Christian Scholar: The Bible is More Violent Than the Koran

a reply to: randyvs

I apologize, I should have added a disclaimer regarding the ghastly nature of the video, but the point needed to be made as the claim has been repeated several times in this thread alone that Christians do not commit acts of this nature. I hope it didn't come across as though I posted it for shock value alone. For the record... he would have been much better off if al the did was cut his throat. The fact is though that in Africa, this occurs on a grand scale on a daily basis. Much like you can not account for all self proclaimed Christians, the same holds true for Islam. In America, there have been 93 deaths related to terrorism. only ~1/3 were at the hands of followers of Islam. The rest were in fact committed by Christians.

a reply to: peter vlar

And still I have to point out that to follow Christ is what
being a Christian is all about. Do you believe anyone can
follow Christ in that manner? I want a yes or no from you Peter
seeing you put yourself in this position. Just be as straight
as burbon on ice. You know scripture.

originally posted by: peter vlar

so I take it Christians like these are somehow not "real" Christians? That seems to be the running narrative when one group of Christians does something decidedly non Christ like. and no...I'm not accusing you of using that line, I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable responses that I have seen many times here on ATS.

I am aware of these Christians.

I am not a "selective" reader. I read everything and follow the links.

Of course they are Christians. But, they are in a different culture then America.

As far as Christ Like ---- in my lifetime I've met maybe 5 people I'd say were truly Christ Like.

Harper Valley PTA is closer to the truth --- more so then the illusion many want to believe.

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: enlightenedservant


Second, what counts to you as "carnage & terrorism"? Have you actually looked into the American attacks on abortion clinics;

To be fair, attacks on "abortion clinics" have not accounted for hundreds of thousands killed. It is a bit of a red herring argument. The sectarian violence enacted by the different Muslim denominations against each other (and any remaining Christians) is a different order of magnitude.

Comparing exceptional violence by some wacko in an abortion clinic to the hundreds of car bombs and suicide bombers in markets, mosques and festivals is just silly.

I notice you skipped the rest of my post. Still not counting the widespread carnage & hundreds of thousands killed in Western wars since 9/11? Even though the majority of our politicians, generals, defense contractors, and soldiers are Christians?

Meh, both books follow the same template as the Hebrew OT, which is probably the most violent of all three...Thing is you don't here any Jewish terror acts, and their fear of Hell has long been forgotten.

Muslim extremists are at least honest about their intention and follow the OT basis of thought or propaganda, where as the Christians, or Anti-Christs(for the picky ones) just use scape goats, and propaganda, like Satanic, to get what they want.

Unlike Jesus, who wasn't afraid to speak his mind,in such...hmmm...unforgiving times. He had his word, and balls.
Luke 19:27 "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"

Funny thing is, no one ever swears to Moses...Because they'd be dead.

a reply to: Specimen

You know that's a parable right?

He wasn't actually suggesting his followers kill people at his feet

a reply to: Akragon

Just to be clear, this is another case where we're not supposed to believe what is actually written in the New Testament? This is another case where we need to interpret the violent words in a non-violent way?

If so, I'll go along with that. However, will you give the same leeway to Qur'anic passages that appear to be violent? Especially when practicing Muslims say those passages are being taken out of context, have been mistranslated, or the such?

a reply to: enlightenedservant

As a Muslim do you take everything in the quran
Lierally?.
Or has certain passages lost their meaning in this day and age?.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Just to be clear, this is another case where we're not supposed to believe what is actually written in the New Testament? This is another case where we need to interpret the violent words in a non-violent way?

no...

this is a case where you have to read the entire chapter to understand what is being said...

If so, I'll go along with that. However, will you give the same leeway to Qur'anic passages that appear to be violent? Especially when practicing Muslims say those passages are being taken out of context, have been mistranslated, or the such?

I would say it depends on the passage being quoted...

Unfortunately I haven't read the Quran... don't plan to either. I just have no interest in it...

The bible however has plenty of violent passages that can not be understood in any way but violence... no matter how one chooses to justify it

Christians love to say, God is just... but it sure doesn't show it in the OT

Needless to say, There is no violence coming from Jesus in the NT... Except when he busted out the whip in the temple

Heh, the fact you have to prove which religion is less stupid....

a reply to: Akragon

And he suggesting killing them with Comedy because he the King of it too?

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: enlightenedservant

As a Muslim do you take everything in the quran
Lierally?.
Or has certain passages lost their meaning in this day and age?.

Depends. I take all of the actual Qur'an literally, but each translation can have vastly different wording. Plus, the editors for every translation add interpretations and "clarifications" in parenthesis and/or at the bottom of the page.

Because of that, no translation can be taken literally. If English is your only language, this is where it's important to compare different translations and the etymology of the exacts words in Quranic Arabic. Of course, the ideal goal for every Muslim should be to learn how to read the Qur'an in its original form. But even then, the interpretations are different depending on the accepted definitions of those words and their context. As a basic example: "Fight them" can mean "oppose them" or "use physical force against them".

This is literally why I repeatedly ask people to tell what translation they're posting from and to link to it when they're talking BS about the Qur'an.

(And note: We don't actually consider translations to be "translations". Normally, Muslims call them "interpretations", since no translation can convey the exact meaning of the Qur'an. It would be like translating Shakespeare into Mandarin while expecting nothing to be lost in translation. I just call them "translations" because most of you aren't Muslims lol)

a reply to: enlightenedservant

It is a parable. Jesus himself in Luke 19:11 says so:

While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

It is quite clear that he is telling a parable, not a literal tale and that parables are not to be taken literally. Instead, they often have several layers of meaning.

a reply to: Specimen

Again... read the chapter not the passage...

This is the parable of the evil servant.... start at verse 11...

Perhaps you'll understand

a reply to: Akragon

Wait a second...God telling me something...

Kill all three of them.

a reply to: Akragon

Thank you. So you're admitting that people need to actually read entire writings to understand individual passages in context? That's exactly what we've been saying this whole time.

In previous threads, I've used the example of someone taking a line from a Harry Potter book that is negative against "Muggles", then using it to claim J.K. Rowling encourages genocides against civilians. Anyone with a functioning brain would know that she wasn't doing that if they actually knew the book and read that line in context. But some of those same people lose that same rational thinking when it comes to other books.

a reply to: Specimen

Then again maybe you won't understand...

The moral of the story is to not waste what you are given...

All the other servants made use of the money they were given... and returned a profit to their master...

the evil servant hid the money he was given because he feared the master's wrath, and thus only returned what he was given... making what he was given useless

originally posted by: Lysergic
Heh, the fact you have to prove which religion is less stupid....

I think Christ shows us ( mankind ) how stupid religion is period.
It may seem complicated, but it's as simple as looking at a half
glass of water.

a reply to: Akragon

But that not what God said.

Luke 19:27 "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"

a reply to: enlightenedservant

That's exactly what we've been saying this whole time.

No doubt you're a sharp one.