tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261495722024-03-16T11:50:23.621-07:00Dwindling In UnbeliefAn unbeliever's thoughts about the Bible, Quran, and Book of Mormon
<p>"And the angel said unto me: Behold these shall dwindle in unbelief." <a href="http://SkepticsAnnotatedBible.com/BOM/1ne/12.html#22">1 Nephi 12:22</a></p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.comBlogger1055125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-85223238346746208582023-04-30T17:17:00.001-07:002023-04-30T17:17:21.787-07:00About the new Skeptic's Annotated Bible website<p>Unless you've just visiting the <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.php">Skeptic's Annotated Bible</a> website for the first time, you've probably noticed that it has changed recently. The content is the the same, at least for the most part, although I add and revise its content each day. But it's no longer just a bunch of html files. It's now a database-driven site, which is a whole nother thing entirely.</p>
<p>With the site in a database, I no longer have to create, manage, and separately maintain tens of thousands of html files. It also allows me to present the site in ways that would have been difficult or impossible to do previously. And now that I don't have to spend so much time with housekeeping, I can spend more time adding content and presenting it in new and (hopefully) more useful and interesting ways.</p>
<p>Although the site functions much the same as it did before, there are a few things that we've added or changed that I should tell you about.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>We've added a context sensitive search to the pages that allow you to search on the part of the site that is relevant to the page you are on.</p>
<p>For example, it you are on the Bible homepage, the default is to search the text of the King James Version of the Bible. It will also find results for Bible trivia questions, Every Jot and Tittle, and other Bible-related content. If you are on the Quran homepage, the search will be for Quran, etc. And by using the advanced search, you can search whichever parts of the site you are interested in.</p>
<p>The search box can always be found by clicking on the hamburger menu icon on the top right corner of the page.</p></li>
<li><p>Most of the pages on the site allow comments. To do so, login with a username and password or by signing in with your Google account.</p>
<p>Comments can be used to ask questions, make suggestions, let me know about corrections that need to be made, and discuss the page's content with others at the website. I will try to read, review, and reply to the comments in a timely manner. </p>
<li><p>The text for the Bible in Fewer Words podcast episodes can be found on the site by clicking on the <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/fewer-words//fewer-words/episodes.html">Text and notes for episodes</a> link. I encourage listeners to read along with us on these pages as we do the podcasts.</p></li>
<li><p>The category icons on right column of each chapter can be clicked to display the category list for that chapter. As on the old site, a complete list for the book can be found by clicking on the category icons on the book's outline pages.</p></li>
<li><p>Many of the blog posts from Dwindling in Unbelief have been copied to the new blog. For now, I will try to post at both sites - at least until it seems that most visitors are aware of the new SAB blog here.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about the new site.</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-20487906298610780582023-04-15T18:45:00.004-07:002023-04-15T18:45:59.911-07:00So it was Jesus who sent the fiery serpents in Numbers 21!<p>One of the craziest stories in the Bible is found in <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html">Numbers 21</a>. It all happens in just two verses:</p>
<blockquote class>
<p>The people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.</p>
<p>And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#5">Numbers 21:5-6</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Christians don't pay much attention to it, though. That was, after all, the Old Testament, and they ignore pretty much everything in it, except for the verses that condemn homosexuality.</p>
<p>Sure, they say, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dwb/num.html?k=28">God sent fiery serpents to bite the people for complaining about the lack of food and water</a>, but Jesus had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>Unless you believe Paul, that is. Here's what he says about it:</p>
<blockquote class>
<p>Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1cor/10.html#9">1 Corinthians 10:9</a></p></blockquote>
<p>The people tempted Christ (by complaining) and he sent snakes to bite them.</p>
<p>So don't tempt Jesus, or he'll send some of his snakes to bite you too.</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-57615198995021375792023-04-14T18:39:00.010-07:002023-04-15T18:43:28.758-07:00What were the fiery serpents in Numbers 21?<p>In <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/fewer-words/God-sends-snakes">our most recent podcast</a>, we told the story about the fiery serpents that God sent to bite the people for complaining about the lack of food and water. It all happens in just five verses in Numbers 21 (<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#S2">verses 5-9</a>)</p>
<p>Here's the story from the Bible in Fewer words.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#5"><sup>5</sup></a> The people spoke against God and Moses, saying, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness?</p>
<p>There’s no bread or water, and we hate this light bread.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#6"><sup>6</sup></a> So God sent fiery serpents to bite the people. And many died.</p>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#7"><sup>7</sup></a> The people came to Moses, and said,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have sinned by criticizing you and God. Ask God to take away the serpents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And Moses prayed for the people.</p>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#8"><sup>8</sup></a> God said to Moses,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Make a fiery serpent and put it on a pole. </p>
<p>Whoever looks at it will live after being bit by a fiery serpent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#9"><sup>9</sup></a> So Moses made a brass serpent and put it on a pole.</p>
<p>Whoever was bitten by a fiery serpent didn't die if they looked at it.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Tissot_The_Brazen_Serpent.jpg"
style="width:70%">
<figcaption>The Brazen Serpent by James Tissot</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These verses have long fascinated both believers and skeptics. What were the mysterious "fiery serpents" that God sent to bite the people, causing many of them to die? Well, parasitologists say it may have been the guinea worm (The nematode <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis">Dranunculus medinensis</a></i>).</p>
<p>To understand why the guinea worm is suspected, you must understand its life cycle.</p>
<p>Guinea worm larvae are released by their mothers into a body of water. The larvae thrash about vigorously until they attract and are eaten by a copepod, which is a small, nearly microscopic, crustacean. The copepod is, however, just a temporary home for the worm. It cannot complete its life cycle unless it can somehow get inside its definitive host: a human being. This is accomplished when someone drinks water containing the infected copepods.</p>
<p>The copepod's body is destroyed by the stomach acids, releasing the guinea worms, which burrow their way through the intestinal wall. They migrate through the abdominal cavity and into the connective tissue, stopping to mate with any other migrating worms that they run into along the way. By this time females have grown to be nearly a meter in length, while the males are only a few centimeters. After the worms have sex, the little males wanders off to find a place to die, while the females continue their journey through the human host's body.</p>
<p>The migration of the female worms cause great pain and discomfort, but it is when the worm reaches its final destination that the torment really begins. The worms end up just beneath the surface of the skin, usually in the legs or feet, where they remain for a month or more. Their metabolic wastes and the host's allergic reaction cause blisters to form, resulting in intense itching and burning pain. One of the few ways to relieve the pain is to immerse the blister in water, inducing the worm to break through the surface of the skin releasing millions of guinea worm larvae. A copepod eats the larvae and a human drinks that water, completing the guinea worm life cycle.</p>
<p>But the human suffering is far from over when the worm breaks through the skin, for although the female worms die soon after releasing the larvae, their dead meter-long bodies are not easy to remove. And even if the dead worms can be extracted without rupturing, serious secondary infections often occur.</p>
<p>So how are the female worms removed? Well, the traditional way, which is still used today, is to carefully wind the worm around a stick. The only other option is surgical removal, but this is extremely difficult and not often successful.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Dracunculus_medinensis.jpg/450px-Dracunculus_medinensis.jpg"
style="width:60%">
<figcaption>Using a matchstick to wind up and remove a guinea worm from the leg of a human</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So were the "fiery serpents" of Numbers 21 guinea worms in disguise? I'll leave that for you to decide, but some aspects seem to fit the description in Numbers.</p>
<p>The pregnant females are rather large worms and cause excruciating pain when breaking through the skin to release their larvae. So it is easy to see how they could be called "fiery serpents."</p>
<p>Guinea worms would have been present in the region at the time of the Exodus, as they still are today. If the Israelites encountered drought conditions, as they did according to the account in Numbers, it would have facilitated the transmission of the disease by concentrating worm larvae, intermediate hosts (copepods), and infected humans at the same water source.</p>
<p>And the serpent on a pole could well represent the most common form of treatment, then and now: pulling out the guinea worm by winding it on a stick.</p>
<p>Okay, let's assume the "fiery serpents" were guinea worms. If so, what message should we take from all this? What is God trying to tell us here? And what can we learn about God from this passage in Numbers?</p>
<p>One thing that should be clear to us all, of course, is the moral of the story: Don’t whine. God can’t stand a whiner. So if you or your children don’t have enough to eat or drink, well, just keep quiet about it. Whatever you do don’t mention it to God. If you ever get tempted to complain about it, just look at the above photo as a reminder.</p>
<p>So we know why God did it. What isn’t so clear, to me at least, is how. Did he simply infect the drinking water with guinea worm larvae? Or did he specially create guinea worms just for the occasion? If so, why didn’t he clean up afterwards? Why did millions of people have to suffer (and still suffer today) because the Israelites complained to God about their living conditions?</p>
<p>And what should we make of the “serpent on a pole” thing? The bible says that people were cured just by looking at it. Would it still work today? If so, then someone should let people know because the current treatment is much more involved (and painful) than that.</p>
<p>You also have to wonder why God didn’t explain how to prevent further infections, because prevention is much easier than treatment. All that is needed is to filter the drinking water through a fine-mesh cloth to remove the copepods. (The World Health Organization and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Center#Disease_eradication_efforts">the Carter Center</a> has nearly eradicated the disease by using this method.) Wouldn’t that be better than Moses’s magic brass serpent - or the real treatment that this may have represented? Didn’t God know how to prevent the disease that he created?</p>
<p>But the last question is most important of all. Why are there guinea worms? Did God specifically design these worms to live inside the body of humans? Or were they created by Satan? Or did they just evolve, and God had nothing to do with it? If the first is true, then God is evil. If the second, then there are at least two gods. If the third, then God cannot control his own creation. Which do you think it is?</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-3699141938100352372023-04-13T18:34:00.007-07:002023-04-15T18:37:33.931-07:00About that red cow in Numbers 19<p>The passage in <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/19.html#S1">Numbers 19:1-10</a> is rather uninteresting in itself. So much so, in fact, that I almost left it out of <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/fewer-words/The-red-heifer">the Bible in Fewer Words podcast</a>. It is, after all, just another animal sacrifice - the type of thing that is found throughout the Pentateuch. There are burnt offerings, meat offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, heave offerings, and wave offerings. And I've probably left out a few. This one seems to be just one more.</p>
<p>But it turns out that this one is rather special - at least to many of today's Christians and Jews. Pretty much everything depends on the red cow [<a href="#1n">1</a>] of Numbers 19. Without it the temple can't be rebuilt, the Messiah won't come, Jesus won't return, and the world won't end.</p>
<p>You're probably wondering how that can all be true. Well, God commanded the Israelites to find and kill a red, unblemished heifer that had never done a day's work in its life. After killing it, they were to burn its flesh, skin, blood and dung. God told them to collect the resulting ashes, mix them with water, and use it to purify those who happen to touch (or come near) a bone, dead body or grave. </p>
<p>God made it clear that this cleaning procedure could only be done by using this "water of separation" made from the red cow's ashes. And that this was a statute forever.</p>
<p>Things worked out fine from the time of Moses until the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE. Enough unblemished red heifers were found, killed, and burned to keep a continuous supply of holy water. But when the Romans destroyed the temple, the stash of ashes was lost or destroyed.</p>
<p>Many, perhaps most, of the Jews in Jerusalem were killed during the siege, and those that survived were enslaved, displaced, or fled to surrounding countries. This caused a complete change in Judaism: from a temple-based religion, with lots of animal sacrifices, to a new form called Rabbinical Judaism, with no sacrifices. </p>
<p>Maimonides, a renowned rabbi who lived the late 12th and early 13th centuries, said that there were only nine red heifers from the time of Moses to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. During that time the ashes were saved and used as necessary to make the water of separation, which ensured that the priests could be purified to allow them to perform the temple animal sacrifices. But after the ashes of the last red heifer were lost and the temple was destroyed, it was no longer possible to perform them. </p>
<p>So for nearly 2000 years, the Jews haven't sacrificed animals to God. There are, of course, many commandments in the Bible that require animal sacrifices, but the Jews believe that sacrifices can only be performed by priests in the temple. And since there is no temple, there can't be any sacrifices.</p>
<p>And that seemed like a good excuse until relatively recently. The Jews returned to Israel in 1948 and took control of the territory that contains the site of the temple in 1967. So a third temple could be rebuilt and animal sacrifices could resume. What's the hold up?</p>
<p>The hold up is the red cow.[<a href="#2n">2</a>] A red cow that meets the requirements of Numbers 19 must be found and sacrificed to make the holy water that can purify priests from all the dead bodies that they have come into contact with during their lives.</p>
<p>Once a red cow is found, killed, and burned, its ashes can be used to purify priests, the temple can be rebuilt, and God will smell the sweet savor of burning animal flesh once again.</p>
<p>And according to Maimonides, when the third temple is rebuilt the Messiah will come.</p>
<p>Of course, Christians believe the Messiah came and went a long time ago. But many also believe that when a red heifer is found and the temple is rebuilt, he'll come again. And then all hell will break loose and the end of the world will come.</p>
<p>Recently five red heifers have been sent from Texas to Jerusalem, hoping that one of them will meet the rabbi's standards.</p>
<p>Here's a video about it.</p>
<p><iframe width="400" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_8zR7pvy_uo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>And an update on 8 April 23</p>
<p><iframe width="400" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_b47JWrXxaw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li><a id="1n"></a> There is some disagreement about the color of the cow. The Quran insists that the cow was bright yellow.
<blockquote>
<p>Allah commandeth you that ye sacrifice a cow ... Verily she is a yellow cow. Bright is her colour, gladdening beholders. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/TEOO66/2.html?v=67">Quran 2:67-69</a></p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a id="2n"></a> Well, that's not the only hold up. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock">The Dome of the Rock</a>, which is one of Islam's most holy sites, is situated on top of the site of the second temple. So the third temple couldn't be built there without causing even more hostility between Jews and Muslims.
<p>But I suspect that the real reason why the temple will not be rebuilt is that Jews don't want to sacrifice animals anymore, and not having a temple provides a convenient excuse not to.</p></li>
</ol>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-71538860673190703552023-04-08T18:28:00.008-07:002023-04-15T18:33:01.932-07:00Happy Jesus-in-hell day!<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Harrowing_of_Hell.jpg"
style="width:80%">
<figcaption>Descent into Hell by Michael Burghers</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now that Jesus is dead (<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/07/1168585597/live-easter-reenactments-resume-in-the-philippines-despite-catholic-church-objec">they killed him in the Philippines on Good Friday</a>), we can celebrate what happened after he died.</p>
<h3>Happy Jesus-in-Hell Day!</h3>
<p>Most Christians (well, Protestants, anyway) don't know this, but Jesus went directly to hell after he died.</p>
<p>Really, he did. It says so in the Bible.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He [David] seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/acts/2.html#31">Acts 2:31</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The above quote is from the speech that Peter gave on the day of Pentecost -- you know, the day that believers spoke in languages they didn't understand and acted like they were drunk.</p>
<p>So it must be true. (If you can't trust a drunken Pentecostal preacher who was also the first pope, who can you trust?)</p>
<p>There are a couple of other references to Jesus's day in hell by someone who claimed to be Peter, <a href="https://ehrmanblog.org/the-situation-behind-the-forged-book-of-1-peter/">but wasn't</a>. </p>
<p>Here's what the forger of 1 Peter said about it.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Christ ... went and preached unto the spirits in prison. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1pet/3.html#19">1 Peter 3:19</a></p>
<p>For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1pet/4.html#6">1 Peter 4:6</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So Jesus preached the gospel to the dead people "in prison" -- that is, to the people in hell.</p>
<p>And then there's this from Ephesians (<a href="https://ehrmanblog.org/did-paul-write-pauls-letter-to-the-ephesians/">another forgery</a>, this time attributed to Paul).</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Christ ... descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/eph/4.html#7">Ephesians 4:7-9</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So Jesus descended "into the lower parts of the earth" -- which, as we all know, is where hell is. </p>
<p>Of course, Catholics know all this. They are reminded every time they attend mass or say the rosary, because it's right there in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed">The Apostles' Creed</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell....</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So get out and celebrate Jesus's descent into hell. </p>
<p>Here are some cool pictures that Jesus took during his visit to inspire you.
<p>The first is a photo of a very tall Jesus meeting Adam and Eve as they come out of their demon-mouth house.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://boondocksbabylon.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/harrowing-of-hell.jpg?w=640"
style="width:70%">
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here's one, on Saturday night, after Jesus put on his transparent robe.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/HarrowingBermejo.jpg/220px-HarrowingBermejo.jpg"
style="width:70%">
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And here's Jesus in a hurry to meet the ladies of hell.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://www.baslibrary.org/sites/default/files/bsbr190302400l.jpg"
style="width:57%">
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here's Jesus delivering the sermon from hell.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://external-preview.redd.it/christs-underworld-mission-the-harrowing-of-hades-v0-CmEYnX_bVbNk6Y4E__5Nn3O3--iq5523MUlQKq_CK7Y.jpg?auto=webp&s=0f368eda02394c05d6aec771b473970a978997ec"
style="width:70%">
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And here he is Sunday morning before heading back to the tomb.</p>
<figure>
<img src="https://beggarsbreaddotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/descended-into-hell-main.jpg?w=640"
style="width:70%">
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So to hell with Easter. Celebrate Jesus-in-Hell Day instead!</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-34730183293029167852023-04-04T18:21:00.002-07:002023-04-15T18:26:23.584-07:00About the new website<p>If you've been to the SAB website lately, you have probably noticed that it has changed a bit recently.</p>
<p>It has the same content as the old site, plus some new additions. The main difference - and the thing we've been working on for a year or so now - is that the website is now entirely database-driven, rather than the tens of thousands of html pages and links that I had to create and manage by hand. </p>
<p>The new database-driven site will allow me to present the content of the site in ways that couldn't be done before. But there will be some problems that we will have to work out along the way.</p>
<p>Please let me know if you encounter any and we will try to address them - either by email (swwells@gmail.com) or by commenting on the web pages themselves.</p>
<p>(I have also copied many of the Blogger posts and moved them to the new website blog. I'll continue to double post for now, but at some time in the future I will be posting only on the new site. You can find the new blog <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/bloglist.php">here</a>.</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-30467715855635332492023-04-01T18:10:00.008-07:002023-04-15T18:18:51.680-07:00Father Mike Schmitz explains the law of jealousies to us<p>The most popular podcast in the United States is (<a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/the-bible-in-a-year-is-the-most-popular-podcast-in-the-u-s/">or was according to the National Review</a> in Jan 2021) "The Bible in a Year" by Father Mike Schmitz. In it, Father Mike reads the Bible to you, and explains it all for you. </p>
<p>Father Mike gets through the whole thing, from Genesis to Revelation in 365 twenty-five minute episodes - including the apocrypha or what Catholics call the Deuterocanonical books. Which is pretty darned impressive. But then he's a very fast reader.</p>
<p>Still, he doesn't just read the Bible for you. He also explains it.</p>
<p>Here, for example, is the podcast's synopsis for "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZsJMk7lmh8">Day 56: Jealous Husbands</a>": </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Fr. Mike explains how God elevates the dignity of women by providing new laws around husbands accusing their wives of unfaithfulness.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now that sounds nice, doesn't it? God elevates the dignity of women with the law of jealousies in Numbers chapter 5.</p>
<p>Carole and I recently covered Numbers 5 in a recent podcast. Here is the text for that part of the episode. <br>(You can listen to the podcast and read the text that we read from <a href="/fewer-words/The-law-of-jealousies">here</a>.)</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#11">11</a></sup> God said to Moses,</p>
<blockquote>
<p><sup><a href="/num/5.html#12">12-15</a></sup> When the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he suspects that his wife has had sex with another man, he shall bring his wife to the priest. <sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#16">16</a></sup> And the priest shall set her before me.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#19">19</a></sup> The priest shall say to the woman,</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#20"></a>20-21</sup> "If you’ve had sex with a man who is not your husband, God will cause this water to make your thigh rot and your belly swell."</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#22">22</a></sup> And the woman shall say, "Amen. Amen."</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#24">24</a></sup> Then the priest will make her drink the bitter water that causes the curse.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.comnum/5.html#27">27</a></sup> If she is defiled and has had sex with a man who is not her husband, God will make her belly swell, her thigh will rot, and she will be a curse among her people.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#28">28</a></sup> But if she is not defiled, then she shall be free and will conceive seed.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#29">29</a></sup> This is the law of jealousies, when a wife has sex with a man who is not her husband.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#30">31</a></sup> Or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous over his wife.</p>
<p><sup><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/5.html#31">31</a></sup> The man is guiltless, and the woman shall bear her iniquity.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Sotah-ritual-Jan-Luyken-1703-%E2%80%93-1762-Rijksmuseum.nl_-895x630.jpeg" width="400"></p></blockquote>
<p>Notice that this is God's law that he gives directly to Moses in his own words.</p>
<p>This is one of the most misogynistic passages in the Bible (perhaps even in all literature).</p>
<p>Is there anyone besides Father Mike who believes that this law "elevate the dignity of women"?</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-26877703815738497662023-03-28T18:02:00.001-07:002023-04-15T18:06:49.522-07:00The Bible in Fewer Words podcast<p>As many of you may know, my wife, Carole, and I have started a new podcast.</p>
<p>Well, it's not new anymore. In fact, we have released 54 episodes since we began a few months ago. We began with Genesis in December, and just posted the last episode of Leviticus today.</p>
<p>It was all Carole's idea, actually. Over the last few years I had been revising the SAB website by adding side notes to summarize the text of the Bible. And Carole was my editor.</p>
<p>She and I would discuss the notes, trying to make them a fair summary of the Bible's content, and while doing so, she recorded a few of our conversations. That's where the idea of a podcast came from.</p>
<p>Our goal is to present the Bible as concisely as possible, without leaving anything important out, while excluding the boring, repetitive, and uninteresting parts. So far it's been a lot of fun for us to produce,</p>
<p>So we invite you to listen to podcast episodes. They are usually between 10 and 15 minutes and cover from one to five or so chapters. You can find the text that we are reading
<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/fewer-words/episodes.html">here</a>, with notes and links to the verses in the KJV at the SAB website. You are welcome to make comments and ask questions on the podcast pages. It'd be great to have you with us as we work our way through the Bible (using fewer words).</p>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-50656449738270597002022-08-16T13:31:00.002-07:002022-09-30T08:22:34.796-07:00What's new at the SAB<p>Anyone who has visited the blog in the last few years will have noticed that I haven't posted much here lately.</p>
<p>Sorry about that.</p>
<p>But I have a good excuse: I've been too busy at the site.</p>
<p>Over the last few years I have completely revised the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Quran at the SAB, fiinishing the Quran just a few days ago.</p>
<p>I've also started a page that I update daily, called <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/new.html">What's new at the SAB</a>.
<p>Now I'm starting to annotate the Doctrine and Covenants, which is one of the three nonbiblical books in Mormon Scripture. (The others being the Book of Mormon and the
Pearl of Great Price.)</p>
<p>I'm finding the D&C lots of fun, and I welcome you to join me as I work my way though it. I'm not on the seventh of the 136 sections. </p>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/D&C/table.html">Here's a link</a> to what I have so far on the D&C at the SAB.</p>
<p><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328304834l/10143229.jpg"></p>
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-40932919213378555332022-01-20T12:10:00.007-08:002022-01-20T12:32:06.511-08:00Why Douglas Wilson believes the Bible is the word of God<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And how do you know that it's the word of God? <br>Is it because "a lot of people around me currently think" it is? Or is it because its contents are so good that only a God could have written it?<br>I mean, who else could write a verse like Leviticus 20:14?</p>— Steve Wells (@SteveWellsSAB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveWellsSAB/status/1484214683108208641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/20.html#14">Leviticus 20:14</p>
<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJhckw_WYAElgG1?format=jpg&name=small" width="400">Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-40812321116505831572022-01-20T10:57:00.004-08:002022-01-20T11:21:57.758-08:00Christ Church (Moscow, ID) and Leviticus 20:13<p>Douglas Wilson (@douglaswils) is the pastor of a Christ Church (@Christ_Kirk) in Moscow, Idaho. Since I live in that town, his views are important to me. He also has a wide following among Evangelical Christians in the United States and throughout the world. He believes that the laws of the Bible should be applied today, including those that require the execution of homosexuals, disobedient children, witches, and whoever refuses to obey biblical law. He also believes in slavery and has written books in its defense.</p>
<p>But he and his church don't talk about these things much anymore. So I thought I'd post some twitter conversations that I've had lately with Pastor Wilson and his followers.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Christ_Kirk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Christ_Kirk</a> has blocked me from commenting on their tweets. So I'm posting it here.<br>Be sure to follow the link, which advocates the execution of homosexuals and disobedient children. <a href="https://twitter.com/douglaswils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@douglaswils</a> has never denied believing these things. He just doesn't talk about it anymore.</p>— Steve Wells (@SteveWellsSAB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveWellsSAB/status/1483976596776099841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-6360219994606305442022-01-20T10:28:00.000-08:002022-01-20T10:28:06.707-08:00A conversation with Douglas Wilson about Slavery and the Bible<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/douglaswils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@douglaswils</a> <br>You are also on record saying this (out loud):<br> <br>"The reason why many Christians will be tempted to dismiss the arguments presented in this booklet is that we will say (out loud) that a godly man could have been a slave owner." p.11, Southern Slavery, As It Was</p>— Steve Wells (@SteveWellsSAB) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveWellsSAB/status/1483156381179936772?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-78521340170250773992020-11-28T14:32:00.000-08:002020-11-28T14:32:30.685-08:00Out of Context: Matthew 10:35 and The Trial of the Chicago 7<p>Last night I watched The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix, which is based on the trial of seven anti-war protesters who were arrested during the
1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. I very much enjoyed the movie, but I was especially struck by its portrayal of Abbie Hoffman's testimony,
in which he quotes a verse from the Gospel of Matthew. </p>
<p>Here's the portion of the script from the movie, where the prosecuting attorney, Richard Schultz,
is questioning Abbie Hoffman (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) about something his fellow defendant, Tom Hayden, had said.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Did you hear the tape we played of Tom Hayden?</p>
<p>-Yes.</p>
<p>-You heard the tape? Did you hear Mr. Hayden give an instruction to his people to take to the streets?</p>
<p>“His people”? Hayden’s not a Mafia don and neither am I.</p>
<p>Did you hear him say, “If blood is gonna flow, let it flow all over the city”?</p>
<p>The beginning of that sentence was supposed to be… Yes. Yes, I did.</p>
<p>What’d you think of that?</p>
<p>I think Tom Hayden is a badass of an American patriot.</p>
<p>I didn’t ask what you thought of the man, I asked of his instruction of the crowd.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard Tom Hayden say, “Let’s end the war,” but nobody stopped shooting.</p>
<p>You can do anything to anything by taking it out of context, Mr. Schultz.</p>
<p>“If blood is gonna flow”? How do you take that out of context?</p>
<p>A guy once said, “I am come to set a man at variance with his father and the daughter against her mother.”</p>
<p>You know who said it?</p>
<p>Jerry Rubin.</p>
<p>Yes. No. It was Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:35.</p>
<p>And it sure sounds like he’s telling kids to kill their parents.</p>
<p>Until you read Matthew 10:34 and 10:36. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although I haven't seen the actual court transcript, I very much doubt the Abbie Hoffman quoted this Bible verse during the trial. Hoffman was a
rather irreverent Jew, and probably wouldn't have quoted Jesus in his testimony. But Aaron Sorkin had Sacha Baron Cohen do it for him anyway.</p>
<p>In any case, the movie script quoted <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mt/10.html#35">Matthew 10:35</a> correctly, using the King James Version.</p>
<p>The problem is that that verse says exactly what it sounds like it says. And the previous and following verses don't make it any better. </p>
<p>Here are the verses that are supposed to put Jesus's words in context.</p>
<p>Matthew 10:34: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.</p>
<p>Matthew 10:36: And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.</p>
<p>Apparently neither Aaron Sorkin or the movie's Abbie Hoffman bothered to read these two verses. They just figured that context would make Jesus's words
say something acceptable, rather than what they so clearly actually say.</p>
<p>The Jesus in Matthew's gospel came to break families apart, to set fathers against their sons, and daughters against their mothers. To make enemies within
families.</p>
<p>In this case, as in almost all cases when it comes to the Bible, context only makes it worse.</p>
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-14611426521958034402020-08-22T11:09:00.007-07:002020-08-22T11:14:49.327-07:00An update on the SAB website revisionSince I haven't posted much on the blog lately, I thought I'd let you know that I'm still alive and working on the website. I've been plowing through the Old Testament at the SAB, finishing <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lam/outline.html">Lamentations</a> this morning. I'm really enjoying it so far -- so much, in fact, that it's hard to stop long enough to tell you what I've been up to.
<p>Here, for example, are some additions I made recently to the Book of Isaiah at the SAB website.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/outline.html">A topical outline to the chapters</a></p>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/trivia/list.html">Isaiah Trivia Questions</a></p>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/quote_list.html">List of Selected Quotes</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now I'm off to update the Book of Ezekiel. That ought to be fun!
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-86135241836060054082020-06-03T11:05:00.003-07:002020-08-17T14:48:36.346-07:00The New SAB books are in!We ran out of Skeptic's Annotated Bible books a while back and had to print some more.
<p>Well, they're finally finished and are available at Amazon.
<p>I'm quite happy with the quality of the new books, both <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Annotated-Bible-Steve-Wells/dp/0988245159/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">paperback</a> and <a href="https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/thebook/2020.jpg">hardcover</a>.
<p>We changed the cover a bit, but otherwise the contents are the same as in previous printings.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDj6wM0m_b-hSKsaZzuXabylaHwMQSirCaTcaBoN931rl_WvPO-pEZ6RtOebL3j5PLd1xUtJdywxZE8SrCd_mMnSPzUUD32RNu8yUtahb4zC1Vw7IoegIJrnECV8KOuJv0bPMe/s1600/2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDj6wM0m_b-hSKsaZzuXabylaHwMQSirCaTcaBoN931rl_WvPO-pEZ6RtOebL3j5PLd1xUtJdywxZE8SrCd_mMnSPzUUD32RNu8yUtahb4zC1Vw7IoegIJrnECV8KOuJv0bPMe/s200/2020.jpg" width="138" height="200" data-original-width="720" data-original-height="1046" /></a></div>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-67626339704548288892020-03-24T10:50:00.000-07:002020-03-24T11:26:19.756-07:00The Bible, the Census, and Covid-19I've been searching the scriptures to see what they say about the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>I started by looking for passages that refer to plagues, pestilence, disease, and sickness. It wasn't long before I found the answer.
<p>It wasn't from the Bible, though. It came in the mail. Here it is:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpTXA8lShxbfN8m94OKs31LP2DZfAxW9uAozUxkfPLgf-Og18IvteRV3-0_QUpo8_H8qA_Ty2qgXaCDPit6TVeckbjtud_Y7rJVRPQ8aad9TkuvcSDvNzzDj7weKPXqlTsAdF/s1600/census-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpTXA8lShxbfN8m94OKs31LP2DZfAxW9uAozUxkfPLgf-Og18IvteRV3-0_QUpo8_H8qA_Ty2qgXaCDPit6TVeckbjtud_Y7rJVRPQ8aad9TkuvcSDvNzzDj7weKPXqlTsAdF/s400/census-small.jpg" width="400" height="255" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1021" /></a></div>
<p>The Census!
<p>The U.S. constitution requires us to have a census every ten years. And this is one of those years.
<p>But why would a census upset God so much?
<p>Who knows? But it clearly did when King David had one.
<!--
God has put up with it for more than two centuries, but he's finally had enough. And he's punishing us for it with COVID-19, just like he did to Israel in the Bible.-->
<p>The census story is so important that it's told twice in the Bible, in <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/24.html">2 Samuel 24</a> and <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1chr/21.html">1 Chronicles 21</a>.
<p>Here's the story from Second Samuel:
<blockquote>
And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
<p>...
<p>And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
<p>For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
<p>Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
<p>So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
<p>...
<p>So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/24.html#1">2 Samuel 24:1-15</a>
</blockquote>
<p>And here's the account from First Chronicles:
<blockquote>
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
<p> And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
<p>...
<p>And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
<p>And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
<p>And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
<p>Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
<p>So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
<p>Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.
<p>...
<p>So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1chr/21.html#1">1 Chronicles 21:1-14</a>
</blockquote>
<p>Although the accounts differ as to who inspired King David to have the census (<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/24.html#1">2 Samuel</a> says God did it; <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1chr/21.html#1">1 Chronicles</a> blames Satan), both agree that the census upset God so much that he sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 men. (Neither account says how many women and children were killed. But there must have been a couple hundred thousand or so.)
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-50535685664793713152019-03-28T21:22:00.001-07:002019-03-29T08:21:43.060-07:00A numbers problem in the book of Numbers<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/1.html">The book of Numbers</a> is well-named. There are a lot of number in Numbers.
<p>Take <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html">chapter three</a> for instance. In the long <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#census">last section</a> of that chapter, God tells Moses to count the Levites [<a href="#1">1</a>] saying,
<blockquote>
<p>And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
<p>Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.
<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#14">Numbers 3:14-15</a>
</blockquote>
<p>Notice that women and girls didn't count in God's census. Neither did babies (or fetuses) under 1 month old of either sex. [<a href="#2">2</a>]
<p>But this post is about number problems, so I'll try to stick to that.
<p>Moses did as God commanded and numbered the Levites.
<p>He did so by counting the number of males in the families of Levi's three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
<p>Here's what he came up with:
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#21">7,500 Gershonites</a>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#27">8,600 Kohathites</a>
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#33">6,200 Merariites</a>
</blockquote>
<p>Which, if you total them up, gives a grand total of 22,300.
<p>But the total given in <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#39">verse 39</a> is 22,000.
<p>Which leads to the question: <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/levites.html">How many male Levites more than one month old did Moses and Aaron count?</a>
<p>I know, it's not a big deal. What's three hundred Levites among friends?
<p>But there is a bigger number problem a little later in <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html">Numbers 3</a>.
<p>After Moses and Aaron were done counting Levites, God asked them to number all of the firstborn Israelite males.
<p>They got busy doing that and came up with 22,273. (<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/3.html#42">vv.42-43</a>)
<p>And yet Moses already counted all of the male Israelites over 20 years old, and found that there were 603,550. (<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/1.html#45">Num 1:45</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/2.html#32">2:32</a>)
<p>So if there were more than 600,000 Israelite males over 20 years old, there must have been more than a million males above 1 month old. And yet Numbers 3:42-43 says there were only 22,273 firstborn sons.
<p>Which means that only about two percent of Israelite sons are firstborn sons, and the average Israelite family must have had a hundred sons and daughters.
<hr>
Notes
<ol>
<li><a id="1"></a>God had commanded Moses not to number the Levites in the previous two chapters. But I guess God changed his mind.
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/number-levites.html">Did God tell Moses to number the Levites?</a>
<p>It is also interesting that God told Moses to take a census here, since he later will kill 70,000 people to punish David for taking a census.
(See <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/24/.html#1">2 Sam 24:1-17</a> and <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1chr/21.html2">1 Chr 21:2</a>.) Oh well, I guess he changed his mind again.
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/census.html">Is it OK to take a censsus?</a>
<li><a id="2"></a>As the Harper Collins Study Bible points out, "One month seems to be the age at which personhood was believed to begin: see <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/27.html#6">Lev 27:6</a>."
<p><a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/abortion.html">What the Bible says about Abortion</a>
</ol>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-84088232847846132352019-03-13T07:58:00.000-07:002019-03-13T07:58:12.225-07:00Balaam's Story
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Nuremberg_chronicles_f_30r_2.png" width="400">
<p>Balaam is best known for his talking donkey, and rightly so.
<p>But there's more to his story than that.
<p>He first shows up in <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html">Numbers 22</a>, when Balak, the king of Moab, asks
him for help.
<p>Balak had heard about the many genocides that the Israelites had committed with God's assistance,
and he didn't want his kingdom to be next. So he sent some princes as messengers to Balaam.
<p>Why Balak thought Balaam would could help isn't clear, but apparently Balaam was a famous pagan prophet from
Pethor, near the Euphrates River. Anyway, Balak's messengers came to Pethor and told him that
Balak wanted him to come to Moab and curse the Israelites.
<p>After the messengers delivered their message, God came to Balaam and said,
<blockquote>Who are these men that came to visit you? (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#9">Num 22:9</a>)</blockquote>
<p>Which is a strange thing for an omniscient god to ask. But oh well.
<p>After Balaam filled God in on the details about the messengers' visit, God said to him,
<blockquote>
Don't go with them and don't curse the Israelites. Because they are blessed. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#12">v.12</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>So Balaam told the messengers that God said he couldn't go with him.
<p>The messengers returned to Moab and gave Balak the bad news. Balak sent another set of princes,
more honorable than the first, to deliver the same message to Balaam.
<p>Balaam gave them the same answer:
<blockquote>
<p>I won't go to Balak even if he gives me his house filled with silver and gold.
<p>God said I can't go and that's that.
<p>But stay here tonight. Maybe God will say something else to me. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#18">v.18-19</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>And, sure enough, that night God said something else to Balaam:
<blockquote>
<p>If the men ask you to go with them, go with them.
<p>But only do what I tell you to do. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#20">v.20</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>So Balaam saddled his famous ass went with the princes to Moab.
<p>And then the story gets weird.
<blockquote>
<p>God tells Balaam to go with the messengers. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#20">v.20</a>).<br>
So Balaam goes with them. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#21">v.21</a>)<br>
Then God gets angry with him for going with them. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#22">v.22</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>You just can't please some gods!
<p>And this is where the angel shows up; the ass sees the angel and tries not to run him over; Balaam
hits the ass for not going straight; and Balaam, the angel, and the ass have an extended conversation.
<p>I'm skipping over this part since everyone knows the story about Balaam's talking ass. And that's not
what this post is about. (If you don't know the story, though, you should read it. It's one of the funniest
in the Bible. You can find it in <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/22.html#23">verses 23-35</a>)
<p>When Balaam finally arrives in Moab with his talking ass, he told Balak to make seven altars and
sacrfice an oxen and a ram on each. While Balak was busy with that, Balaam went off to talk with God.
God put a nonsensical parable in Balaam's mouth, which
Balaam repeated to Balak at the burnt offering. (For the details see <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/23.html#7">23:7-10</a>.)
<p>The parable didn't please Balak, since it didn't curse the Israelites.
<p>But Balak has an idea. He asks Balaam to go somewhere else (the field of Zophim), where Balaam can curse the
Israelites. So they go there and Balaam tells Balak to make seven altars and offer God another
seven oxen and seven rams, while he wanders off to talk to God again. God puts
another parable in Balaam's mouth, which he recites to Balak. This one includes this amazing line:
<blockquote>
God is as strong as a unicorn. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/23.html#22">v.22</a>)
</blockquote>
And this:
<blockquote>
The people will rise up as lion and drink the blood of the slain. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/23.html#24">v.24</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>But this parable didn't curse the Israelites either, so Balak suggested they try again.
<p>This time they went to the top of Peor. Balaam told him to build another seven altars and sacrifice seven more
oxen and rams, while he talks to God again. God told him another parable, which included some familiar lines.
<blockquote>
<p>God is as strong as a unicorn.
<p>He will eat up nations, break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/24.html#8">24:8</a>)
</blockquote>
<p>Balak had finally had enough of Balaam and his parables. He told him to go home.
<p>Balaam said he'd leave, but first he had some more parables about what the Israelites would
do in the future. (They'll destroy Balak and his people.)
<p>And that's it. That's all the Bible says about Balaam.
<p>He did whatever God asked him to do, didn't curse the Israelites, and recited God's parables to Balak.
<p>And yet Balaam is killed in the Midianite massacre (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/31.html#8">Num 31:8</a>) for encouraging
the Israelites to "commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor." (<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/31.html#16">16</a>)
<p>Now this might seem a bit obscure to those who aren't familiar with "the matter of Peor", which is the
story after Balaam's in <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html">Numbers 25</a>.
<p>Here is a brief summary:
<blockquote>
<p>The Israelites commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html#whoredom">25:1-3</a>
<p>God and Moses respond by hanging up heads and forcing the people to
kill each other <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html#respnd">25:4-5</a>
<p>Phinehas stops God's plague by murdering an Israelite man and a Moabite woman
while they were having sex. (But not before 24,000 people were killed in the plague.) <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html#stops">25:6-18</a>
</blockquote>
<p>You might wonder why Balaam's name doesn't occur in the summary. Well, that's because his name isn't mentioned
anywhere in <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html">the entire chapter</a> which tells the story about
"the matter of Peor." Balam had nothing to do with it, according to the bible story itself.
<p>Balaam is accused of cursing the Israelites for Balak in <a href="../dt/23.html#4">Dt 23:4-5</a>,
<a href="../jos/24.html#9">Jos 24:9-10</a>, and <a href="../neh/13.html#2">Neh 13:2</a> when he
absolutely refused to do so all three times he was asked by Balak in Numbers 22-24.
<p>The New Testament writers also condemn Balaam for "loving the wages of unrighteousness"
(<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2pet/2.html#15">2 Pet 2:15</a>), committing some unspecified "error"
(<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jude/1.html#11">Jude 11</a>), and teaching Balak to sacrifice to idols and commit fornication
(<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/rev/2.html#14">Rev 2:14</a>). There is no evidence for any of these accusations in the story of Balak
in Numbers 22-24.
<p>It's true that Balaam mistreated his ass. But that really seemed more God and the angel's fault than Balaam's.
<p>The hero of the story is clearly Balaam's ass. She behaved better and made more sense than Balak, Balaam, the angel and, most
especially, God.
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-21296576529225744922018-10-04T08:20:00.000-07:002018-10-04T09:25:41.604-07:00A slow revision of the SAB<p>It's a bit hard for me to believe now, but I created the Skeptic's Annotated Bible website back in 1999, nearly 20 years ago!</p>
<p>I've kept the same basic html structure at the site for all these years. It seemed to work okay for the most part, but it was difficult to change and update. And it doesn't work as well as I'd like with all the different platforms that are in use now. </p>
<p>So I've begun to slowly revise the site, starting with Genesis and working my way through the Bible. When I'm done with that, I hope to do the same to the Book of Mormon and the Quran.</p>
<p>If you've visited the SAB lately you may have noticed some of the changes. I've revised the first seven books of the Bible (<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/1.html">Genesis</a>,
<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/1.html">Exodus</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/1.html">Leviticus</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/1.html">Numbers</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/1.html">Deuteronomy</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jos/1.html">Joshua</a>, and <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jg/1.html">Judges</a>); revised the <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/number.html">Contradictions</a> and <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/index.html">What the Bible Says About</a> pages; and added material from <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ejat/intro.html">Every Jot and Tittle</a>, <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/SF/intro.html">Strange Flesh</a>, and <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/DWB/intro.html">Drunk with Blood</a>. </p>
<p>When I began the site, my basic plan was just to highlight the texts that showed the Bible's cruelty, absurdity, contradictions, etc. I stuck with that approach through the years, adding various categories as time went by. Although there was some commentary, I mostly just highlighted verses, letting the Bible speak for itself.</p>
<p>That seemed to work okay, though some pages became cluttered, making it difficult for me to add comments or for the reader to follow the story of the text. So I've decided to change my approach a little.</p>
<p>I still highlight the words in the text that I think skeptics would be interested in, using the same icons and color-coding that I previously used at the site. But now I'm trying to make it easier to see the overall storyline of the Bible, by adding section headings for the text and summary notes in the right margin. The highlighted text on the right will be reduced a bit to make the more important verses stand out. And the really important ones (like "<a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/22.html#18">Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.</a>") will be in bold highlight. I've also added outlines for each of the chapters (e.g. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jg/outline.html">Outline for Judges</a>), which can be found on the navigation panel for each book.
<p>In going through the first seven books of the Bible, I've found and added a lot of things that I missed the first few times around. I'm sure there are many typos and other mistakes to correct; when you see them, I'd appreciate it if you'd email me any corrections. And let me know if you have suggestions about other highlights or comments that you think should be made. I'm making the html easier to edit, so additions and corrections should now be much easier to make.
<p>I hope this slow revision process will make the SAB more useful and easier to use. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
<p>It is going to be a long, slow process, though. At best, I can only do a few chapters a day, so it'll be a year or so before I complete the revision of the Bible. And another year or two to do the same to the Book of Mormon and the Quran.
<p>But I figure it's worth it. Every twenty years or so a website ought to be revised.
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-24386138172123018482018-06-04T19:09:00.000-07:002018-06-04T19:42:02.581-07:00The Masterpiece Cakeshop and Leviticus 20:13<p>Today the Supreme Court of the United States <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-111_j4el.pdf">decided</a> in favor of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, saying that the government “cannot act in a manner that passes judgment upon or presupposes the illegitimacy of religious beliefs and practices” and that the state of Colorado's anti-discrimination law “was neither tolerant nor respectful of [baker Jack] Phillips’ religious beliefs.”</p>
<p>But the baker's religious beliefs are based on the Bible, and the Bible says nothing at all about baking (or not baking) cakes for same-sex couples. It does, however, have <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ejat/sex.html#gay">a few commandments about homosexuality</a>, the most important of which is <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ejat/crime.html#gay">commandment 555</a>:
<blockquote>If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. <a href="https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/20.html#13">Leviticus 20:13</a></blockquote>
<p>So the Bible commands the baker (and everyone else who believes in the Bible) to do more than refuse to bake a cake for two men who are getting married; it commands him to kill them. </p>
<p>And so, according to the reasoning of the court, the government may not pass judgement on the religious belief and practice commanded in Leviticus 20:13. We must be tolerant and respectful of Bible believers as they execute homosexuals for committing an abomination before God.
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-87887336399024919192017-11-27T13:14:00.000-08:002017-11-27T13:36:04.071-08:00What should Roy Moore do? (According to the Bible)The Bible has something to say about Roy Moore's situation. It's right there in Exodus 22, just before the part about killing witches.
<blockquote>And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
<p>If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/22.html#16">Exodus 22:16-17</a></blockquote>
The teenage girls that Roy Moore molested were clearly unmarried --"unbetrothed maids" in the King James Bible. The only real question is whether or not he "lied" with them.
<p>If he didn't, then there is no problem, biblically speaking. He could do whatever he wanted to do with and to them, as long as he didn't "lie" with them.
<p>If he did "lie" with them, then Mr. Moore has two options: marry them, if their fathers will give them to him; or pay the fathers the going rate for virgins. (Since this isn't specified in the Bible, I suggest that Mr. Moore pay the standard biblical value for females between 5 and 20 years old: <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/27.html#5">10 shekels of silver</a>, which comes to $62.37 per virgin in today's currency.)
<p><a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/11/10/roy_moore_interviewed_by_hannity_generally_didnt_date_girls_in_late_teens_accusations_never_happened.html">In his interview with Sean Hannity</a>, Moore said he doesn't "remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother." But that is totally irrelevant from a biblical perspective. In the Bible, mother's don't matter. Neither do their daughters. Only the fathers count. And that's who Roy Moore should be dealing with.
<p>He can make everything right by paying each of the fathers just $62.37 per virgin.
<p>It's the biblically correct thing to do.Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-16671822134123623892017-07-31T10:21:00.000-07:002017-07-31T16:48:48.322-07:00The Bible's Guide to Health CareFirst of all, if you get sick, it's your own damned fault. (God made you sick for ignoring his voice, doing wrong in his sight,
and/or ignoring his commandments.)
<blockquote>If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that
which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes,
I will put none of these diseases upon thee. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/15.html#26">Exodus 15:26</a>
</blockquote>
If you do something evil and God punishes you with sickness, rely on faith-based medicine. Prayer and faith alone will cure you.
<blockquote>
These signs shall follow them that believe ... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mk/16.html#17">Mark 16:17-18</a>
<p>Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. <a href="../jas/5.html#14">James 5:14-15</a>
</blockquote>
For as it says in the Psalms,
<blockquote>
The Lord ... healeth all thy diseases. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ps/103.html#2">Psalm 103:2-3</a>
</blockquote>
<p>And as Jesus said to the woman who touched his garment,
<blockquote>
Thy faith hath made thee whole. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mt/9.html#22">Matthew 9:22</a>,
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mk/5.html#34">Mark 5:34</a>, <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lk/8.html#48">Luke 8:48</a>
</blockquote>
If faith alone doesn't cure you, try touching your religious leader's handkerchief or shadow or something.
<blockquote>
So that from his [Paul's] body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed
from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/acts/19.html#12">Acts 19:12</a>
<p>They brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the
least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them ... and they were healed every one.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/acts/5.html#15">Acts 5:15-16</a>
</blockquote>
Or use the lump-of-figs cure. (It was one of Isaiah's favorites.)
<blockquote>And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2kg/20.html#7">2 Kings 20:7</a>
</blockquote>
If you have too little faith for any these remedies, purchase some bible-based medical insurance. Several plans are available.
<ul>
<li>The Paul Plan. (A holy man falls on and embraces your dead body.)
<blockquote> Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him ... And they brought the young man alive.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/acts/20.html#10">Acts 20:10-12</a></blockquote>
<li>The Elijah Plan (A holy man stretches himself on your dead body three times.)
<blockquote>He [Elijah] stretched himself upon the child three times. ... and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1kg/17.html#21">1 Kings 17:21-22</a></blockquote>
<li>The Elisha I Plan (Similar to the other two, but a bit more involved. A holy man lies on your dead body while he puts his mouth on your mouth, his eyes on your eyes, his hands on your hands, and stretches himself on you. This will cause
your flesh to warm. Then, after he walks to and fro and stretches himself on you one more time, you'll rise from the dead and sneeze seven times.)
<blockquote>When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead.... And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth,
and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2kgs/4.html#34">2 Kings 4:34-35</a></blockquote>
<li>The Elisha II Plan (Ask that your dead body touch the bones of a dead prophet.)
<blockquote>As they were burying a man ... when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2kgs/13.html#21">2 Kings 13:21</a></blockquote>
</ul>
<p>But whatever you do, don't go to a doctor. God is insulted if you trust science more than faith.
<blockquote>
And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was
exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2chr/16.html#12">2 Chronicles 16:12</a>
</blockquote>
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-1157317146803632872017-07-30T16:30:00.000-07:002017-10-07T09:45:59.656-07:00A Biblical Solution to the Health Care Crisis: Faith-based medicine (for Republicans)(Re-post for the current health care debate)
<p>A few years ago <a href="http://www.garrisonkeillor.com/a-modest-plan-for-saving-the-country/">Garrison Keillor suggested a way to solve our health care crisis</a>, and it's even more relevant today: impose faith-based medicine on all Republicans. That would reduce, by at least a third, the total US health care cost, while encouraging (okay, requiring) the religious right (and those who go along with them) to practice their faith.
<p>Here's how it would work (with biblical justification, of course).
<p>Sick republicans would ask their religious leaders to pray for them (and maybe get anointed with Crisco oil).
<blockquote>
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. --<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jas/5.html#14">James 5:14-15</a>
</blockquote>
<p>Or, if they choose, they can try touching their religious leader's handkerchief or something.
<blockquote>
So that from his [Paul's] body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed
from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. -- <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/acts/19.html#12">Acts 19:12</a>
</blockquote>
<p>But under the faith-based medical plan, Republicans would not be allowed to go to a doctor. Because God is insulted when they trust science more than faith.
<blockquote>
And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was
exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
-- <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2chr/16.html#12">2 Chronicles 16:12</a>
</blockquote>
As Garrison Keillor said
<blockquote>Let them try faith-based medicine, let them pray for their arteries to be reamed and their hips to be restored, and leave science to the rest of us.
</blockquote>Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-43334436405139443062017-07-30T14:25:00.000-07:002017-07-30T21:14:21.006-07:00What the Bible says about MasturbationAs you may have noticed, the SAB website has been having troubles lately. There were some links in the old html code (I created it back in 1999) that were causing the site to load slowly, and sometimes not load at all. So I spent the last couple weeks removing offending links and cleaning up the pages a bit. I think I've got most of it working okay now, except for some of the "<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/index.html">What the Bible says About</a>" pages - which I'm fixing and revising now.
<p>Here's one that I just revised.
<hr>
<h3><a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/masturbation.html">What the Bible says about Masturbation</a></h3>
Every sperm is sacred, so don't spill any on the ground. (Or God will kill you.)
<blockquote>
And Onan knew that the seed
should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's
wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his
brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew
him also. <A href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com//gen/38.html#9">Genesis 38:9-10</A> </blockquote>
If God doesn't kill you, then be sure to wash up thoroughly afterwards.
<blockquote>And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/15.html#16">Leviticus 15:16</a></blockquote>
After washing up, pluck out an eye and cut off a hand. (It's better to lose an eye and hand than to have your whole body cast into hell.)
<blockquote>Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
<a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mt/5.html#28">Matthew 5:28-30</a>
</blockquote>
<iframe width="490" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fUspLVStPbk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26149572.post-6503854608797120062017-07-29T17:57:00.000-07:002017-07-30T08:04:26.952-07:00Richard Dawkins: The God of the Old Testament(29 July 17: I originally posted this nearly nine years ago, soon after Richard Dawkins's wonderful speech. More recently, the Freedom From Religion Foundation created a <a href="http://unpleasantgod.ffrf.org/">new website</a> based upon this speech and Dan Barker's book - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Most-Unpleasant-Character-Fiction/dp/1454918322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501370274&sr=8-1&keywords=god+the+most+unpleasant+barker">God: the Most unpleasant Character in all Fiction</a>. So I thought I'd repost this and update the list with additions from FFRF's site and Dan's Book.)
<p>
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<blockquote>
<b>The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.</b></blockquote>
<p>The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: <b>jealous and proud of it</b>
<p>How jealous and proud is he? Well, his name is Jealous. And he named himself!
<blockquote>
For thou shalt worship no other god: for <u>the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God</u>: <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/34.html#14">Exodus 34:14</a></blockquote>
<p>Here are some more verses where God brags about his jealousy.
<blockquote>
<u>I the Lord thy God am a jealous God</u>, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/20.html#5">Exodus 20:5</a>
<p>For <u>the LORD thy God is a</u> consuming fire, even a<u> jealous God.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/4.html#24">Deuteronomy 4:24</a>
<p><u>I the LORD thy God am a jealous God</u>, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/5.html#9">Deuteronomy 5:9</a>
<p>(For <u>the LORD thy God is a jealous God</u> among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/6.html#15">Deuteronomy 6:15</a>
<p>The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and <u>his jealousy shall smoke</u> against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/29.html#20">Deuteronomy 29:20</a>
<p><u>They provoked him to jealousy</u> with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#16">Deuteronomy 32:16</a>
<p><u>They have moved me to jealousy</u> with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and <u>I will move them to jealousy</u> with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#21">Deuteronomy 32:21</a>
<p><u>He is a jealous God</u>; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jos/24.html#19">Joshua 24:19</a>
<p>And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and <u>they provoked him to jealousy</u> with their sins. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1kg/14.html#22">1 Kings 14:22</a>
<p>And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was <u>the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/8.html#3">Ezekiel 8:3</a>
<p>Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of <u>the altar this image of jealousy</u> in the entry. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/8.html#5">Ezekiel 8:5</a>
<p>I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and <u>I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/16.html#38">Ezekiel 16:38</a>
<p>So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and <u>my jealousy shall depart from thee</u>, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/16.html#42">Ezekiel 16:42</a>
<p>And <u>I will set my jealousy against thee</u>, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/23.html#25">Ezekiel 23:25</a>
<p>Surely <u>in the fire of my jealousy</u> have I spoken against the residue of the heathen. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/36.html#5">Ezekiel 36:5</a>
<p>For <u>in my jealousy</u> and in the fire of my wrath <u>have I spoken</u>, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/38.html#19">Ezekiel 38:19</a>
<p><u>God is jealous</u>, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/nah/1.html#2">Nahum 1:2</a>
<p>Thus saith the LORD of hosts; <u>I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/zech/1.html#14">Zechariah 1:14</a>
<p>Thus saith the LORD of hosts; <u>I was jealous</u> for Zion <u>with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her</u> with great fury. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/zech/8.html#2">Zechariah 8:2</a>
<p><u>All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/zeph/3.html#8">Zephaniah 3:8</a>
</blockquote>
<b>a petty,</b>
<blockquote>
A golden bell and a pomegranate ... shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/28.html#34">Exodus 28:34-35</a>
<p>Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/19.html#19">Leviticus 19:19</a>
<p>Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/19.html#27">Leviticus 19:27</a>
<p>Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/17.html#1">Deuteronomy 17:1</a>
<p>Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/22.html#11">Deuteronomy 22:11</a>
<p>Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/22.html#12">Deuteronomy 22:12</a>
<p>He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/23.html#1">Deuteronomy 23:1</a>
<p>A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/23.html#2">Deuteronomy 23:2</a>
<p>Thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee. For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/23.html#13">Deuteronomy 23:13-14</a>
<p>Behold, I am against your pillows. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/13.html">Ezekiel 13:20</a></blockquote>
<b>unjust,</b>
<blockquote>
If thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/4.html#23">Exodus 4:23</a>
<p>The LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/13.html#15">Exodus 13:15</a>
<p>I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/20.html#5">Exodus 20:5</a>
<p>Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/14.html#21">Isaiah 14:21</a>
<p>(See <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/inj/ot_list.html">here</a> for a more complete list of Old Testament injustices.)</blockquote>
<b>unforgiving</b>
<blockquote>
He is a jealous God; <u>he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jos/24.html#19">Joshua 24:19</a>
<p>For the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2kg/24.html#4">2 Kings 24:4</a>
<p>Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for <u>I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/11.html#14">Jeremiah 11:14</a>
<p>When they fast, <u>I will not hear their cry</u>; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/14.html#12">Jeremiah 14:12</a>
<p>Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and <u>though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.</u> <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/8.html#18">Ezekiel 8:18</a>
</blockquote>
<b>control-freak;</b>
<blockquote>
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ... The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods (hemorrhoids), and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: ... Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: ... The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. ... And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters ... The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/28.html#15">Deuteronomy 28:15-68</a>
<p>For another 1647 examples see <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/EJAT/all.html">Every Jot and Tittle: All of the Commandments in the Bible</a>
</blockquote>
<b>a vindictive,</b>
<blockquote>
I kill .. I wound ... I will render vengeance to mine enemies ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#39">Deuteronomy 32:39-42</a>
<p>He will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#43">Deuteronomy 32:43</a>
<p>To me belongeth vengeance and recompence ... for the day of their calamity is at hand. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#35">Deuteronomy 32:35</a>
<p>And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/11.html#1">Nunbers 11:1</a>
<p>Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine: <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/11.html#22">Jeremiah 11:22</a>
<p>For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/46.html#10">Jeremiah 46:10</a>
<p>And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/mic/5.html#15">Micah 5:15</a></blockquote>
<b>bloodthirsty</b>
<blockquote>
And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/4.html#17">Leviticus 4:17</a>
<p>And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/26.html#29">Leviticus 26:29</a>
<p>I kill .. I wound ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/32.html#39">Deuteronomy 32:39-42</a>
<p>But God shall wound the head of his enemies ... That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ps/68.html#21">Psalm 68:21-23</a>
<p>For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/34.html#2">Isaiah 34:2-3</a>
<p>For my sword shall be bathed in heaven. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/34.html#5">Isaiah 34:5</a>
<p>The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, ... their land shall be soaked with blood, ... For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/34.html#7">Isaiah 34:7-8</a>
<p>And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/49.html#26">Isaiah 49:26</a>
<p>I will ... trample them in my fury; and their blood ... will stain all my raiment. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/is/63.html#2">Isaiah 63:2-6</a>
<p>And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/19.html#9">Jeremiah 19:9</a>
<p>For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/46.html#10">Jeremiah 46:10</a>
<p>Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/48.html#10">Jeremiah 48:10</a>
<p>Thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/39.html#17">Ezekiel 39:17</a>
<p>Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/39.html#18">Ezekiel 39:18</a>
<p>And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/39.html#19">Ezekiel 39:19</a>
<p>And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/zeph/1.html#17">Zephaniah 1:17</a>
(See <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/ot_list.html">here</a> for a more complete list of Old Testament cruelties.</blockquote>
<b>ethnic cleanser;</b>
<blockquote>
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/13.html#15">Deuteronomy 13:15</a>
<p>Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/15.html#2">1 Samuel 15:2-3</a></blockquote>
<b>a misogynistic,</b>
<blockquote>
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, an do ye to them as is good in your eyes. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/19.html#8">Genesis 19:8</a>
<p>Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/18.html#27">1 Samuel 18:27</a>
<p>And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/19.html#20">Leviticus 19:20</a>
<p>And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/21.html#9">Leviticus 21:9</a>
<p>And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/31.html#15">Nunbers 31:15-19</a>
<p>And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women ... shalt thou take unto thyself. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/20.html#13">Deuteronomy 20:13-14</a>
<p>And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her .... Thou shalt go in unto her. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/21.html#11">Deuteronomy 21:11-13</a>
<p>If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated .... <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/21.html#15">Deuteronomy 21:15</a>
<p>If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her ... <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/22.html#13">Deuteronomy 22:13</a>
<p>I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid. Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city. But if ... the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/22.html#14">Deuteronomy 22:14-21</a>
<p>If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/22.html#23">Deuteronomy 22:23-24</a>
<p>When two men strive together on with another, and the wife of the one ... putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/25.html#11">Deuteronomy 25:11-12</a>
<p>Have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two? <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jg/5.html#30">Judges 5:30</a>
<p>Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/18.html#27">1 Samuel 18:27</a>
<p>Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/12.html#11">2 Samuel 12:11</a>
<p>And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com//ezek/26.html#6">Ezekiel 26:6</a></blockquote>
<b>homophobic,</b>
<blockquote>
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/18.html#22">Leviticus 18:22</a>
<p>If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/20.html#13">Leviticus 20:13</a>
</blockquote>
<b>racist,</b>
<blockquote>
One of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses ... And when Phinehas ... saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/25.html#6">Numbers 25:6-8</a>
<p>The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/7.html#6">Deuteronomy 7:6</a>
<p>An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/23.html#3">Deuteronomy 23:3</a>
</blockquote>
<b>infanticidal,</b>
<blockquote>
At midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/12.html#29">Exodus 12:29</a>
<p>Ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/26.html#16">Leviticus 26:16</a>
<p>I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/26.html#22">Leviticus 26:22</a>
<p>And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/26.html#29">Leviticus 26:29</a>
<p>Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. ... And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick... on the seventh day, that the child died. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/12.html#14">2 Samuel 12:14-18</a>
<p>Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/5.html#10">Ezekiel 5:10</a>
<p>And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/19.html#9">Jeremiah 19:9</a></blockquote>
<b>genocidal,</b>
<blockquote>
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/13.html#15">Deuteronomy 13:15</a>
<p>But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/20.html#16">Deuteronomy 20:16-17</a>
<p>So smote all the country ... he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jos/10.html#40">Joshua 10:40</a>
<p>Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/15.html#2">1 Samuel 15:2-3</a>
</blockquote>
<b>filicidal,</b>
<blockquote>
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and ... offer him there for a burnt offering. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/22.html#2">Genesis 22:2</a>
<p>For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/20.html#9">Leviticus 20:9</a>
<p>And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/lev/21.html#9">Leviticus 21:9</a>
<p>If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods ... hou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/dt/13.html#6">Deuteronomy 13:6-10</a>
<p>Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ps/137.html#9">Psalm 137:9</a></blockquote>
<b>pestilential,</b>
<blockquote>
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/11.html#33">Nunbers 11:33</a>
<p>And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/num/21.html#6">Nunbers 21:6</a>
<p>The hand of the LORD was against the city ... and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/5.html#9">1 Samuel 5:9</a>
<p>So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? ... So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel ... and there died of the people ... seventy thousand men. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/24.html#13">2 Samuel 24:13</a>
<p>So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee: and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/5.html#17">Ezekiel 5:17</a>
</blockquote>
<b>megalomaniacal,</b>
<br />
<blockquote>
Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/2sam/22.html#8">2 Samuel 22:8-11</a>
<p>Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/38.htmk#23">Ezekiel 38:23</a>
</blockquote>
<b>sadomasochistic,</b>
<blockquote>
Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/23.html#34">Ezekiel 23:34</a>
</blockquote>
<b>capriciously malevolent</b>
<blockquote>
Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark ... fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/9.html#4">Ezekiel 9:4-7</a>
<p>Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/8.html#18">Ezekiel 8:18</a>
<p>And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/12.html#20">Ezekiel 12:20</a>
<br /></blockquote>
<b>bully.</b>
<blockquote>
And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/jer/15.html#3">Jeremiah 15:3</a>
<p>And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. <a href="http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ezek/38.htmk#21">Ezekiel 38:21-23</a>
</blockquote>
<br />Steve Wellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08796709263034941039noreply@blogger.com92