Part 1 can be seen here
An atheist who despises christianity me sent me this link in order to somehow convince me to abandon my faith/belief in God to which I say "never". I took his link as a good opportunity to research this (which includes including links to videos/articles).
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Claim 10
But incestuous rape is cool: And when she had presented him the meat, he took hold of her, and said: Come lie with me, my sister. She answered him: Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly. [II Kings 13:8-12] But he would not hearken to her prayers, but being stronger overpowered her and lay with her. [II Kings 13:14]
My Response:
First of all, "rape is never cool in the eyes of the Lord". The above is actually verse 11. Rape falls under the umbrella of "sexual immorality" (which the bible is clear on). You can even see Tamar's response to her brother Amnon in the above.
Every single article that atheists put out to attack the Bible/God leave out the full context (verses above and below which is the context of which the verse lies). Those attacking God/Bible desperately "twist scripture" to paint God as an evil God. Don't be lazy and put a random verse out there without the context. Remember that satan knows scripture and will twist it to draw people away from the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and it's what we see with the above verse.
"She answered him: Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly."
Verses 13:14:15 actually are
13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee. 14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. 15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.Amnon was King David's firstborn son. He was not favored in the eyes of King David. David choose his other son "Solomon" to be his successor. Even wiki gets this right.
According to the Babylonian Talmud: "And Thou should not associate with a sinner:.... And so we find with Amnon, who associated with Jonadab, the son of Shim'ah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very sensible man—sensible in wickedness, as it is written [Jer. Iv .22]: Wise are they to do evil." According to others, it is meant that one shall not associate with the wicked, even to study the Torah."[7]
According to Rav, Tamar was not, by Biblical law, David's daughter, nor Amnon's sister. Tamar, was the earlier born daughter of David's wife, and thus not biologically related to David, nor Amnon.[8] According to Michael D. Coogan's claims, however, it would have been perfectly all right for Amnon to have married his sister (he claims that the Bible was incoherent about prohibiting incest).[9] According to the Torah, per Leviticus 18, "the children of Israel"—Israelite men and women alike—are forbidden from sexual relations between people who are "near of kin" (cf. verse 6).
Siblings and half siblings (cf. verses 9 and 11). Relationships between these are particularly singled out for a curse in Deuteronomy 27, and they are of the only two kinds incestuous relationships that are among the particularly-singled-out relationships—with the other particularly-singled-out relationships, being ones of non-incestuous family betrayal (cf. verse 20) and bestiality (cf. verse 21). Incestuous relationships are considered so severe among chillul hashem, acts which bring shame to the name of God, as to be, along with the other forbidden relationships that are mentioned in Leviticus 18, punishable by death as specified in Leviticus 20. Those who committed incest were subject to two curses—one for committing incest and the second for breaking the Torah law. [27 Deuteronomy 22 and 26] and also the punishment of kareth.Claim 11
Pray in private, and if you do so in church, do so quietly: Matt 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others."My Response:
Where's the "abomination" in praying in private and in church? Putting it into context, Jesus was referring to the Pharisees and others during the day who were "making themselves viewable in public with prayer of the Mosaic Law" and not actually loving from the inside. By praying in private, it's between you and God. There are, however, those who go out and about in public to "pray for others" with sincerity with the intent of drawing them closer Jesus. Churches will also have prayer/group prayer in the beginning or end to pray for others. Billy Graham and all of the sincere/honest ministers/preachers will pray in their church services for everyone. Pretty confident that is not included in what Jesus was saying above in Matthew 6:5. :-)
Claim 12
If you offend God he will kill you: "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 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." (Genesis 38:7-10)My Response:
The creator of the heavens, earth and the infinite universe can do what he wants. This includes the slaying of those who disobey/defy/deny him. The fact that the Lord showed mercy to his chosen people time and time again as well as God's gift of Jesus to the world to pay the wages of our sin so that we can have eternal life is (IHMO) the highest act of love in the infinite universe.
From other sources
According to custom, Onan, as brother-in-law of Tamar, should have married the widow of his dead brother that had no children and raise up a family for him. Onan, however, didn’t accept this responsibility, since the first-born son would not be his own but would perpetuate the family of the dead and receive his inheritance. Onan’s behavior showed a lack of love and kindness to his brother and a greed for his possessions and inheritance. Even worse, his conduct was an offense against the divine institution of marriage.This is VERY early in the beginning. In the NT, some of these OT customs became obsolete due to God's everlasting love by sending Jesus to earth.
Claim 13:
God smites women, children and often animals with equal gusto, he seems to equal evil and wrong doing by association, rather than by being guilty of the personal, individual act: "Behold with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day." (II Chronicles 21:14-15)My Response:
See this
It's time again to put this "in context" instead of throwing in an "isolated verse" with the intent of attacking God for something that he was justified in doing.
The wicked reign of Jehoram. (1-11) in the northern kingdom (no kings in the northern kingdom were good as they (and their people) worshipped false evil gods like Baal, etc..) Jehoram's miserable end. (12-20)
Jehoram hated his brethren, and slew them, for the same reason that Cain hated Abel, and slew him, because their piety condemned his impiety. In the mystery of Providence such men sometimes prosper for a time; but the Lord has righteous purposes in permitting such events, part of which may now be made out, and the rest will be seen hereafter.
A warning from God was sent to Jehoram. The Spirit of prophecy might direct Elijah to prepare this writing in the foresight of Jehoram's crimes. He is plainly told that his sin should certainly ruin him. But no marvel that sinners are not frightened from sin, and to repentance, by the threatenings of misery in another world, when the certainty of misery in this world, the sinking of their estates, and the ruin of their health, will not restrain them from vicious courses. See Jehoram here stripped of all his comforts. Thus God plainly showed that the controversy was with him, and his house. He had slain all his brethren to strengthen himself; now, all his sons are slain but one. David's house must not be wholly destroyed, like those of Israel's kings, because a blessing was in it; that of the Messiah. Good men may be afflicted with diseases; but to them they are fatherly chastisements, and by the support of Divine consolations the soul may dwell at ease, even when the body lies in pain. To be sick and poor, sick and solitary, but especially to be sick and in sin, sick and under the curse of God, sick and without grace to bear it, is a most deplorable case. Wickedness and profaneness make men despicable, even in the eyes of those who have but little religion.
The Lord would not have punished them had they continued to worship him and love him with all their heart. But they (in the northern kingdom) would not listen to him. Our creator is justified in everything he does.
Claim 14
Rev 21: 8 "liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Eternal damnation for lying? In South Africa murderers and rapists often get released for good behaviur, lying is politics.My ResponseSee this
The New Jerusalem is the eternal home of believers, but unbelievers must spend eternity in the lake of fire "that burns with fire and sulfur." Unbelievers are identified in this verse as the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars. Cowardly unbelievers fear for various reasons. Some fear they might lose their possessions or their jobs or their friends or their comfortable life if they trust in the Savior. But, as Jesus taught, it is worthless to gain the whole world but lose one's soul (Mark 8:36). The faithless lack trust in Jesus as Savior, the detestable are foul.
Other sinners are identified as those who murder, cater to sexual lust, lack moral character, practice black magic or deal in illegal drugs, worship false gods, and lie. These unsavory characters experience the second death, which is eternal suffering in the lake of fire. Their refusal to trust in Christ had imprisoned them in their sins and subsequently in the lake of fire.We are all sinners since the fall of man. That does not mean if you lie, you automatically go to hell. It's important to repent to the Lord for your sins and trust Jesus. Jesus paid the wages for sin. Those who actively reject/deny Jesus and continue to sin (with no repentance) will be subjected to the consequences. The New Testament has many examples of Jesus' love for the sinners.
Last claim
Although the article says "14 abominable" verses, they added another comment that needs addressing.
And speaking of lying, the bible ends with one. It calls its message 'the good news' and concludes, "I am coming soon." Wrong on the 'soon' bit, and unless we've missed something, no one has come. But I get it, if 2000 years pass, soon after such a length of time must be VERY soon. If 10 000 years pass, soon must be very VERY soon.My Response:
100% false. The author says he gets it but (with all due respect) he really does not get it and the Bible is not lying.
See this
and this which contains
In a sense, the marking of time is irrelevant to God because He transcends it. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:8, cautioned his readers not to let this one critical fact escape their notice—that God’s perspective on time is far different from mankind’s (Psalm 102:12, 24-27). The Lord does not count time as we do. He is above and outside of the sphere of time. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. A second is no different from an eon; a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God.
Despite their claims of being trustworthy, would you really "trust" what they have to say considering the author twisted scripture (which is lying) out of context in order to attack God?
God is eternal. The always was, always is and always will be. God's (the Lord of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) time is not our time. In the infinite time of God's existence, 2000 years is not even remotely a blip on the radar screen. Our soon may be "this year" or "next year". God's soon is completely different.
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