I understand that what was considered wrong back then is much different from today's standards; however, I am a moral objectivist, and as such I believe murder and slavery were evil then too. I think people's actions should be judged according to the moral standards of the time period in which they lived in, taking into account their intentions and what their conscience dictated them. But this only applies to the degree, not the kind of the action. Murder for example was,is and always will be wrong.I saw some of Israel's laws being regurgitated, and while you or that site may disagree with them from a 21st century Western cultural perspective as being harsh or cruel, Israel was special in that it had a covenant with God to remain separate and distinct from other nations around them as God's holy people.
Which reminds me of:
The explanation of Israel's slavery system being less brutal than that of its neighbors is proper, but it does not absolve the above passage, which implies slaves had little human dignity.Exodus 21:20-21 If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.
I believe things like the right to life, the value of all humans and our duty to forgive others are objetive moral values brought forth by God, not subject to whim or the passage of time. Don't you agree?
Please help me with these. They were not discussed. I'm confewz'd.
Selected Contradictions
(1)
2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
John 3:13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
(2)
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Exodus 32:14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
(3)
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith . . . not by works.
James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? . . . Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Revelation 22:12 Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
(4) (Jesus speaking)
Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.
Matthew 6:1 Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them.
(5) (Jesus speaking)
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
Matthew 10:34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
(6)
Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and my life was preserved.”
Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God.
(7) (Jesus speaking)
John 5:31 If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.
John 8:14 Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid.
As to this one, I can only believe those were written by the Hebrew priests claiming to be God:
On the Evil of Biblical Law
Ezekiel 20:25-26 I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by; I let them become defiled through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.
