Post Praetorian said:
RicOlie_2 said:
Post Praetorian said:
RicOlie_2 said:
I think everything should be done for the glory of God (unless it has no moral consequence), so that doesn't leave much room for too much worship.
Might the slaying of one's own son have a moral consequence?
Since God told Abraham to do it, it would not, theoretically, have had moral consequence. It was, however, God's intention to stop Abraham from the beginning, and he knew the result beforehand. God would not have allowed Abraham to carry through with the sacrifice because of its immorality (just because he tested Abraham in that way doesn't mean that he was contradicting his own laws because of the fact that there was no intention to allow Abraham to follow through).
As to why God bothered if he knew the result beforehand: the test was for our benefit, to show that if we trust God then things will work out in the end.
Might then the butchering of women and male children and the enslavement of young female virgins for the purpose of forced sex cease to have a moral consequence if purportedly commanded by God (as evidenced in Numbers 31)?
It is my understanding that Moses commanded the butchering, not God. Also, there is nothing said about forced sex, and the virgins may have been taken as wives (or not, I didn't see any mention of what happened to them), in which case they would have become part of the Israelite's religion and perhaps spared the fate of any Canaanites who went to hell. If that is the case, then I see it as an act of mercy.