Bible is a perfect guide to morality

Consider; devout Muslims have the same reasons for being Muslim as Christians have for being Christian. And yet Christians do not find their reasons compelling. The Koran repeatedly declares that it is the perfect word of the creator of the universe. Muslims believe this as fully as Christians believe the Bible’s account of itself.  There is much literature describing the life of Muhammad that, from the point of view of Islam, proves that he was the most recent Prophet of God. Muhammad also assured his followers that Jesus was not divine and that anyone who believes otherwise will spend eternity in hell. Muslims are certain that Muhammad’s opinion on this subject, as on others, is infallible.

 

Why don’t Christians lose any sleep over whether to convert to Islam? Can Christians prove that Allah is not the one, true God? Can Christians prove that the archangel Gabriel did not visit Muhammad in his cave? Of course not. But Christians do not need to prove any of these things to reject the beliefs of Muslims as absurd. The burden is on them to prove that their beliefs about God and Muhammad are valid. They have not done this. They cannot do this. Muslims are simply not making claims about reality that can be corroborated. This is perfectly apparent to anyone who had not anesthetized himself with the dogma of Islam.

 

The truth is Christians know exactly what it is like to be an atheist with respect to the beliefs of Muslims. Isn’t it obvious that Muslims are fooling themselves? Isn’t it obvious that anyone who thinks the Koran is the perfect word of the creator of the universe had not read the book critically? Isn’t it obvious that the doctrine of Islam represents a near-perfect barrier to honest inquiry? Yes, these things are obvious. Understand that the way you view Islam is precisely the way devout Muslims view Christianity. And it is the way atheists view all religions.

 

Christians believe that Christianity is an unrivaled source of human goodness.  Christians believe that Jesus taught the virtues of love, compassion, and selflessness better than any teacher who had ever lived. Christians believe that the Bible is the most profound book ever written and that its contents have stood the test of time so well that it must have been divinely inspired. Could it be these beliefs are false?

 

Questions of morality are questions about happiness and suffering. This is why we do not have moral obligations toward rocks. To the degree that our actions can affect the experience of other creatures positively or negatively, questions or morality apply. Some people consider the idea that the Bible is a perfect guide to morality is astounding, given the contents of the book. God’s counsel to parents is straightforward: whenever children get out of line, we should beat them with a rod

 

Proverbs 13:24, Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

 

Proverbs 20:30 Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

 

Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold discipline from a child;  if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death.

 

 

If they talk aback to us, we should kill them

 

Exodus 21:15 Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.

 

Leviticus 20:9 Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.

 

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

 

Mark 7:9-13 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

 

Matthew 15:4-7. For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

 

We must also stone people to death for heresy, adultery, homosexuality, working on the Sabbath, worshipping graven images, practicing sorcery, and a variety of other crimes.

 

Deuteronomy 13:6, 8-15

6If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, … do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

 

If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.