Biblical Horror Story

[xBleedToLivex]

One of the most grisly tales that I ever read comes from the Judges 11.

30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

32So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

36And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

39And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man.



And the worst part is; this man is heralded by The Apostle Paul as a man of great faith for this action in Hebrews 11.

How much sicker can this be?

[SharonBell]

And that's where the expression: "Disaster of BIBLICAL proportions" came from. Nightmares and horror stories! 

[JoyceCarter]

There are plenty of them.  I always liked the tale of Jael the wife of Heber the Kennite.

[JoyceCarter]

Here, BTL, are you ringing the changes of religions?  Get us considering Satanism on another thread, and reading the bible on this one? 

[SharonBell]

Oh, no, next we'll be discussing POLITICS! 

[Neuromancer]

Actually I think there is a far worse tale in Job when the angels came to visit him, and the sodomites wanted some of that angel booty...

Gross.

Still genocide is a grisly tale in and of itself (the children of.. refers to a race of people not literally children)

[Ed]

I can never understand how the old and the new testament can be reconciled.  The old is full of sacrifice, God is vengeful and the law is an eye for an eye, etc.  Then the new comes along and suddenly God is a loving God, and we're told to forgive those that tresspass against us, turn the other cheek, and all that   What, did somebody make a mistake on the first draft?  It just doesn't seem to make sense. (not that I've studied the bibles to any extent - other than being forced to as a child)

Another thing that always baffles me, is that we're told, in life, to abstain from all these various sins - the flesh is weak, and all that.  But your reward for being pious and abstaining, is eternity in a place full of do-gooders, where you can't do any of the things you were abstaining from in the first place   WTF's that about?  And why is it that all the sinful things feel good, and all the 'good' things feel bad?  Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[Neuromancer]

Lots of religions believe selfsacrifice is the ket to attaining enlightenment.  I kinda agree withthe Latter Day Saints (mormons)  about one thing

The avoid things like coffee and tea because of chemicals that are in it (Tannic Acid, not caffienne go figure)

Anyway since I have almost removed coffee and cigarettes from my daily living, I feel 100% better!

Crazy

Oh and as for the turnabout between old testament and new testament?

The old testament is pre-christ, and is still accepted by other religions as a religious document.  The new testament is the playground of the christians alone or something like that

[SharonBell]

Well, in light of what we "know" about those times, these were the Grimm's Fairy Tales of stories to keep barbaric peoples on the "straight and narrow." Recall the story of Ruth, anyone? Not only was she the most famous convert, but she was also,  at one time allegedly a High Priestess or Priestess of a religion that believed in sacrificing children to their gods so they could get what they wanted. 

Also,  they are word of mouth and man's word written down from oral historians. And we all know how things get garbled that way, just from playing the game of gossip!

The major bone I have to pick with self-righteous, pious fundamentalists is their absurd insistence that if it's in the Bible, then it really happened and it's ALL true.    That's insane. These are allegories and cautionary tales to scare the shit out of unruly people who were pretty naughty when they weren't ruled with an iron fist. 

And thus endeth Sharon's sermon.

[JoyceCarter]

That's the way I see it, too, Sharon.

Unless one subscribes to one of the religions that uses it, I don't see taking either part of the bible as gospel - ha ha.  However, it is a compendium of fantastic tales.  Stuck for writing ideas?  Open at random, adapt a little, and off you go!  And I love the language of the King James version.

[Ed]

Me too

[Walker]

The major bone I have to pick with self-righteous, pious fundamentalists is their absurd insistence that if it's in the Bible, then it really happened and it's ALL true.    That's insane. These are allegories and cautionary tales to scare the shit out of unruly people who were pretty naughty when they weren't ruled with an iron fist. 

Me too. I was raised by ardent 'christians' and while I respect their right to have beliefs and to persue them, I don't like being shut down when I ask questions. I was encouraged to ask sanitized, hollow questions when I was young, the kind that had a quick, easy answer. Anything challenging or contradictory was met with harsh criticism and a warning of hell...always. Eventually, their lack of tolerance, and fear of exploring the 'truth', earned them the name 'zealot' and earned me a one way ticket out of the church.

I've never returned, but I kind of look at religion like sports now-- you can still enjoy it without being on a team and showing up at the stadium every sunday with a set of pom-poms.

[Neuromancer]

I've never returned, but I kind of look at religion like sports now-- you can still enjoy it without being on a team and showing up at the stadium every sunday with a set of pom-poms.

 

well put!

[Ed]

Heheh   Yup - well put.  It sums up my take on the whole thing as well.  Maybe as I get older I'll find religion, but I'm not looking right now