The Bible contains a lot of murder and rape.?

Question

Whether the stories are true or not, should we really use this book as a moral guide for children?

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

Let the children discover it for themselves. They either do or they don't, hopefully the way it all plays out will work to their advantage.

Answer 3

Excuse me, but the purpose of the Bible is to show the depravity of man when they reject God. Perhaps you want butterflies, flowers, and chocolate for truth? "All is love and love is all and la la la la laaaa".

Hollywood depicts things that are far worse. Why would I expose my kids to such rot and filth? I don't. Rather, I take them to movies that they will enjoy and learn from (such as all Pixar films). When they are older and more mature, they will know about the evil out there.

Answer 4

Please support the claim of a lot of rape.

Answer 5

How is that any different from the 5 o'clock news?

Answer 6

Murder and rape are a part of this world whether we find it revolting or not. The point of telling the story is to teach children the moral of the story of why it is wrong.

Just an after thought..It is NOT necessary though to discuss these matters with children who are too young to understand the violent nature of these acts. Teaching children takes years..Start small..Like they are.

Answer 7

Would you prefer to have a holy book that is written specifically for children? Bad things have happened. They needed to be reported on. Lot was in Sodom. Angels came to warn him to leave. Sodom hesitated and they had to remove him by force. But during their overnight stay the towns men came and told Lot to send them out because they wanted to KNOW them. That was a polite waying saying to have s*x with them.

  Do you think that sodomy should be discussed with youngsters? Of course not. But it's there along with other scriptures to teach adults that it is a sin. Sodomy and specifically homosexuality are sins.

There are many bad things that have apeared in God's Word but they are there for a reason. They are teaching aids. They are used as a guidebook as to what is right and what is wrong.

Answer 8

So did my high school history book. What's your point?

Answer 9

You should not judge anything/person just by acts. Break through the superficial acts, try to grasp the motive behind that. History books contains lots of violence, but it just states the facts and is not encouraging those horrible acts. In Y!A there are so many categories, but i mostly interact in R&S, why because of my interest. In Bible there might be other things but we focus on murder and rape because our mind is biased. When mind is biased even with good person we will find lots of wrongs. If we get rid of this biased nature then we will see clearly, we will not hate the person but his acts and love his good deeds.

Answer 10

Yes we should use it as a moral guide. Those behaviors are condemned in the Bible.

BTW, everyday life contains a lot of murder and rape.

Answer 11

This is the worlds biggest book of fairy tales. It's jibberish from cover to cover. It's been around for thousands of years and people are still arguing about what it says. That alone ought to tell you something!

Answer 12

C'mon, use your brain and read the story for what it is.  There are moral lessons in every Bible story.  Those acts are condemned as evil.  Just because something happens in a Bible story does not mean it is ok.  Read it, notice how bad things happen to those who break God's law.  It totally makes obvious sense as a moral guide if you read beyond a single incident.  It doesn't have to spell it out.  Some people say the Bible promotes polygamy because so many "good guys" in the Bible had many wives.  But if you read on, you see the bad that comes from it.  The consequence of Abraham having both Sarah and Haggar is still obvious today, as the Jews and Palestinians are still  fighting.  Context is everything when looking at a book.  One sentence does not a book make.

Answer 13

So do history books, shall we burn them now?

Answer 14

No, no child should be exposed to a book that has such psychologically damaging concepts, as well as some truly sadistic, and masochistic attitudes, and then there's the violence.

Answer 15

The Old Testament is a bloodbath. It makes any horror movie seem tame in comparison.

The New Testament is fine as a moral guide, but the Old Testament including stories such as Noah's Ark, Cain and Abel etc are based on killing, death, and/or murder.

Answer 16

It is true life at it's worst and best.

Answer 17

Based on that logic we should ban all books and newspapers and shutdown all websites. God forbid someone get any news that evil does indeed exist.  

Answer 18

depends on the interpretation of the bible. i understand what you say but you gotta only take out the good moral input and teach it to the children. then as they get older show them the other stuff.

Answer 19

Understand the Context of who, what were How and why these things happened,

Stereotypes, fiction though they are, sometimes have one foot in reality, That is why many people believe them. Stereotypes arise from headlines that, to an extent, tell some of the story. But they fudge on the details. And in the final analysis, stereotypes fail to justly describe their subjects. Concerning the Old Testament, nowhere has this been more of a problem than in the stereotyping of God’s Judgment on the Canaanites.

Of Israel’s attacks on the northern part of Canaanite cities, the Bible states, “but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing. As the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so Moses Commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did” (Josh. 11:14.15).

God clearly commanded Israel to annihilate the Canaanites and that is exactly what Joshua did.

Headlines such as this have caused many people to question God’s basic justice. How can a holy, just, and loving God command such extreme violence? Indeed, many have thought of this issue as the Old Testament’s biggest Challenge to modern readers. Some have gone so far as to allege that there is no connection between the “God of the Old Testament” and the “God of the New Testament revealed in Jesus.”

However, this stereotype breaks down under examination.

The Bible gives reasons for the Canaanites’ destruction- and these reasons are in concert with the whole tenor of the Bible in Both Testaments.

The Primary reason for the Canaanites’ destruction was that they were guilty of gross sin. Abraham got a preview of this when God had promised him the land. God said Fulfillment of the promise would be delayed in part because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Gen. 15:16; the Amorites were the Canaanites). For many years, the Canaanites sins would not justify annihilation. But that time would arrive, and it did arrive by the time of Joshua.

What were the sins of the Canaanites? The gruesome list in Lev. 18 gives some of the details, including incest, adultery, child sacrifice homosexuality, and bestiality. Of course, every person has sinned in some fashion (Ps.143). On this level, the Canaanites only received what all peoples deserved; others were spared only by God’s grace. But Canaan was not a community of upstanding citizens. It was a thoroughly debased society, hostile to all God’s ways (Deut. 9:4, 5).To a lesser degree; God was merely protecting His people. God promised that He would curse anyone who cursed Israel (Gen.12:3). The Canaanites sought to destroy Israel on at least two occasions (Josh.9:1, 2; 11:1-5), and God would not allow that.

The stereotype also breaks down because it overlooks the highly localized nature of the judgment on Canaan. The Israelites did not have a license to kill. They had no right to do the same to whatever peoples they encountered, at any time or place. This destruction targeted the sinful Canaanites of that time only. As harsh as it may seem to us, the Canaanites brought God’s judgment on themselves by their own sin.

The New Testament states that one day, Jesus Christ will judge the wicked nations of the earth (Matt. 25:31-46).

God once judged all the wicked nations of the earth Gen.6-9), and the same God will one day again Judge everyone who has ever lived (2 Pet.3:10-13). The judgment against the Canaanites is merely on instance of His judgment on the wicked even as He extends forgiveness to others.

Answer 20

Personally christianity and what is presented in the bible disgusts me, that being said what would you suggest we use instead?

Answer 21

The world contains a lot of murder and rape. Maybe we should raise the children in a bubble in space.

Answer 22

Absolutely not.

Don't forget how it also condones misogyny, slavery, racism and homophobia.  

Answer 23

negative...it's not fit to wrap fish in.

Answer 24

And God still has unfathomable mercy

Answer 25

How true, how true.

Answer 26

yes it guides them on wrong actions

You can talk about rape and other subjects later on when they are older.