Philo wrote:

Somtimes it [the Bible] has cultural setting e.g. The story of Abraham who believed he was challenged by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac on an altar to God. The fact is Abram lived in a pagan culture that sacrificed children to their gods and he himself was surrounded by this pagan culture within his own relatives. (In fact that culture remained in some areas till Christian missionaries came in the 6th century after Christ). Remember his search as he moved from polytheism as practised by his father, to conclude there was only one God, and God would provide a substutionary sacrifice to atone for their sins and he would not have to sacrifice his son.

Dear Philo,

Your comment sounds right. unfortunately as Jews moved away from the primitive ideas of God as having the character of a human and the notion of human sacrifice Christianity which started as a Jewish sect went backward. The sadistic God of the New Testament who sacrificed 'his only begotten son' was a throwback. There was no merciful angel to prevent the torment of Jesus. Christianity retreated from monotheism in creating a Trinity. The Trinity included a humanoid God like that of the Greek and Roman pantheon. Unlike the humanoid God of the Greeks and Romans Jesus is not pictured as having sexual desire but is a heavenly eunuch. This is contrary to Judaism which regards sex as a good thing that has been placed on earth for humans to enjoy. Sexual guilt, a humanoid deity and a retreat from pure monotheism are all part of the perversion of Judaism called Christianity.

Davidf I note that you are pushing the Judaism line quite a deal.

So, trying to be fair minded, is there anywhere online, where I can view the Bible you refer to in English to make a few comparisons?

If not please explain the differences in the Judaism's Bible or holy books from the Christian Bible in the following passages

Exodus 31:15, Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy22:20-21, Deuteronomy 22:28-29

Sorry to put you to all this work but I want to know if what you are saying stands the test of "a loving, caring God", and that your references don't allow discrimination against women and others in society.

TY in advance for your efforts.

Dear Opinonated2,

You cited (Exodus 31:15, Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy22:20-21, Deuteronomy 22:28-29). Death penalties for offenses that don’t merit the death penalty and marrying a woman one has raped and paying the father are all unreasonable.

Anglican Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote “Sins of Scripture”. On his website you can see:

RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY: "No one comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6);This text has helped to create a world where adherents of one religion feel compelled to kill adherents of another. A veritable renaissance of religious terror now confronts us and is making against us the claims we have long made against religious traditions different from our own.
ANTI-SEMITISM: And the people answered, 'His blood be on us and on our children'" (Matt. 27:25); No other verse of Holy Scripture has been responsible for so much violence and so much bloodshed. People convinced that these words conferred legitimacy and even holiness on their hostility have killed millions of Jewish people over history. Far more than Christians today seem to understand, to call the Bible "Word of God" in any sense is to legitimize this hatred reflected in its pages.
SEXISM: For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man." (1Cor. 8-9)The message of the Christian church was once that women are evil to their core and it was built on the story of Eve. She was taken out of man and was not his equal, but his helpmeet. Evil entered human history through the weakness of the woman. She was made to bear the blame and the guilt. She was the source of death.
HOMOPHOBIA: "...the men of Sodom...to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.'" (Lev. 18:22) This story that portrays all of the men of Sodom as eager to gang-rape two heavenly visitors has been used to condemn faithful and loving homosexual relationships. (continued)

(continued) A story in which a father, in order to protect the Middle Eastern code of hospitality, can offer his virgin daughters to be gang-raped, and still be regarded by both God and the author of this story as righteous, has been turned by the prejudices of later interpreters into an anti-homosexual text that feeds the basest side of our humanity. How is that possible unless prejudice overwhelms rationality and moral judgment?
The church has sought to portray Jesus as sharing an anti-female bias that includes a commitment to celibacy. But there is a repressed tradition that counters this teaching, in the story of Mary, the sister of Martha, anointing Jesus' feet (John 12:1-8). The only thing that would have made such an act acceptable in that day is the knowledge she was his wife.
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: "Do not withhold discipline from a child....If you beat him with a rod, you will save his life from Sheol" (Prov. 23:13, 14) It validates our own violence, since when we abuse others we are only acting after the example which God has set for us. God even required the crucifixion of the Son. The punishing God is thus replicated in the punishing parent, the punishing authority figure and the punishing nation. Violence is redemptive. War is justified. Bloodshed is the way of salvation. It all fits together so tightly, so neatly, and it justifies the most destructive and demeaning of human emotions.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGREDATION: "Be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth" (Gen. 1:28) We human beings are not some alien visitors who happen to be on the planet earth. Our human life is part of this planet. Heaven is not our home. The earth is. Once this supposed divine command was seen as necessary to enable the human race to survive. Now it must be seen as nothing less than a prescription for human genocide. If followed literally, this "Word of God" all but guarantees our annihilation.

I wanted to write this out rather than refer you to it. Since I have reached my limit I shall continue tomorrow.

Opinionated2,

Sorry if you have misunderstood what I have said, or perceived it as some sort of accusation. I'll try to clear things up here.

CHRISTIAN BAITING: If you have a look through the last few threads relating to religion, there are many posts which make unsubstantiated claims against Christianity. It's not helping anybody, but it just keeps going. I wasn't making an accusation against you; rather, I was observing the general climate of religion-related discussions.

OUT OF CONTEXT: If you re-read my post, you'll see that I'm not accusing anyone of taking things out of context, and certainly not in a malicious way. As it stands, almost every Biblical quote presented as evidence by Christians and non-Christians alike is out of context. When you present a single sentence from a broader text, without acknowledging or explaining the surrounding sentences, you are presenting it out of context. Is this a bad thing to do? Not always. I was just pointing out that I use the text as a whole, rather than breaking it into its smallest parts for analysis.

Now, I will once again go on the record and agree that there are many flaws in the current Bible. Does this mean that it is entirely fictional, made up by sneaky men? Not necessarily. It can still be the word of God, albeit distorted either deliberately or accidentally by man. Really, as a 21st Century Australian schoolteacher, I'm not in a position to make an assertion either way with any real authority. I will, however, note that there is much in there that is worthy of a good read.

TY for your reply Davidf, I appreciate that you provided the detail in your answers.

The sad fact though is that Judaism, Christianity & Islam have these unGodly laws apparently from God. Go figure. It appears that all believers seem happy to accept that their most intelligent being God, G-d & Allah couldn't get it right in the beginning and that the most intelligent ever to allegedly exist is portrayed by ancient writings as rather unintelligent.

RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY: I would have thought that all religious books from these 3 contain equal amounts of ugly bits creating hatred. Moses was not a model citizen! NUMBERS 31:13-19 I suspect Moses was a witch doctor who performed magic to get approval and power Exodus 4:2-5 then had all competitors killed Exodus 22:17 so to remain in power. Egyptian magicians did the same tricks Exodus 7:8-13

ANTI-SEMITISM - I would have thought that all religious books have created lots of reasons for idiots to kill one another. How many Muslims, Jews, Christians etc. have died - 1 is 1 too many!

SEXISM, HOMOPHOBIA, CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, ENVIRONMENT - No Abrahamic religion is innocent!

But most people miss the most telling of all the parables - "The Parable of the Gold Coins" Luke 19: 11-27 - What was Jesus saying here if they are his words? Jesus used parables to instruct people. Was this an instruction too ugly for thinking Christians to think about in detail?

Otokonoko, TY for your apology but it wasn't necessary - I agree generally with what you say. I try to show the passages that really aren't out of context. I may fail but I always try.

Once again I am not questioning peoples faith or spirituality. I am questioning their religious teachings, doctrines & their religions interpretations.

I need sleep so I will continue with more tomorrow...lol