Why, in the bible, did "god" kill far more people than he forgave?

Question

He annihilated, or ordered annihilated, city after city.

He killed, by drowning, the ENTIRE human population, save eight.

These death totals are, by far, more than the number of people that he forgave for their mistakes. I thought he was a loving "god." Most rational people don't think that killing someone is the way to show that you love him.

Answer 1

The is the nature of the christian "god" that these people worship.

Fireball:  Thats exactly the point.  Your "god" says: believe or I will kill you.   You are the poster child for this kind of christian "thought."

Answer 2

Oppressed peoples, such as the Jews have been in many cases, frequently take comfort in the idea that the people oppressing them are all going to "Get Theirs" someday.  A vengeful and punishing Supreme Being who will set things right someday would have great appeal, as you can see from many of the answers on this forum.  It must be remembered that, Historically, as soon as the Jews or Christians were in a position to oppress others they did it, and forced their own slaves to embrace their religion so that they, the slaves, wouldn't rebel and would await their own salvation, giving their Masters no trouble.

Answer 3

because they were democrats

Answer 4

Makes you wonder doesn't it.  Human kill humans, humans judge and punish each other also.  We humans have done some barbaric acts and putting it off on a god or a devil is far more easier than admitting that we are murderers.  But some good Christian will give you a quote from the bible to justify this also.  

Answer 5

Why would a god who supposedly created everything and everyone make one group better than all of the others and call them his/her/its "chosen people"?

Did god deliberately make some that he/she/it knew well ahead of time he/she/it was not going to like?  What was the point of that unless it was for the fun of frying them later in eternal h**l fire?

Is god also supposed to be all loving, the most merciful, most kind...?  Doesn't sound too loving, kind, just to this one....

Let us not forget that after having drowned ever body except some members of one family he told them to get busy and make more people (as in "vice is nice but incest is best"?).

Suddenly, what Jews, Christians and Muslims have been doing to one another for thousands of years (as well as to others) begins to fit into a pattern ...

Be well and be wise.

Answer 6

he killed non believers who were too stubborn to believe

Answer 7

Killing is a negatively perceived form of forgiveness(sharing) from an uncertain mortal human perspective.  But we are dying slow deaths every day that we don't recognize happening to us.  All of us die, so far.  Face it, The Real Holy Grail of human religious worship, Eternal Quality Mortal Life, has not been achieved so far that I know!  You?

Life does not always seem FAIR!

Hi!  I am a Forgive Affirmed Spirit and this is what I profess and try to act like.

Forgive Affirmed Spirit is the belief in a way of life that is a method of grief resolution and functional communication processing involving active listenning, sympathy, empathy and affirmation of shock, denial, anger, guilt, depression, loneliness and hope...a kind of ego-equilibrium seeking methodology.

A Greater Works of communication and action, a way to learn to love your enemies "Advocating mortal life, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you AS IF YOU WERE THEM!"  



And nobody is perfect!  NOBODY!  We are all judgeable, hopefully in a graceful discerning way!   We are all doing our best every moment!

Humans judge everything  as we are a part of it.  Without difference, we have nothing to live for, nothing to witness.  Sin is difference, the relative seriousness with regards to law and survival of other beings, is punishable by the courts. The best way to judge is with as much graceful discernment as one can muster in a given moment!

Life is the question(uncertainty) asked by the exhaling infinitely compacted imagination invention, or no thing, which is completely certain of everything, completely omniscient or all knowing.

When I die, I believe I will be in a new state, aware of all that is and yet divided into the nature of dust that I am in, whereupon my dust shall fall.  My being will remain an infinite part of an infinite being and infinite knowledge without my material human being status of now. So there will be a change.



But my soul, my passions and discompassions, will move on to infinite places of comfort and challenge.  Able to return to this state of uncertainty and free choice illusion for another ride when it is called effectively to do so.

So that the children of God, the creations of God, .. are actually part in parcel of that God or Creation Energy!

This  life is a roller coaster ride. Enjoy your passion within it and whatever gathering of two or more in Forgive Affirmed Spirit to make it better can garner.

Healing be unto you and yours and me and mine in

Forgive Affirmed Spirit

Answer 8

Read your bible thorougly--look for all the people killed by your "loving" god--then tote up the people killed by the "evil" lucifer.  Which one is the murderous psychotpath?

Answer 9

That God who is so just can forgive someone like me is LOVE!

Paul wrestles with a similar question in Romans 9.

Answer 10

I believe that it's becuase people were being evil and non believing.

Answer 11

dystheism (Greek "ungodly"), the belief that a god is not wholly good, and is possibly evil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystheism

Answer 12

Those people were killing each other.The sons of God mated with the daughters of men creating very evil wicked giants.Sleeping with and raping men and boys.The bible says it was so wicked.The cries from the city could be heard by God.What do you think they were just walking along picking flowers and drinking martinis.Read the circumstances.The bible will tell you why.We do not judge as God does and we do not have the power.He is a just god.

Answer 13

Do you think mortal death is worse that can happen?

Mortal death comes to all.  However, we are immortal beings. We carry the characteristics of our creator who too is immortal.  

A worse death would be a spiritual death.  That death prohibits man from returning to his Father in heaven.  

If by the means of a mortal death, spiritual death is abated, wherein is the cruelty of God found?

Answer 14

God didn't kill them; people did, in the name of God.  Kind of like W. Bush and his crowd, today.

Poor God gets blamed for the actions of people who don't have a clue about him, but who use his name for their nefarious purposes.

.

Answer 15

because god is love...blah blah blah

Answer 16

There are a number of assumptions in your question that affect how you or your readers respond.

Assumption 1 - God eternally punished those he killed.

Assumption 2 - Death is worse than living in sin.

Assumption 3 - God, the giver of life, is incapable of knowing if and when death is best for His creation.

A1 - The innocent who were killed in the flood (children, mentally challenged, women forced by dominant male society, etc.) may very well have their place in eternal bliss.  Some who were dying could have realized at the last moment the gravity of their choices and turned to God just before death and therefore be in eternal bliss.

A2 - What life of misery might their chosen life of anti-godliness have created for them.  Could a loving compassionate God take them out of their misery?

A3 - In cleansing the world in the OT instances of instant death, God established the justice pattern of "the soul that sins, he shall die," a.k.a. "The wages of sin is death,"  In Christ those who trusted (trust) God will be and are forgiven.  Some of those deaths include those who will receive mercy.  Many of the destroyed cities and countries paved the way for Jesus whose death as the Christ would provide forgiveness for those who by nature tried to follow God.  This would include the Gentile nations who before Christ lived under the guidance of a patriarchal type system.

Answer 17

Because the bible god acted like a psychopath

Answer 18

The men who made up the idea of the bible and God were barbaric, primitive men.

Answer 19

Like a vicious child in charge of a helpless ant farm. When will humanity outgrow its vicious tribal origins.

Answer 20

Hey, Joseph,

Do you have a list of those that God forgave to compare with those He annihilated? Where are your figures?

Several of these cities annihilated, archeology has found that the inhabitants were greatly diseased and practiced child sacrificing.

The earth is God's garden.  He established moral laws and boundaries for its inhabitants. To show love to those producing good fruit, He must weed out those who know no boundaries and ignore moral law.  He loved them all by giving them the same opportunity.

And WHO do you think you are to judge the MASTER of the UNIVERSE?

.  

Answer 21

There's varying reasons for each instance that God destroyed people.  Each time that he did so, it was not without reason.  In the days of the flood angels had come down from heaven and had intercourse with humans resulting in superhuman hybrids called Nephilim.  After Noah preached to the people of the time, and none of them heeded his warning God allowed them all the be swept away in the flood, as it was necessary to destroy the unnatural Nephilim and the wicked people of the time.

(Genesis 6:4) 4 The Neph′i·lim proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the [true] God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.

(Matthew 24:37-39) For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; 39 and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.

Also, take for example Sodom and Gomorrah.  God sent angels to the city and after they determined that Lot and his family were the only righteous ones there he destroyed the city and the evil ones in it.

On the other side of the coin.  Ninevah was also filled with evil people.  God sent Jonah to preach to them and warned them that God would destroy them because of their conduct.  After they repented and changed their sinful course God decided not to destroy them and allowed them to live.

God really does love his people, but sometimes it is necessary to remove the wicked for the protection of the righteous.  Even in instances when a righteous one is allowed to perish, God is able to and wants to resurrect them into his New Order.

Answer 22

Because very few are willing to submit to God´s will, whereas on the other side, sin is popular and likable to the majority; perhaps that is why Jesus said, Many are called, but few are chosen.

(Matthew.22:14)

Answer 23

Where are you getting your numbers regarding how many he has forgiven? Are you a god that can produce the numbers? I seriously doubt that.

Stop trying to find one liners to justify your disbelief.