What Made It Okay for God to Kill Women and Children In the Old Testament?

Why was it right for God to slaughter women and children in the Old Testament? How can that ever be right?

[paulmsandbergable]

This is a classic logical fallacy that dates back to Aristotle called "petitio principii, " known in English as "begging the question" (a phrase most people use incorrectly). It's where the premise of an argument presupposes the truth of the conclusion rather than supporting it---in this case, that it's morally just for God to command the slaughter of women and children because everything God does is morally just. It's like a book that says giraffes can fly, and when someone challenges it, you point out that the title of the book is "Everything In This Book Is True." It's logically incoherent.

[borrusimob]

I haven't watched the full video yet. I just paused it after the guy responds to the question "Why does God kill children?"
His answer is that God can do what he wants and owes us nothing. But that wasn't the question....The question was WHY?
Ok now I'll watch the rest

[motherofangels]

I have lost 3 of my children, they perished by no fault of their own. The despair left me angry and lost for many years. Then one day I encountered a homeless man, he was very tall with grey almost white hair & beard and his skin had been hardened by the sun. He approached me & asked if he had heard right if in fact I had just lost my 3 child. I nodded yes. He said to me : Many years ago when I was a young man, I awoke to thick smoke billowing all around me. It was so thick I couldn't breath and could barely find my way outside. As I lay on my lawn gasping for air I heard "Daddy Daddy" being cried out. In my confusion I realized my child was still inside. By this time flames were 15 feet high and all the windows had been blown out. I scrambled to my feet and took off to save my boy but a force knocked me down. I fought it then another force jolted me and another, It was neighbors piling on top of me preventing me from returning to the inferno. I screamed and fought I had to save my boy but they would not get off of me. It took 8 or more men to hold me back. By the time the fire crew arrived there was nothing left of my home and my 2 yr old son had perished. I lost myself that day, I walked away from any and everything I ever knew. I spent the next 35 years on the streets drunk and miserable. I just wanted to die and be with my son, I was freezing one night and on my knees I cried out to God to just take me already and end my suffering. A great sense of calmness came over me which I had not felt in those 35 years, and Jesus spoke to me loud and clear like a speaker in my head and said my son did not parish to punish me and God does not do bad things to people however he does allow bad things to happen and if I were a great force wanting to destroy my enemy (people with good hearts that do their best to be good to others) would I not go after those I felt threatened by the most? What good would it be if I simply went after those that already had darkened their hearts as they would no longer be a threat.
Then Jesus reminded me that this life is only temporary, a drop in the bucket compared to what awaits and my son will be there waiting for me. It was not my time to join him yet as I had work to do still.
And I felt the intense all consuming our creator has for his children. Then with a jolt sort of woke up. I never touched a drop of liquor since. I walk in color now and go where God takes me.
The man let me hug him and I bawling by now got in my car and wept for a long time. His story touched my heart and soul and helped me crawl out of the abyss I was lost in. I asked later to the manager and clerk that were there the day he told me his story and nobody could recall ever seeing him, which would be practically impossible considering he was well over 6' 6" with white long hair and well worn jeans and my sobbing had not exactly been quiet. Never saw him again either but I'll never forget him or his message.

[henrikasteberg]

On one hand I respect Johns perspective as he reads and believes what the text actually says and views it as true and justified by God. Many christians will simply never consider these texts in the Bible and see the theological difficulties with them. On the other hand I find the explanations he gives horrifying.

[empathicqubit]

One problem I still have after thinking about this is, sure, I can accept that God has the right to take life whenever he pleases since he granted it, but why would he directly command a group of people or a single individual to do so in an imperfect world, rather than just stopping their hearts or using a natural disaster? Taking someone's life can cause permanent changes to a person's psychology, and many describe as a line you cross that you can never go back from, even when they believe that they their decision to kill was justified or in self-defense.

[elgriego]

I think the real question should be. " Why did God spare us?"

[cottontop]

Jesus says "Love your enemy, do good to those who have wronged you, do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Now tell us how this fits into the slaughter of women and children.

[FilmPro]

Another poor human twisted by the evil of religion. Learn about these people, kids, so that you can protect your own children in the future from this poison.

[christiandeguido]

brace yourselves, all the unbelievers are bible experts on youtube

[danskyder]

If according to Piper every murder in history was right and good, then we shouldn’t view any death as a tragedy, correct?

[kanjo]

I don’t want to be apart of a world where a 7 yr old can get blown up and sent to hell cause he didn’t repent fast enough. I don’t want to be apart of a world where I owe god everything and he owes us nothing but death. Saying someone is good and just doesn’t make it so.

[justinstudebaker]

So... essentially God can just say "I brought you into this world and I can take you back out of it!!"

[saidhaneshbodapati]

So, he is stating that God does not even have the morality of a 7 year old.

[pilgrimpiper]

As much as I respect Pastor John Piper I have to disagree with the specific point about capital punishment (i.e., the death penalty as currently enacted in the US). 1) It negates the possibility of redemption (some murderers have subsequently found Christ) 2) There is the possibility of the miscarriage of justice, i.e., people wrongly sentenced to execution. There are many innocent people who would now be dead if they had been in a country which had the death penalty. Any system which has that as a possibility must be wrong.

[LRM]

Just finished reading Exodus 22 and here I am lol. I love reading the Bible but there’s so much, especially in the Old Testament, that I just can’t wrap my head around. He says not to murder, then 2 pages later he wants everyone’s firstborn. Is there a difference between murder and sacrifice? Imagine a woman spending 6 days with a beautiful newborn baby and then on the 7th, the baby is headless or being burned alive.

[freakymoviedude]

So when doctors kickstart somebody's heart with a defibrillator, that's really just God saying: "Nah, I've changed my plan. You still get to live"... or is it God saying: "It was my plan all along to have you almost die. Remember, I love you"?

[rodrigogonzalez-bishop]

I’m Christian and this answer is not helpful to unbelievers.
“I can make this question harder”
*eye roll*

[sbnwnc]

What you have learned to trust is a story that you have been told and you grew up with it so it seems true to you. I grew up with the same story.

But all you have to do is imagine yourself not believing it and then ask yourself, "how would I convince myself that it's true, " and you'll see that you probably can't.

I definitely respect Christianity, and if you have faith in it, that's great. I just don't think that it's rationally justifiable.

[sunnyl]

So God can kill, and he can even command ME to kill, but I should be put to death for the taking of a life????... Yet Gods commandments says "thou shall not kill" ???... I've been really hurting and confused about God, and if he really loves me and my family, that's how I got here. This has made me more confused than ever.

[janearye]

God doesn't murder people,  Man does using god as his excuse.