User:WagePeace/God-Devil Biblical references

This page contains the section Cited Biblical references that was deleted from God as the Devil on March 22, 2009. It is given here for the convenience of editors discussing whether its deletion was appropriate and whether it should be reinstated. The section may be also seen in the full context of the article at the time before its removal.

A new version of this section was proposed on March 25 and inserted into the article on March 28.

Cited Biblical references

The above authors cite many passages of Biblical scripture, including from the Old and New Testaments and the Qur'an, in their arguments for identifying the Biblical God with the Devil. The following are some of the examples cited.

Tanakh (Old Testament)

Torah (Books of Moses)

Committed genocide: And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. [Genesis 6:17]

Temptation to child sacrifice: And it came to pass … that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, … Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering … [Genesis 22:1-2. Although the command was later rescinded, several authors cite this story as showing that Jehovah required obedience even to the point of child sacrifice.]

Committed child slaughter: And it came to pass, that 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; and all the firstborn of cattle. And … there was not a house where there was not one dead. [Exodus 12:29-30]

Commanded mass killing: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother [who worshipped the golden calf], and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men. [Exodus 32:27-28]

Commanded death by torture: And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. … And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses. [Numbers 15:32-36]

Commanded mss killing: And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people [who have intermarried and converted to other religions], and hang them up before the Lord against the sun … And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one [of these] men that were joined unto Baalpeor. … And those that died in the plague were 24,000. [Numbers 25:4-9]

Commanded war; condoned mass killing, mayhem, child slaughter (of boys), and child sexual slavery (of girls): And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the [adult] males … And … took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. … And Moses said unto them, … 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. [Numbers 31:7-18]

Commanded genocide: And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. … 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. But thou shalt utterly destroy them … as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. [Deuteronomy 7:1-2 and 20:16-17]

Prophets

Commanded serial genocide and mayhem: And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city [Jericho], both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. … And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. … So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. [Joshua 6:21-27]

And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai … with the edge of the sword … that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were 12,000, even all the men of Ai. [Joshua 8:24-25]

And … Joshua: … and all Israel with him … [Joshua 10:28-39]

• … took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword … and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain …
• … fought against Libnah: And the Lord delivered it also … and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it …
• … [went to] Lachish … and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein …
• … smote [Horam king of Gezer] and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
• … passed unto Eglon, and … smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day ….
• … went up … unto Hebron; … and smote it with the edge of the sword … and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, … but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.
• … returned … to Debir … and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: ….

So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. [Joshua 10:40]

Committed mass killing: And [the Lord] smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people 50,070 men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. [1 Samuel 6:19]

Commanded genocide: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt [400 years earlier]. Now 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. And Saul gathered the people together … 200,000 footmen … [and] smote the Amalekites … and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. [1 Samuel 15:2-8]

Caused child slaughter: … and as [Elisha] 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. 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 [mauled and killed] 42 children of them. [2 Kings 2:23-24]

Writings

Condoned genocide by torture: And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir 10,000. And other 10,000 left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces. [2 Chronicles 25:11-12]

New Testament

While church heretics cited above identified the Old Testament Jehovah as evil in contrast to a loving God of the New Testament, the author of Ebon Musings notes that "Though there are comparatively few deaths caused or commanded by God in the NT, there is something much worse. … As terrible as the cruelties of the Old Testament God were, they were finite in duration. By contrast, the Prince of Peace … taught that those who do not worship him as he demands will, upon death, be cast into a fiery pit of torture, to suffer in unimaginable agony for all eternity without rest or hope of escape."

Punishment by torture: As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. [Matthew 13:40-42]

Punishment by torture: If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, … he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone … And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night. [Revelation 14:9-11]

Qur'an

Punishment by torture: Those who disbelieved in Our lessons, We shall burn them in Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for other skins that they may taste the punishment. [Qur'an, Sura 4, An-Nisa, 56]

Punishment by torture: … then as for those who disbelieved, garments of fire will be cut out for them, boiling water will be poured down over their heads. With it will vanish away what is within their bellies, as well as their skins. And for them are hooked rods of iron (to punish them). Every time they seek to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be driven back therein, and it will be said to them: "Taste the torment of burning!" [Qur'an, Sura 22, Al-Hajj, 19-22]