Roach Clips

I know God has killed children and sinners, basically anyone who's crossed him, but I don't know if God has ordered people to kill to get into heaven. What does the Bible say about killing to get into heaven?






What about the Koran? What does it say about killing to get into heaven?

general_koffi

God ordered Abraham to kill Isaac. He changed His mind, but it proves that it is not immoral to follow an order of execution from God. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Codec

Well God was behind the Israelites genocide of the Canaanites. Given what he did to those who disobeyed him on the Exodus journey, and the praying that went on to make the conquest successful, I'd say he had a fairly big hand in it. I'm not too sure they had the same concept of heaven and hell at the time though.

Murder is against the 10 commandments of course, but it seems killing in a just cause isn't (define just how you like).

Acts has the story of husband and wife who drop dead when they tell a lie to the disciples, which is sort of portrayed as a good and just thing.

Protestants were encouraged to kill Catholics, or at least get them to recant during Henry VIII's time onwards, as Catholics were seen as some sort of spawn of the devil, and killing the devil would be a "good thing".

I'd go with the Isaac story though like general_koffi as the closest I can think of. God doesn't put in too many personal appearances after the first few chapters, until you come to the NT. He works more behind the scenes.

Berthold

Leviticus and Deuteronomy, lots of times (it may be debatable if in the OT there was a concept of "heaven").

Chris Porter

Don't think so. God just orders people to kill. I don't think he promises heaven to those that obey. Not directly, anyway.

Been a while since I've read it, but yes, I think there are some passages exhorting killing with a promise of reward for the effort.

"You must not think that those who were slain in the cause of Allah are dead. They are alive, and well-provided for by their Lord. - Surah 3:169-71"

"Let those fight in the cause of God who sell the life of this world for the hereafter. To him who fights in the cause of God, whether he is slain or victorious, soon we shall give him a great reward. - Surah 4:74"

mikem

No Berthold, there was no concept of Heaven in early Judaism. It was a later innovation from the intertestamental period and was introduced into Judaism as a result of Hellenistic influences, including (probably but not with certainty), Zoroastrianism. In Jesus time, of the three major religious groups, the Sadducees, who only accepted the authority of the Five Books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy), did not believe in the resurrection. Pharisees, Essenes, and of course JtheB, and Jesus (innovators all!) did.

The Old Testament speaks of SHEOL - "the place of the dead", about which very little can really be said really. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verses 5 and 10 speak of it in this way: "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, but the memory of them is lost"

v10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought, or knowledge or wisdom in SHEOL, to which you are going"

Pretty grim eh?

Although little store was set on personal immortality, what was important was the survival of the tribe. Provided one had offspring, one "survived" in that way, through one's children and grandchildren.

tonan22

Don't forget Jesus' murderlust: