WishboneDawn

The year before I joined my bible course one of the participants in the course had finished a chapter on Abraham. He was a Roman Catholic and had never really read the bible. His conclusion when he came into class was that, "That Abraham was a right sorry bastard."

Can't fault his conclusion myself.

JPD

So....quite marvellous in the eyes of the Lord then.

gregor

Any comment that includes this phrase can be ignored (unless you want to accept the idea that two scraps of papyrus were retained for 1,000 years).

Historians try to determine how the OT came into being - read Finkelstein's Who Wrote the Bible. The faithful accept fairy tales that Moses wrote the stories.

Doug Shaver

Considering that his wife encouraged him to do it, I think it was an excellent precedent.

mickw

Plus the fact that the whole exercise is pointless, as is the story of Job.

If Yahweh is omniscient, then He knows full well what Abraham's and Job's thoughts are and what they will do.

There is therefore no need whatsoever for Yahweh's barbaric "tests".

4 billion

A 17-year-old woman has been taken into custody for the crime of being pregnant but not married. During a night-time raid, Queensland police officers removed the woman from the home she shared with her partner and placed her in a prison holding cell. She was then transferred to the Holy Cross Catholic girl's home, to work without pay in the laundry until she gives birth. It is expected that a married couple will adopt the baby.

IF THIS appeared in today's Age the reaction would be one of shock and disbelief. Surely the officers should be charged with kidnapping, the Catholic institution investigated for slavery and the woman counselled and compensated.

But when it happened to Lily Arthur in 1967, Australia was a very different place. Single mothers were at the mercy of a postwar system that supported the illegal removal of illegitimate children from their mothers. The practice claimed the babies of more than 150,000 women.

I feel the acceptance of the abuse carried out by Abraham, made it possible for such horrors as stealing children from single mother's.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--ra...278147632.html

christian scum

4 billion

To add a more personal dimension to the tendency of Christians to child abuse, I was taken away from my parents at age 12, and sent to a Christian school. I left this hell hole when I was 17. As this experience left me a suicidal nut bag for a certain period of my life, I have had a vested interest in determining why this occured. I have come to the conclusion that a child should not be sent away from it's parents before the age of 16-18, hardly surprising. The Christians think it is ok for a child of age 12 to leave home, a perverted concept indeed.

rhutchin

Why on earth were you taken away from your parents? What was the rationale the police used to justify that?

4 billion

I wasn't taken forcibly, I am saying 'taken' in the sense my parents, due to their Christian ethics and morals, thought that sending me away was a good thing. They suppressed their natural parental urges under direction of the Church. The irony is that they paid money to the Church to do this.

douglas

4 billion,

If you don't mind me asking, what church were you a member of?

In your OP, you suggested that the story of Abraham was precendent for God allowing child abuse. Did your parent's see a connection between this story and their decision to send you away?

On a personal note, I was a real prick to my parents when I was 12 and I'm sure they had thoughts of sending me away. I guess I'm just lucky they didn't have the money to do it.