God Said, Abraham Give Me A Son

[_just me]

Standard exegesis on that story is that pre-Abrahamic religion involved ritual human sacrifice and one of the first things the God of the Old Testament did when he arrived on the scene was to ban the practice.

Yeah, except for when he commanded it and allowed it.

[_huckelberry]

Standard exegesis on that story is that pre-Abrahamic religion involved ritual human sacrifice and one of the first things the God of the Old Testament did when he arrived on the scene was to ban the practice.

Yeah, except for when he commanded it and allowed it.

,interesting, what times were your thinking of?

[_Samantabhadra]

Yeah, except for when he commanded it and allowed it.

When did he command it?

The point I am making is that the standard way of reading the Isaac story is as a ban on human sacrifice. Abraham thought it was necessary to sacrifice his son in order to please the Lord, but the Lord stepped in and said "no that's not how it works." You're reading the Bible like a literalist, which is fine I guess, except Biblical literalism is more or less bankrupt hermeneutics.

[Guest]

Johnny Winters version? Well it is not all bad but he is a bit rigid in the story delivery. The only time I have heard Bob in person was about 1992, years after he wrote and started singing this song. During that time he had gone through various religious revivals and reconsiderations. He still found it in himself to deliver an intense version of this song.

We'll set some bleachers
out in the sun
and have it all out
down highway sixty one.

[_just me]

Yeah, except for when he commanded it and allowed it.

When did he command it?

The point I am making is that the standard way of reading the Isaac story is as a ban on human sacrifice. Abraham thought it was necessary to sacrifice his son in order to please the Lord, but the Lord stepped in and said "no that's not how it works." You're reading the Bible like a literalist, which is fine I guess, except Biblical literalism is more or less bankrupt hermeneutics.

Well, here are some passages to mull over. Honestly, what bothers me most is that people have this idea that the Old Testament people were all "righteous" and so much "better" than their neighbors that they supposedly destroyed at the behest of their god. Well, I don't see that they were much, if at all, different. I wonder why god didn't arrive on each of these scenes...*shrug*

Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him. (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT, bold mine)

Geez, I'm not interested in C&Ping a bunch of passages. How 'bout I just give you a few more citations and you can look them up yourselves if you're so inclined.

1 Kings 13:1-2 (accomplished 2 Kings 23:20)
Leviticus 27:28-29 seems to acknowledge that people can sacrifice humans to the Lord
Joshua 7:13-15 read through to the end of the chapter (I find this incident particularly horrifying for some reason)

This one isn't exactly god commanded, but Jephthah seems to think the Lord would be pleased with a vow like this which would clearly implicate a human being to be sacrificed. Odd.
Judges 11:29-40

There are also people that were consecrated or tithed or given to the priests. I have no idea what the priests did with them...sacrifice, rape, enslave...no clue. So I will leave those out.

I won't even bother with all the non-ritualistic killing that was supposedly commanded. Not enough bandwidth and slightly off topic.

[_huckelberry]

I think there is validity in connecting war and human sacrifice. If that is so then it has not quite yet completely disappeared.

[_Shulem]

Yeah, except for when he commanded it and allowed it.

When did he command it?

The point I am making is that the standard way of reading the Isaac story is as a ban on human sacrifice. Abraham thought it was necessary to sacrifice his son in order to please the Lord, but the Lord stepped in and said "no that's not how it works." You're reading the Bible like a literalist, which is fine I guess, except Biblical literalism is more or less bankrupt hermeneutics.

Commit murder!!



Paul O

[_Shulem]

Abraham commits murder in the curse-of-Cain style!

"Abraham, Abraham, I command you to slay your son! Do it! Cut his throat and bleed him on my holy altar."



Paul O

[_Runtu]

I guarantee I would. And anyone else who made a similar suggestion.

You wouldn't if your last name were Lafferty.

[_Shulem]

Abraham is nuts. And if you stop and think about it the whole of the Bible is founded upon this principle: Blood, murder, and feeding Jehovah with offerings. The hungry god must be fed.



Paul O