Julian

Well, the law does command killing (witches, homosexuals, unruly children, etc...) and Jesus does say that the law shall be upheld. I think that is clear enough.

Julian

Johann_Kaspar

In the literature obviously Jesus gave the order to kill to fulfill his aim. Too bad for him he was caught and executed.

Stange that some people discuss that literature as if it was not edited several times over a lengthy period of time with a lot of additions/deletions...

Avatar

Somebody better tell a lot of Christians that notion...

godhatesfags.com
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rt_overv.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/cr_ident.htm
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/FBI_006.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/int_hate.htm
http://www.wayoflife.org/
http://www.teenwitch.com/ESSAYS/FORTHOOD.HTM
http://www.religioustolerance.org/genocide4.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_viol.htm
http://www.armyofgod.com/

Javaman

Perhaps I should have been clearer. That God commanded his followers to kill is indisputable. What makes the OP a bit more difficult is the word 'Christians'. If the question is, "Do modern Christians think the Bible commands them to kill?", the answer is very much arguable. Most do not - though I think that is because they follow what Paul claimed Jesus' message was and not what the Gospels claim Jesus said (as was alluded to by Julian).

John A. Broussard

Thank you for clarifying this biblical passage. If I understand you correctly, god ordered this killing to see if Abraham would carry out the order--which god knew beforehand that he would.

However, god has now changed his mind, and will never again ask anyone to kill anyone else as a test.

Your answer is appreciated.

trendkill

It's only gramattically a command, though. In substance, parables are analogies. The grammatical construction can't be brought over so selectively. The substance of the passage is "punishment by an authority figure". That's it. If it said the nobleman wore a crown while he punished his citizens, that would not necessarily mean that God is going to wear a crown when he punishes unbelievers. That would be an incidental detail. It wouldn't translate over from the analogy. The same is true of the command to the nobleman's subordinates. The nobleman's command structure here is part of the "human nobleman" motif. It does not apply to God.

Diogenes the Cynic

The tagline of these parables is always intended to represent a statement by God (or Jesus) to the audience. In this case, the statement is "kill my enemies." You can't jettison that statement - and the specific imperative form of that statement - just because you don't like it.

Hey, Jesus is supposed to have said a lot of crazy things. he also said to hate your mother and father. Why should we be surprised or expect moral consistency? Sometimes he makes sense, sometimes he raves.

sMacK

Jesus on the other hand did not kill and did not advocate killing under any circumstances. But that is not to say that there are not bad and indecent Christians in the world.

trendkill

If this is really your position, then you are indeed going to have to argue that the parable of the talents in Matt. 25 contains a command to Christians to throw unbelievers into "outer darkness" and have them "weeping and gnashing" their teeth.

Of course, I do no such thing. I explained in detail why my interpretation of the passage is correct. None of those reasons have been "because I don't like it". No violent interpretation of the passage that makes any sense has been offered. If one had been, I would concede. I have no particular interest in propounding the idea that Jesus's teachings were entirely nonviolent. It would actually come in handy for me in certain arguments if you were right, here. My one and only problem is that you aren't right.

It's not just moral consistency that's lacking here. It's any kind of consistency. You're positing some sort of Tourette's syndrome Jesus now, one who just suddenly blurts out random things. No Christian could possibly agree with this interpretation. They have elaborate explanations for the "hate your mother and father" verse; one may find those explanations disingenuous, but the fact remains that they feel the need to make some kind of sense out of their religious texts. I've never heard anyone praise Jesus's words for being ridiculous and nonsensical.

Johann_Kaspar

Wrong. You are mistaken. "He" advocated killing.