captivity. Often times we think well if God exists why doesn't
He show us a massive finger from heaven pointing at us and saying yes I exist. Well these guys practically
got that.
5.
First off, you dont lark around at the Lord's altar.
Secondly, if you have a high position and are a member of the priesthood you don't teach others to do it either.
6.
There has to be a respect of God as God. Now this person will have literally seen incontrovertible evidence
that God is real and has saved him from death in slavery under the egyptians, and he still blasphemes.
7.
One of the first things in their law was to observe the sabbath. He broke that chief law, deliberately because he
'defiantly...despised the Lord's word'
If he did it unintentionally, the priest would have interceded for him.
8.
They tried to take over God's country and take down His prophet, steal it all for themself - God moved back against them.
9.
ditto.
for berevity gonna go over the more dramatic sounding ones, but happy to go over any that are missed out...
"Middianite Massacre" -
See numbers 25:1-5 and numbers 25:17-18 for the context here.
The virgins had nothing to do with the events of Baal of Peor.
"Samsons act of terrorism"
These people were bent on destroying God's people. God doesn't just let them do that.
That applies for a swathe of the examples given.
"Davids census"
David seemed to lapse in trusting God at this point and wanted to trust in his census of his countrys fighting ability.
He had been forbidden from taking a census - God said not to do it. He did it anyway. And the people in question,
even though God told them not to, signed it anyway. In this sense they abandoned God and followed their own way
of confronting their enemies. The whole thing was a tragedy and reminds them that lead to lead properly, for their
actions carry consequences.
"gang of children making fool of elisha"
The translations I use describe a gang of youths. If I had a gang of youths coming up to me and jeering at me I
would feel somewhat intimidated. I think its naive to think they didn't mean to attack him.
God had by Himself used Elisha to restore water and heal people in the area already, and hes attacked.
"the Lord smote the ethiopians"
My brief reading indicates this was a great big army trying to destroy Israel, and Israel asked for help.
God helped them, and they won the battle.
"Herod died"
Through his speech, Herod set himself up as a god, and set himself up against God, but he shouldnt have because
he can't fight god. He did this even though in his own land God had revealed himself by sending Jesus to die.
If you wanna get the message of the Bible then please don't miss out the gospels.
There is a juxtaposition in the bible of God the righteous judge and God who loves us.
When you talk about nations and laws and all that you see the judge side of it. Its only when you look at the peoples
individual relationship (eg Psalms, Moses, epistles, gospels) that you see the love side. For me the gospels explain
much of the bible, the centre stuff that we don't demand an answer from God about but that God demands an answer from
us about.
That's quite paradoxical. As a human, our entire concept of cause and effect presuppose a time frame in which any given event takes place. Think about it...for you to claim that something 'caused' or 'created' something else, you have to have accepted the premise that the cause came before the effect.
So, in order for your Creator to live up to his name, time must have existed. Humans simply cannot fathom a "beginning of time", because the term 'beginning' implied that there was time BEFORE that event, in which that certain event never took place. Again, causation presupposes both existence and time. Either god is subject to the the contraints of time and therefore is not omnipotent or he does not exist at all.
This, interestingly, was one of the paradoxes that Rabbi Akiva attempted to deal with in the Around Year Zero era. He and three other rabbis attempted to make some way of using Greek philosophy, and the ideas of testable science, and see if they couldn't make some kind of synthesis between the Jewish faith-based beliefs and the rational Greek philosophy of the larger Greco-Roman culture.
According to tradition, Rabbi Meir backed out of the project early, Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah lost his faith and gave up on Judaism, and Rabbi Yochanon (I think, I forget exactly who the third was) went crazy and died. And only Rabbi Akiva managed to find a way that he felt comfortable with.
Now, for me, I think of it this way: if we think of time as a fourth spacial dimension, which, y'know, we CAN, we can imagine God to be OUTSIDE of the fourspace of our universe, looking in on it. God can therefore see the entire timeline of the universe from begining to end.
So, does this mean that we cannot have free will, that everything is predestined? Well, that is one theological position -- some Calvanists worked on this assumption. And I've encountered physicists who, more or less, believe something similar: that the entire four-space of our universe exists, and therefore we have already, in a sense, done everything we are going to do, and that the illusion of free will is simply based on the fact that our perceptions of reality are moving directionally through the four-space of the universe.
And that means that we have no free will.
Me, I look at it a little differently.
For the sake of argument, I'm going to try to have it both ways. I'm going to assume that this four-space model of the universe is more-or-less correct, and yet I'm ALSO going to assume that, in some sense or other, we have free will. And see if I can't come up with SOME way of combining those two ideas that I can sort of squish my brain around.
I'm a human being, and that means, according to this model, that I can percieve, from moment to moment, only that infetesimally thin slice of the fourspace that is the "present" at any moment. That moment that I can perceive progresses forward through the "time" axis of the universe at one second per second (um, barring relatavistic effects? I really can't wrap my brain around the math for this one. But, in any case, it's probably close enough to work.)
Now, I cannot perceive any moment ahead or behind me. However, because of memory and records, I can, in a sense, have some kind of imperfect simulation of perception of the moments behind me.
So, let's say that I'm reading a history book, and it says that, say, Alexander the Great did not go on to attempt to conquer India. Or, let's say that I'm remembering my day, and I remember that I brushed my top teeth before I brushed my bottom teeth this morning.
If we accept a common definition of free will, we can state that Alexander COULD have chosen to attempt to invade India, or that I COULD have chosen to brush my bottom teeth before my top teeth.
Yet he didn't, and I didn't.
Does the fact that we DIDN'T make those choices mean that we COULDN'T have made those choices?
Well, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it? I feel that it does NOT mean that. We COULD HAVE chosen differently, we simply DIDN'T.
And therefore, the fact that our actions are locked in the past does NOT mean that we did NOT have free will.
Now, if that logic holds true for the past, then it would hold true for the future, as well. We have free will, and we will freely choose all the choices of our life.
Yet we could imagine a God who existed outside of this timeline, who could perceive the entire timeline at once.
And I believe that there is not an inherent contradition between those ideas -- that we exist in a timeline in which things have happened, are happening, and will happen, and that we make choices in the "are happening" stage which affect the "will happen" stage, and that we make those choices freely -- yet something could exist OUTSIDE that timeline which could perceive that timeline.
It makes my brain hurt to think about it, and I don't expect the argument to convince everyone, but that's my way of reconciling the paradox of "free will" vs "omniscience".
I think the important question is whether or not we should count all the armies that have pledged "for god and country" and their confirmed kill count as well. If we accept that religious fanatacism as chronicled in the Bible is the core cause of most of these tallies, then the kill count must be higher. - alienbinary
Hmmm...
So God kills 2.27 million people (including women and children) and yet is still loved by many.
Hitler comes along and kills 6 million people (including women and children), and is remembered as an evil man.
Is there a numerical limit on the number of people (including women and children) you can kill before you flip from being a good person to a bad one?
I think its amazing people believe in this nonsense and take it so seriously.
Maybe in a few thousand years they'll realize its all a load of hooey... just like Mt Olympus. Jeeze; the human race as one shallow learning curve.
this is in the bible, i wonder, throughout history, how many has the abrahamic god killed in real life?
[What if God played video games?]
Congratulations. You have made a new high score:
2,270,369 points
Please enter your initials:
G O D_
FEORI
Interesting that those lives being killed by satan's influence via alcohol/drug use, murders, and suicides to name a few are not mentioned or even our main concern. God have mercy on us all, that we not be one of those satan decides to use in the near future.
God's existence is proven by the very fact that people want to try to disprove his existence. Deep down everyone knows God exists, but they want to sin and not feel guilty about it, so they try to convince themselves that God doesn’t really exist and that they won’t be punished for their sins. This is why people get in such heated debates about whether or nor God exists, because they cannot fully convince themselves and they want others to agree with them so they won't feel as guilty. If God didn’t exist, then people wouldn’t care so much when the subject was brought up.
John 3:19-20 “The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.”
This is what Jesus is saying in these verses. Despite the undeserved kindness and love he has shown mankind, people will still hate him because they want to sin without feeling guilty about it, which is why they crucified him.
John 7:7 “The world hates me because I accuse it of sin and evil.”
Don’t think that I am a hypocrite though, I know I have sinned. I was addicted to pornography/masturbation for about 10 years (and I’m only 20 now), but I admit that I am a sinner and that I needed Jesus to save me, and now I am no longer addicted pornography/masturbation. Sure, I still sin, but no where near as much as I did before.
As to God killing people, can you honestly tell me that you loved those people more than he did? No, you can’t, you’re just looking for another way to convince yourself that God doesn’t exist so you can feel less guilty about your sins. God alone is righteous, and though you can’t always understand why he does something, he has never sinned. God doesn’t send people to hell, you send yourself there. God has offered the free gift of salvation to everyone, you have no right to blame him because you refused the free gift he wanted to give you.
I recommend checking out GotQuestions.org if you are interested in God’s gift of salvation, or even if you already have accepted his gift.
It was GOD who killed Jesus.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,he will see his offspring and prolong his days,and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. -Isaiah 53
I just wanted to say thanks for this list...I'm writing an essay, and was looking for examples of God killing people, especially in battle, directly. I'm contrasting Him to the gods in Homer's Iliad, who never actually kill anyone. The Assyrians will do nicely, I think. Thanks!
"Deep down everyone knows God exists, but they want to sin and not feel guilty about it, so they try to convince themselves that God doesn’t really exist and that they won’t be punished for their sins."
ummm... no. This is simply incorrect. I (like many) know that there is no god. and yet, I do feel shame for things I have done in my life.
I have the ability to feel shame for things I did in the past because as I have matured I can see that some things I did in the past were not in my or someone elses best interests. I do not call these things I have done "sins" as the word is not part of my vocabulary. The word "punishment" is in my vocabulary, punishments comes from other people.
The motivation to keep from continuing to do things that are not in my own or other people's best interest is simply that life is better when all living things and all the things that they relie on are treated with respect & understanding. It is a very strong motivation, and all that is necessary.
sal
It's great to have a resource such as this, I'm just wondering why it took so long for someone to do the work required. I was going to do it myself, but now all I have to do is double-check your count, which I'm fairly sure is as accurate as you could make it. Thanks Steve!
This site is awesome!
Oh no, I am in helllll!
What a lovely man. No seriously, if this "God" would actully consider sending someone to eternal damnation for saying that..He shouldn't be submitted to, he should be resisted.
Any religion is evil, when it expects everyone to follow the same religion. Why do Christians need to go to a church anyway, what difference should it make? Doesn't God judge people by their deeds, not the silly club they belong too? Any Christian that claims going to a church saves the soul is just plain stupid. I don't have a religion myself, but I believe it's much more important to do good deeds in life rather than go to a silly club. I have worked for Unicef, should I expect special treatment, front row seats in heaven, or are these seats reserved only for "Christians." Jesus wasn't a Christian anyway, he was a Jew, if Chrisitans want to follow in his footsteps, why don't they attend a synagogue? mmm.. The last testament is only an attempt to legitimate Roman rule, turning Caesers into Popes and blaming the death of Jesus on Jews, so stupid when Jesus was supposedly cruxified not stoned to death. Cruxifiction is a Roman punishment for crimes against the Roman state, not a Jewish punishment for heresy. mmm..Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews, maybe that's why he was cruxified, ...makes more sense....
Excellent post. Now all christians need to do is accept that, by their own admission (God is unchanging: Mal 3:6, Psalms 102:25-27, Heb 13:8), the supposedly loving god of the New Testament committed all these atrocities in the Old Testament, then they might realise that christianity is not so loving, even if you ignore all the violence committed in god's name.
Amazing how much bickering a fictional character can cause
I could never stand to read the Bible as much as you must have to come up with this list. In fact, I found even this list nauseating.
I made a couple interactive charts with your data
People murdered by God (food)
People murdered by God (sans flood)
Someone mentioned that he killed his own son...
That would be "human sacrifice" the bible (through others or as directly noted from the mouth of God IN the Bible) expressly prohibits human sacrifice, saying that it is something the heathen/pagans do.
It is surprising how "he" contradicts himself.
Hmm...Interesting.
I see that you have deleted the post from the bright and inquizzitive Lachdenan.
Now why would you do something like that unless he was right and it offended you?
My, that is truly a mystery.
What was that? "Any religion is evil, when it expects everyone to follow the same religion."
All to true, Stuart. And, of course, going to church cannot save you. Although Jesus made a regular attendance at the temple and taught there, that is not His requisite for salvation. It is something so simple: belief.
Does it really take so much faith to believe?
It seems that instead of a free marketplace of ideas that this is, in fact, a church without God, wherein, if one is to prove Him or to even give a reasonable opinion in His favor, then that same person shall then be expelled for their heresy in your eyes.
How much longer will you cover them?
I have no problem with God killing people. After all, IF he GIVES life, he can TAKE life AWAY, right?
My problem is that you can't have it both ways. You can't acknowledge those killings and say that God is love, and that his Mercy is infinite, etc, in the same breath.
In my view, either we have a psychopath God that likes to kill people, or God IS love and the bible IS a LIE. Or something else in between. But you can't call such Deity good, loving, and merciful. If someone has an explanation to that I'd like to read.
To an Anonymous who posted this:
"You will rightfully burn in the realm of nothingess forever..."
How can I burn in "nothingess"? And how can nothing become a realm if it has nothing in it or is nothing?
Jackass.
Many believe that every death is the will of God... So He did not kill just these 2,270,369+ but everybody who has ever lived and died.
There is ONE thing that all the Christians who have been flaming this thread are completely missing. Human Laws are based on God's laws. The 10 Commandments people! It is reasonable to assume that any person, all knowing, omnipotent, or otherwise, who preaches one thing but does not act upon thier own teachings, loses any credibility they once had. The saying "Practice What You Preach" comes to mind here. One too many religious zealots have preached the word of their Righteous, Forgiving, and Kind God yet acted in complete ambivalence to the beliefs they hold dear. Don't go saying that God is not subject to Human law when he set forth the whole, "Thou Shalt Not Murder" thing. This is basic common sense, even for a superbeing.
The Aliens from Outer Space must be laughing themselves to death at all our moronic superstitions.
this is incredible i cant see how people can belive that god is good
let me say something about this um
first of all noah told them fools that there was going to be a world wide flood it was there own fault the got killed not god's they were warned they thought they were so smart as do you they were fools
every body that died in the bible where killed because they did not listen ok also god created this world he can destroy if he wants
if you where not so brain washed you would listen but you think your so damn smart without god you would not be here when your standing in front of god himself asking your self why you were a fool and your sorry he will say you had your chance and then he will cast you into the pit of hell
for eternity then you will burn and burn with regret so if you fools dont change your ways an thank god for every second you live god created a perfect world and man messed it up and brought death in to the world because man didnt listen so get your facts right god siad not to eat the fruit of the tree or you shsll die the snake that tricked adam and eve in the garden of eden siad ye shall not surely die you shall become like gods
if you eat the fruit they were tricked as were you im only 17 years old and i now the truth ok if you still think your so smart email me at logoxgx54@yahoo.com if not look into kent hovind he will show you please dont be fools.
there -> their
Everyone in the world didn't listen? Wrong.
It's parents who made everyone, not God, cretin.
It was God who was a liar in the Garden when he said that those who ate the fruit shall surely die; the snake said that they shall not die and would become as gods, which was true.
http://google.com/groups?q=God-lied
And Krist, who said that his generation shall not pass until the tribulation, the end of the world!, and his return (Matt 24:34) was also a liar, as it did not happen by the year -4+33+25=54. If interpretators mean the destruction of the temple in 70, then Matt 24:14 is wrong as the Gospel was not preached to all nations yet (I think it is already, by now, so it'd be wrong today also.) and Matt 24:29-31 are wrong as there were no such celestial signs.
The tribulation already expired.
What you have to understand is that Yahweh is actually not The "God", he is a Sumerian Dragon God originally known as Enlil who flooded the world because people were "too noisy". The real God who created these intelligent dragons out of some kind of dinosaur 100 million years ago had a