Inconsistencies with the 5th commandment
"You must not murder" (Exodus 20:13)
This perhaps should have been the first commandment and is a perfectly good rule to have, but while I was reading the bible I found there to be a number of inconsistencies and contradictions surrounding it.
The first problem occurs just a few paragraphs after the commandment was given, Exodus 21:12 goes as follows:
"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death."
also (ex 21:14) "But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death".
So we have a commandment saying do not kill and then a few paragraphs latter it says that a person found breaking this commandment is to be put to death, but surely putting that person to death would be directly violating the 5th commandment. It also means technically that the person responsible for killing the murder should also be put to death and then the person who kills that person and so on...
The death penalty is also the punishment for breaking a number of the other commandments as well. I personally am opposed to the taking of human life, this includes both murder and the death penalty, doesn't the Bible say that the human body is sacred and therefore taking a human life is a sin. The murderer is still a human and still has a right to live‚ the person who executes the murder is also then a murderer.
Murder is quite a common theme that runs through out the Bible and you may (or may not) be surprised to find out that it is God is responsible for the majority of the deaths that occur. You can't expect every one else to follow your commandments if you go round breaking them yourself and setting a bad example, which is exactly what God does throughout the Bible. (I thought that God was supposed to guide humans along the right path and that we are supposed to follow in Gods foot steps).
God kills the first born of all the Egyptians in Exodus 12:29 which can be seen mass murder and isn't an act of a loving God (I'm sure there were other ways to deal with the Egyptians without having to resort to murder - also imagine the signal this is giving to humans i.e. when all else fails it's ok to kill people). Worse still than this in Genesis 7:11 God kills every living thing on the earth apart from a select few, this amounts to genocide and ethnic cleansing on a mass scale and is worse than anything that Hitler or Stalin ever did. There are numerous other accounts of God killing people in the Bible and all seem to dispute the fact that God is all loving, also it shows God to be directly breaking the 5th commandment. Another example is in Numbers 15:32 were a man is found gathering sticks on the Sabbath, this is the first time that the commandments had been broken and again carries the death penalty.
(num 15:35)"Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
He doesn't directly carry out the murder but commands others to instead and is a very nasty way to die.
Another account of God commanding the Israelites to carry out ethnic cleansing is in Deuteronomy 2:33-34 - "the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. 34 At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed themmen, women and children. We left no survivors.."
Here God Commands that all people inside the city of the Amorites (including children) should be killed because they are a wicked people. This isn't a very moral thing to do no matter how wicked the Amorites were and again involves violating the 5th commandment.
Another interesting thing to note is that while God is always portrayed as all loving and the devil portrayed as all evil and sinful, the amount of times that the Bible actually records that the devil has done an evil act is very little compared to the amount of evil acts God carrys out. The devil certainty doesn't go round killing people like God does (and not on the scale that God does) which shows that God actually breaks the commandment (and sins) more times than the devil does.
This perhaps should have been the first commandment and is a perfectly good rule to have, but while I was reading the bible I found there to be a number of inconsistencies and contradictions surrounding it.
The first problem occurs just a few paragraphs after the commandment was given, Exodus 21:12 goes as follows:
"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death."
also (ex 21:14) "But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death".
So we have a commandment saying do not kill and then a few paragraphs latter it says that a person found breaking this commandment is to be put to death, but surely putting that person to death would be directly violating the 5th commandment. It also means technically that the person responsible for killing the murder should also be put to death and then the person who kills that person and so on...
The death penalty is also the punishment for breaking a number of the other commandments as well. I personally am opposed to the taking of human life, this includes both murder and the death penalty, doesn't the Bible say that the human body is sacred and therefore taking a human life is a sin. The murderer is still a human and still has a right to live‚ the person who executes the murder is also then a murderer.
Murder is quite a common theme that runs through out the Bible and you may (or may not) be surprised to find out that it is God is responsible for the majority of the deaths that occur. You can't expect every one else to follow your commandments if you go round breaking them yourself and setting a bad example, which is exactly what God does throughout the Bible. (I thought that God was supposed to guide humans along the right path and that we are supposed to follow in Gods foot steps).
God kills the first born of all the Egyptians in Exodus 12:29 which can be seen mass murder and isn't an act of a loving God (I'm sure there were other ways to deal with the Egyptians without having to resort to murder - also imagine the signal this is giving to humans i.e. when all else fails it's ok to kill people). Worse still than this in Genesis 7:11 God kills every living thing on the earth apart from a select few, this amounts to genocide and ethnic cleansing on a mass scale and is worse than anything that Hitler or Stalin ever did. There are numerous other accounts of God killing people in the Bible and all seem to dispute the fact that God is all loving, also it shows God to be directly breaking the 5th commandment. Another example is in Numbers 15:32 were a man is found gathering sticks on the Sabbath, this is the first time that the commandments had been broken and again carries the death penalty.
(num 15:35)"Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
He doesn't directly carry out the murder but commands others to instead and is a very nasty way to die.
Another account of God commanding the Israelites to carry out ethnic cleansing is in Deuteronomy 2:33-34 - "the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. 34 At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed themmen, women and children. We left no survivors.."
Here God Commands that all people inside the city of the Amorites (including children) should be killed because they are a wicked people. This isn't a very moral thing to do no matter how wicked the Amorites were and again involves violating the 5th commandment.
Another interesting thing to note is that while God is always portrayed as all loving and the devil portrayed as all evil and sinful, the amount of times that the Bible actually records that the devil has done an evil act is very little compared to the amount of evil acts God carrys out. The devil certainty doesn't go round killing people like God does (and not on the scale that God does) which shows that God actually breaks the commandment (and sins) more times than the devil does.
posted by David at 10:42 am
10 Comments:
One could argue that not all killings are necessarily murder and that killing a murderer does not count as murder.
One could also argue (as the Bible does) that the human body is a temple, but once you start allowing some forms of killing then you will find it hard to prevent other forms of killing such as murder.
This is more of an ethical debate but still a very interesting one. The fact that God allows killing in some circumstances but not in others shows God to be morally suspect. And while some people would argue that killing is ok in some cases I disagree, can killing someone against their will ever be justified?
Go back and read exodus. Consider where what you are talking about comes from and not so much applying humanistic retrofitting. God doesn't say do what I say after you think about it and talk to your friends about it and then only if you really want to. Read the Bible, belive or don't, but don't try to apply it to human values. Apply it to Christian values. By the way the 5th Commandment is to "honor thy father and thy mother". Exodus 20:12
Go back and read exodus. Consider where what you are talking about comes from and not so much applying humanistic retrofitting. God doesn't say do what I say after you think about it and talk to your friends about it and then only if you really want to. Read the Bible, belive or don't, but don't try to apply it to human values. Apply it to Christian values. By the way the 5th Commandment is to "honor thy father and thy mother". Exodus 20:12
You are questioning something that is beyond our human grasp. To question God would be as a 5year old questioning his or her father about the aspects of say econimics. As that child it is not wrong to question, but we should take the answer the bible gives us and apply it, not question it futher because we don't want to do it or we don't understand it. Stand in faith. We are as that 5year old in the nature of God. How would we deal with a child who questioned the rules we set as parents. In most cases the rules are there not to understand but simply to protect us from what could ultimately consume us if it were left up to us. I have found that all my questions have been answered. I simply stand in faith and ask God in prayer. He is the only one that can answer any question the way is is put in this context.
Actually your both right because there is a bit of a debate as to what the 5th commandment is, for Roman Catholics and other Orthodox Christians the 5th commandment is "You shall not kill" but the Jewish and Protestant understanding is "honor thy father and thy mother".
If you were a child of 5 and you did not fully understand something so you questioned your parents about it, would you want them to turn round and say "it is beyond your grasp just believe what I am saying" there by pulling a blanket over your eyes. Or would you want them to at least give you a simplified answer so as to give you more understanding of the world around you.
if a person who killed or murdered someone and does not repent to God then he will be put to death (means that he will suffer eternal death not physical death) and fyi 5th commandment is HOnor your father and your Mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.. please do read the Bible and if you are confused with something try to ask guidance from pastor or a priest and do not rely on your own limited intelligence..
"if a person who killed or murdered someone and does not repent to God then he will be put to death (means that he will suffer eternal death not physical death)"
How do you know or anyone else for that matter that this is what was meant. It's certanly not clear from the text that this is what was meant, and it's very easy to misunderstand it if that is what was meant and very bad written. However I think I agree with the guy who wrote this, if you look at the context then it was the old testement i.e. before Jesus offered everyone eternal life so i'm guessing "he will be put to death" means exactly what it says someone must kill him. Also i'm guessing your a Protestant if you read a Caytholic bible then the 5th commandment is don't kill
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