The New Testament does not show God calling for the death of his son, and of course, the theology of the trinity - nascent, but not explicit in the New Testament - means that Jesus should not be understood as God's Son in way that is completely separate from Himself. God is also offering his own death, rather than kill to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity, and between people.

by chipmunk on Mon Jun 30, 2008 at 02:34:00 AM EST

A study of the "Old Testament" clearly shows that Jehova/Yahweh has no problem shedding the blood of innocents, and in fact there are many examples of where this deity is "pleased" by the indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children - including the unborn.

To Yahweh/Jehova, life seems pretty cheap.  There is no Biblical basis whatsoever for the "pro-life" crowd's viewpoint.  Of course, the writers of the "Old Testament" did not have the medical tools and advances in science that we utilize today.  For example, most in the ancient world did not realize that both men and women contribute genetic material to an embryo, nor did most women know they were pregnant in the first couple of months after conception.  There were no pregnancy tests available in Caanan!

If more people made a greater effort to actually study the book they claim is the "word of God", then perhaps it would not be so easy for the charlatans of the religious right to mislead their followers.  Perhaps if more study of the actual teachings of Jesus were emphasized, the power and influence of the most radical players in the movement would be decreased and their "un-Biblical" assertions challenged.

Knowledge is power; ignornace is weakness.  How can anyone claim to hold religious beliefs if they are not familiar with the source of those beliefs?  Greater biblical literacy would make the job of the faith-based hatemongers much harder, and would in fact expose them to be the power-hungry political players that they really are.


by jpopphan on Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 11:00:55 AM EST