This “God” Person Needs a Sensitivity Class
January 15th, 2010Put This in His Personnel File
Here’s a Bible lesson for people who think it’s wrong for a Christian to criticize another religion. It’s an excerpt from the first book of Kings.
So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw him, he said, “So there you are–the worst troublemaker in Israel!”
“I am not the troublemaker,” Elijah answered. “You are–you and your father. You are disobeying the LORD’s commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel.”
So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn’t say a word.
Then Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the LORD still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood–but don’t light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the LORD, and the god who answers by sending fire–he is God.”
The people shouted their approval.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal. “Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don’t set fire to the wood.”
They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted. “Answer us. Baal!” and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came.
At noon Elijah started making fun of them; “Pray louder! Hi is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he’s gone off on a trip! Or maybe he’s sleeping, and you’ve got to wake him up!” So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not sound was heard.
Then Elijah said to the people, “Come closer to me.” and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the LORD which had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the LORD had given the name Israel With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the LORD. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood.” They did so, and the said, “Do it again”–and they did. “Do it once more,” he said–and they did. The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench.
At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel. and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the LORD, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself.”
The LORD sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench.
When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed. “The LORD is God; the LORD alone is God!”
Elijah ordered, “Seize the prophets of Baal; don’t let any of them get away!” The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.
Man, that Elijah was intolerant and backward. I wonder who put him up to that.
January 15th, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Old school, old testement.
What does the ruminations of an ancient civilization that was bordering on civility at best have to do with Christian morals?
Haiti is a cesspit of Christians with no backing and no direction and no real hope.
People are now shocked by the looting and violence that are taking place, and how quickly they forget what happened here a very few short years before during Katrina.
I don’t have the right to judge them, I do have the right to provide as much support as I can muster for those poor souls stuck there that are willing to help themselves and others, regardless of their beliefs.
January 15th, 2010 at 2:48 PM
Jesus cited the Old Testament, and so do I. It was the only scripture in existence in his time; have you thought about that? He never cited the Gospels or Paul’s work; they hadn’t been written. Jesus cited David and Moses as authorities, and he appeared with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration. His attitude toward the Old Testament was nothing like yours.
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“What does the ruminations of an ancient civilization that was bordering on civility at best have to do with Christian morals?”
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This is the civilization that created Christian morals. I can’t believe anyone would suggest the ancient Jews were “bordering on civility,” which apparently means “uncivilized.” They had a 90% literacy rate when your ancestors and mine were still eating each other.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:05 PM
Steve wonderful rebuttal to the tolerant of all people and religion person. I will post on Facebook.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:35 AM
One thing I like to bring up. We too often disassociate the Old Testament from the New, as if they had two separate authors.
If Jesus is the Word of God. And in the Beginning, the Word was with God, and theWord WAS God, Then the Old Testament is the words of Jesus just as much as the red-letters in the epistles.
Jesus, in fact, ratched the Old Testament up a notch, taking the 10 commandments to a new level. He said that if you even THINK a harsh thought about someone, you might as well have stuck a knife in them as far as God is concerned.
My personal view is that when Jesus quotes the “Old Testament,” He is, in fact, quoting himself.