Are god's ways mysterious?
If so, how can you be sure he would never command you to kill a child?
If you cannot be so sure God "would never" command you to kill a child, does it make sense to have a planned response at the ready in case you start thinking God is telling you to kill a child?
You cannot say that this would be inconsistent with New Covenant theology. So what? We also think the presence of an all-loving all-powerful god is inconsistent with the sad reality of child rape, as testified by many Christian parents who come close to, or actually do lose the faith when somebody rapes their child. But you are not impressed with such alleged inconsistency, you will still insist that despite what looks like a genuine contradiction, "maybe god has a higher mysterious reason for allow child rape".
If the contradiction between an omnimax god and the reality of child rape is not as conclusive as atheists would like it to be, then the contradiction between New Covenant theology and your God commanding you to kill a child, is not as conclusive as Christians would like it to be.
For this reason, the "god's mysterious ways" excuse is a two-edged sword...
In light of that reality, I'd like to know: If God told you to kill a child, and you concluded it was really the biblical god commanding this of you, would you kill said child, yes or no?
If you answer "yes", your answer is consistent with the bible: As a Christian, you highest authority is not worldly laws but God. But then you would appear in the eyes of most others as just another dangerous looney. You'd happily put your common sense and personal morality on a shelf if you seriously thought your god was telling you to kill a child. You certainly wouldn't want to hear your babysitter expressing such unquestioning obedience to her god. So in your desire to avoid giving the world a reason to lock you up, you might answer "no".
If you answer "no", then your Christian profession is false and makes you as bad as a catholic ("father, forgive me for what I am about to do...") since such answer indicates your planned disobedience to God, and planned disobedience is even worse than the choice to disobey made in the heat of the moment. Biblical faith is exemplified by Abraham. He did not question God upon first hearing God's command that he sacrifice Isaac, right? Do you have the biblical level of faith, yes or no? How did sinner Abraham manage it, if being a sinner is an excuse to be a disobedient follower?
Read the extensive list of horrors in Deuteronomy 28:15 ff God would bring against Israel should they disobey his voice.
Suppose, when you tell god "no", he threatens you with the destruction of your family? Would you obey god's command to kill a child if he tacked such a threat onto his command? Or will you resort to atheist-type reasoning and insist that the contradiction your imperfect mind perceives between theology and reality moots the question?
You cannot avoid the discussion because "god's mysterious ways" leaves open the possibility that God might indeed command you to do something that you think is inconsistent with a biblical or divine attribute, just like you expect atheists to think god's mysterious ways leaves open the possibility that god is all-powerful and all-loving despite its apparent contradiction with the reality of child rape, an alleged contradiction so apparently conclusive it has created the classic "problem of evil" today's apologists happily admit they cannot explain away.
When you hear about alleged Christians who kill kids, do you wonder for any length of time whether God really did tell them to kill the kids? Or do you automatically conclude, as most hearers of such news do, that anybody who invokes god to justify killing kids is a dangerously deluded fool?
What makes you so certain that killing children today in the name of god is a sign of mental illness, but killing children in the name of God for Israelites living under Moses was a sign of mature mental and spiritual health?
If so, how can you be sure he would never command you to kill a child?
If you cannot be so sure God "would never" command you to kill a child, does it make sense to have a planned response at the ready in case you start thinking God is telling you to kill a child?
You cannot say that this would be inconsistent with New Covenant theology. So what? We also think the presence of an all-loving all-powerful god is inconsistent with the sad reality of child rape, as testified by many Christian parents who come close to, or actually do lose the faith when somebody rapes their child. But you are not impressed with such alleged inconsistency, you will still insist that despite what looks like a genuine contradiction, "maybe god has a higher mysterious reason for allow child rape".
If the contradiction between an omnimax god and the reality of child rape is not as conclusive as atheists would like it to be, then the contradiction between New Covenant theology and your God commanding you to kill a child, is not as conclusive as Christians would like it to be.
For this reason, the "god's mysterious ways" excuse is a two-edged sword...
In light of that reality, I'd like to know: If God told you to kill a child, and you concluded it was really the biblical god commanding this of you, would you kill said child, yes or no?
If you answer "yes", your answer is consistent with the bible: As a Christian, you highest authority is not worldly laws but God. But then you would appear in the eyes of most others as just another dangerous looney. You'd happily put your common sense and personal morality on a shelf if you seriously thought your god was telling you to kill a child. You certainly wouldn't want to hear your babysitter expressing such unquestioning obedience to her god. So in your desire to avoid giving the world a reason to lock you up, you might answer "no".
If you answer "no", then your Christian profession is false and makes you as bad as a catholic ("father, forgive me for what I am about to do...") since such answer indicates your planned disobedience to God, and planned disobedience is even worse than the choice to disobey made in the heat of the moment. Biblical faith is exemplified by Abraham. He did not question God upon first hearing God's command that he sacrifice Isaac, right? Do you have the biblical level of faith, yes or no? How did sinner Abraham manage it, if being a sinner is an excuse to be a disobedient follower?
Read the extensive list of horrors in Deuteronomy 28:15 ff God would bring against Israel should they disobey his voice.
Suppose, when you tell god "no", he threatens you with the destruction of your family? Would you obey god's command to kill a child if he tacked such a threat onto his command? Or will you resort to atheist-type reasoning and insist that the contradiction your imperfect mind perceives between theology and reality moots the question?
You cannot avoid the discussion because "god's mysterious ways" leaves open the possibility that God might indeed command you to do something that you think is inconsistent with a biblical or divine attribute, just like you expect atheists to think god's mysterious ways leaves open the possibility that god is all-powerful and all-loving despite its apparent contradiction with the reality of child rape, an alleged contradiction so apparently conclusive it has created the classic "problem of evil" today's apologists happily admit they cannot explain away.
When you hear about alleged Christians who kill kids, do you wonder for any length of time whether God really did tell them to kill the kids? Or do you automatically conclude, as most hearers of such news do, that anybody who invokes god to justify killing kids is a dangerously deluded fool?
What makes you so certain that killing children today in the name of god is a sign of mental illness, but killing children in the name of God for Israelites living under Moses was a sign of mature mental and spiritual health?
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