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Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits

For many, the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible [aka the Old Testament for Christians] and the New Testament) is a moral touchstone and a guide to a peaceful life. Yet such a use of the Bible relies on a rather selective reading of its stories, since the Bible also contains numerous disturbingly violent tales. These violent stories are often passed over altogether or explained away as cultural remnants of the time when the stories were transmitted and written down. Yet it is worth knowing that these unseemly accounts still exist in the Bible, because some tend to treat this book as a homogeneous document that has a consistently nonviolent message. In fact, the Bible is far from a non-violent book. Here are the Top Ten most violent stories from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament:

 1. The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34)

 2. Genocide in Joshua (Joshua 1-12)

 3. The Dismembered Concubine (Judges 19)

 4. The Murder of John the Baptist (Mark 6)

 5. The Killing of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)

 6. Wilderness Slaughter (Exodus 32)

 7. The Parable of the Unfaithful Slave (Luke 12

 8. Revelation’s Bowls of Wrath (Revelation 16)

 9. Jephthah’s Human Sacrifice (Judges 11)

 10. Sexual Violence Against Jacob’s Wives’ Slaves (Genesis 30)

And some also ran;

1. Cain Kills Abel (Genesis 4)

2. Jesus Crucified (Mark 16 and parallels)

3. Judas’ Deaths (Matthew 27; Acts 1

4. Drowning Pharaoh’s Army (Exodus 14)

5. Paul Wishes Castration on his Opponents (Galatians 5)

The above, along with a description of the list item can be found at:Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits | HuffPost

 And what would be Biblical violence without some mass killings?

1. The Flood (Genesis 6-8)
2. The cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19)
3. The Egyptian firstborn sons during the Passover (Exodus 11-12)
4. The Canaanites under Moses and Joshua (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21)
5. The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)

See also; How Many Has God Killed?

State of the Union

2 Kings 2:23-24

2 Kings 2:23-24

2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.  

2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Biblical Morality

Misquoting Jesus in the Bible

Heyns Lecture Series at Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University Campus, Wednesday, April 25, 2007. Lecture on "Misquoting Jesus" a textual criticism of Biblical manuscript tampering. From the book "Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Altered Scripture and Readers Who May Never Know."
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude.

Christian Sharia ?

Christian: I know it's the law and all but, I just can't do it, because you know, the Bible.
Muslim: I know it's the law and all but, I just can't do it, because you know, the  Quran.
Christian: I know it's against the law and all but, I just have to do it, because you know, the Bible.
Muslim: I know it's against the law and all but, I just have to do it, because you know, the Quran.
Adult: I don't have to like it but, it's the law.
 

A Chaplain and an Atheist Go to War

By Michael M. Phillips
The Wall Street Journal 

Sept. 4, 2010

SANGIN, Afghanistan—They say there are no atheists in foxholes. There's one on the front lines here, though, and the chaplain isn't thrilled about it.

Navy Chaplain Terry Moran is steeped in the Bible and believes all of it. His assistant, Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Philip Chute, is steeped in the Bible and having none of it.

Together they roam this town in Taliban country, comforting the grunts while crossing swords with each other over everything from the power of angels to the wisdom of standing in clear view of enemy snipers. Lt. Moran, 48 years old, preaches about divine protection while 25-year-old RP2 Chute covers the chaplain's back and wishes he were more attentive to the dangers of the here and now.

It's a match made in, well, the Pentagon.

 "He trusts God to keep him safe," says RP2 Chute. "And I'm here just in case that doesn't work out."

The 460 Army, Navy and Air Force chaplains deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are prohibited from carrying weapons, counting on their assistants and the troops around them for protection. It can be a perilous calling. On Monday, Chaplain Dale Goetz, 43, of White, S.D., and four other soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar. Capt. Goetz is the first Army chaplain killed in action since the Vietnam War.

Say What?

The next time believers tell you that 'separation of church and state' does not appear in our founding document, tell them to stop using the word 'trinity.' The word 'trinity' appears nowhere in the bible. Neither does Rapture, or Second Coming, or Original Sin. If they are still unfazed (or unphrased), by this, then add Omniscience, Omnipresence, Supernatural,Transcendence, Afterlife, Deity, Divinity, Theology, Monotheism, Missionary, Immaculate Conception, Christmas, Christianity, Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Methodist, Catholic, Pope, Cardinal, Catechism, Purgatory, Penance, Transubstantiation, Excommunication, Dogma, Chastity, Unpardonable Sin, Infallibility, Inerrancy, Incarnation, Epiphany, Sermon, Eucharist, the Lord's Prayer, Good Friday, Doubting Thomas, Advent, Sunday School, Dead Sea, Golden Rule, Moral, Morality, Ethics, Patriotism, Education, Atheism, Apostasy, Conservative (Liberal is in), Capital Punishment, Monogamy, Abortion, Pornography, Homosexual, Lesbian, Fairness, Logic, Republic, Democracy, Capitalism, Funeral, Decalogue, or Bible.

Dan Barker:"Losing Faith in Faith"