Hmmmm....where to begin? :)
Submitted by Triple Q on July 14 1999 at 20:40:24
In reply to Splendid! Capital! Submitted by F.O.D. on July 13 1999 at 15:07:25
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OK, theology. I find it contradictory that you do support captial punishment, but oppose God making use of it. The thing about the Canaanites, they were accepting the fair consequences for their treason against God. That's all "sin" and "wickedness" is - treason. For which the penalty is "off with his head". Why do you call it murder? Is it murder when a firing squad puts a criminal to death? How is captial punishment undertaken? Lethal injection, electric chair, fire from heaven, slaying by the hands of the Israelites. It's all the same to the one being put to death. Actually, despite my stance on capital punishment, I would be hard-pressed to find anything contradictory about my position. You say sin and wickedness is treason. Okay, I'll accept that. And the punishment for treason was death in those days. Okay, no contest. But I ask you, how does a cow or a goat commit this treason? Or a baby, a 3-year-old, a 6-year-old? [I know somewhere along the line you are going to bring up the "sins of the father" argument so I'll squish it now. :) ] Remember, the initial sin began 400 years before. This would mean that at least four (if not more) generations have come and gone. It is entirely possible that the people who existed there at the time that the Jews came through had no real knowledge of a God that their forefathers had abandoned. In order for them to be rejecting God (committing treason) they would have had to have some knowledge of the God that they were supposedly rejecting, wouldn't they? [Insert "sins of the father" argument here. :) ] Well, if that's your answer...*chuckle*...I don't believe in the "sins of the father" argument. My great-great-great grandfather was a slaveowner in the old south (not really, it's just for effect), does that mean that the blacks of today have the right to raise up and do whatever they want to me? Is it unfair that only the Canaanites got done in, while other nations got off scott free? But other nations too meet their judgement. Babylon is no more. Egypt has passed away. Rome has fallen. And today we still await the final judgement of all people. Wrong arguments here. None of these places were wiped out by the Jewish nation because of the "righteous indignation" of God in one fell swoop. All the places you named died through decline, not extermination. Is it unfair that the whole nation got wiped out, without regard to the innocence of individuals? But that is a fallacy. When Jericho was taken, the prostitute Rahab shown her faithfulness, and was saved from the destruction. The individuals answer for their own actions, and have their own choice to make of whether or not to follow God. Well, let's just review this story. First, Rahab is a harlot, a liar, and she is committing treason against her own people. For this, God rewards her by saving not only her but her whole extended family as well...who, by the way, are also committing treason by not revealing Rahab's deceit. Now *scratching my head* isn't that exactly why God ordered the destruction of Jericho? Because they were sinners and, to use your words, committing treason. The moral of this story is that you can commit all the sins you want to as long as you say you believe in God...which, by the way, Rahab never once says she believes in God. She merely tells what she has heard that God has done and elicits a promise from the Jews she is hiding that their God will protect her and her family. Nothing more. Is it unfair that Israel left Canaan, to live 400 years in Egypt, bringing no light of God to that people? But again, people answer for their own actions. And it was not as if God were not known to them. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law from the desert of Sinai, was a priest of God. The nation of Edom was Israel's brother, Moab and Ammon were Abraham's relatives. You're placing too great an emphasis on isolated cases. Notice that Jethro lived in a desert with his family, isolated from the rest of the world. This only le ds me to believe even more that the "word of God" was removed from them and they had no reason to even know who God was. When Hitler rose to power, did all godly people have the right to take up arms against him. Triple Q, that is exactly what they did! You didn't read the whole paragraph. It continues "...and slay every man, woman, and child" not to mention goats, cows, and chickens. Did the righteous have the authority of God to exterminate the German nation merely because Hitler was insane? No? Then why did they have it then? |