In a previous post, I tried to count the number of people killed by God in the Bible. I came up with 2,301,417, which didn't include God's many unnumbered killings, such as Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.
But what about God's future plans? Does the Bible tell us anything about that?
Well, yes, it does. Here's what it says about the "end times" that many Christians believe, hope, and pray will come soon.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. -- Revelation 6:8
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand ... By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. -- Revelation 9:15-18
Okay, let's count them up. 1/4 will be killed by Death and Hell (per Rev.6:8). That leaves 3/4 alive, 1/3 of which will be burned to death by the 200 million fire and brimstone breathing horsemen of Rev.9:15-18. Since 1/3 of 3/4 is 1/4, half the human population will be killed in these two slaughters.
Assuming that the rapture (or whatever) is soon (and it's always coming soon), and that the earth's population will be about what it is today, 6.6 billion, then God will soon kill 3,300,000,000.
If you believe Revelation, many more will be killed by God, but, with the exception of 7000 in Rev.11:13, the number isn't specified. (Let me know if you find others.) And 7000 is less than the error in estimating 1/2 the world's population.
So let's keep it at that: 3.3 billion.
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17 comments:
Considering that most Christians believe that Revelation is apocryphal, I don't think that it's a reliable tool in convincing the sheep... I mean, believers of their god's anti-social tendencies.
But I'm curious why you set up a blog here instead of installing one on SAB. I mean, Blogger basically sucks. If you have your own server and a few minutes to spare, you can set up a blog that's much less annoying to readers. Just saying.
Cyber waving hello. Your site, The Skeptics Annotated Bible, is what jump-started an intense re-examination of everything I’d ever believed.
I began as a Reformed Baptist and then four years later ended as a spiritual agnostic (who's always ready to redefine my beliefs as I learn more).
Just wanted to say Thank You!
Zooplah said, "Considering that most Christians believe that Revelation is apocryphal..."
They do? Revelation is also called the Apocalypse, but I don't know of any modern Christians that consider it apocryphal.
"But I'm curious why you set up a blog here instead of installing one on SAB. I mean, Blogger basically sucks."
Just lazy, I guess. Blogger may suck, but it's free and easy to set up and use.
Musing said, "Your site, The Skeptics Annotated Bible, is what jump-started an intense re-examination of everything I’d ever believed. Just wanted to say Thank You!"
Thanks, Musing. That makes all the work on the SAB worthwhile!
I'm in the same position as Musing. 5 years as a hardcore christian.. then it all began falling apart, slipping through my fingers like sand. I could no longer force myself to believe in something that didn't feel right in my heart, only out of fear or guilt.
I deconstructed everything and started over, this time drawing my own conclusions. Not sure what to call myself, halfway between a deist and a spiritual agnostic.
Thanks for your hard work. I bet you get a shitload of criticism but it's all worth it man.
I'm curious to this: if you are an unbeliever, then God didn't kill anyone because God doesn't exist. So I don't understand the point.
P.S. Zooplah, calling us "sheep" in a disparaging manner isn't going to help your case either, assuming your case is to reason us into believing the same as you.
Belief in a God Most High doesn't mean we have to believe in church dogma, or in the bible. I don't know what Steve believes but to deny the bible does not equate denying God, whatever/whoever it is.
I notice that a good number of your texts demonstrating violence in the Bible are from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Revelation, and some of the minor prophets. Yet what you fail to realize is the allegorical meaning of these texts. Mainstream Christians, especially Catholics, do not believe that the events of Revelation will happen literally. The Bible is a grand allegory peppered with history, myth, morality, and so forth. To treat it literally as you do is to play into the hands of conservative nut jobs.
So you're saying the millions of christians who keep blabbering about the end of the world doesn't exist?
Or are you're saying they don't really believe what they preach? Or are they just attention whores?
And the bible is as far from moral as immoralality can get. There is /some/ good.
But do you support slavery, support the silence of women, support death for homosexuals, support death for those working on the sabbath, etc? I really hope not. How is the bible moral then?
Most of the stuff jesus supports is just bad and at least a few cases DIRECTLY QUOTES the law.
I'm getting too long here, I'll end it there.
One final thing: By the way, it doesn't matter at all whether or not the bible is true or not. Or whether god is real or not.
Its a book. The main character, GOD!, kills lots of people and wishes many many many more dead. That's the point.
So your saying any ol' books and movies that christians protest that have violence and nudity and such don't really matter at all because they're fiction? Please tell that to your christian pals for me so they can stop already.
I think you guys all wrong. According to bible all non-Christians will be killed. According to their lovely exaggerated count they have right now 1.5 billion people. That number contains all kinds of Christians, including, Jehovah witnesses, Mormons, other sects and so on. Most sects do hate each other and don’t considering others to be true Christians.
So , on that note, even we count 1.5 billion Christians and deducting from 6.5 billion total population we get 5 billion people will be tortured in hell.
And for that little number of 5 billion, there is no need even to read the bible (note that, most Christians never even read the bible). Just ask any intelligent Christian.
With this we arrive to the conclusion that Biblical god is one lovely piece of work. I wander if we got our morality wrong. I think the more we kill the closer we get to the GOD and that’s his grand master plan.
One thing to notice to SAB ( I got to admit the best religious site out there) that OT GOD is genocidal but friendlier and was more preoccupied with humans while new dude Jesus came in and with his sweet talk he introduced eternal punishment. Remember OT GOD was only killing people, Jesus is the one who tortures them for eternity and especially when Jesus will kill Satan, he is the one who is going to inherit keys of Hell. So much for all-loving being.
First, your count is not necessarily reflective of the cultures of violence in Mormonism, Christianity, and Islam.
Second, because there was not a death count in every instance in the Bible, The Quran, or The Book of Mormon, the comparison is meaningless in its representation of the ancient religions.
Third, you missed a few more specific numbers in the Book of Mormon. 230,000 troops were killed in Mormon 6:11-15 which does not include women and children. While their deaths may be attributed to their rivals, consider the following:
Helaman 15:17 And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord.
God actually claims credit for the mass genocide at the end of The Book of Mormon.
There are other references to massive killings without specific numbers:
1 Nephi 17:37 And [God] raiseth up a righteous nation, and he destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
Mormon 4:21 "...the Nephites were driven and slaughtered with an exceedingly great slaughter; their women and their children were again sacrificed unto idols."
Fourth, consider the density of death. The Book of Mormon covers about 1000 years (not including the Jaredites who are a minor part and have no part in the death census) in 531 pages which compares to the Bible's 5000+ years in 1590 pages of the same type, font, and size. I don't know about the time span or number of pages in the Quran, though it doesn't matter given the few numbered deaths. While the Book of Mormon still falls short of the Bible in density of death, it does include some remarkable graphic violence (which was striking to me when I first read it at the age of 8):
Ether 15:31 And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.
And the most extreme, horrific example of violence I have found in any book labeled "holy":
Mormon 9:9-10
And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—
And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery.
And there you have it: the spiritual satisfaction of rape, torture, murder, and cannibalism all packed into a few short lines.
Tim Lindsay,
Thanks for your comments. I agree with them, but I'm not sure how I could include them in my post. But if I can think of a way, I'll try to do so.
Regarding Moromon 9:9-10. You mean Moroni 9:9-10, right? In any case, you're right. It is gross!
I love this post and the previous one regarding God v. Satan in deaths.
Just in case you are interested you can keep your "future predictions" accurate by linking your world population number to the info at these links:
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldpop.html
This site has the mathematical formula used.
http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop
Population Counter
http://www.netlingo.com/more/poptick.html
Population Counter
Anonymous said: "Yet what you fail to realize is the allegorical meaning of these texts."
Where in the Bible does it say "Oh, by the way, this is allegory/symbolic. Do not take it literally"? This is a moral value you have ascribed to the book that does not have its origins in the book. These morals cut across almost all cultures and religions. The only rational response then is that the morals that cause you to decide that these books are allegory do not come from religion at all.
Andrew's last comment is the single most concise damnation of a belief system I have read. And all in five lines!
Perhaps though there is hope yet for those who see the bible as allegorical in that they have already recognised it's immorality (by using their own inner non religious morality) - depending of course on who is telling them which bits are "true" and which are not.
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