The readers of Ship of Fools, a British "magazine of Christian unrest," have debated for some time about the worst Bible verses that seem to approve brutality, murder, slavery, genocide, and sexism.
Here are their top five picks:
5. "So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go." (Judges 19:25)
4. "Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!" (Psalm 137:9)
3. "Do not allow a sorceress to live." (Exodus 22:18)
2. "This is what the Lord Almighty says... 'Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Samuel 15:3)
And the winner is:
1. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." (1 Timothy 2:12)
Click here to see the ten worst verses of the Bible according to the readers of Ship of Fools. You can even submit a verse that is not included...
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Comments: 44
"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel." (1 Peter 2:18)
Just a thought for those believing in this particular God.
Scott, Savo is not only highly intelligent but also a good writer.
Scott K, clearly you are not familiar with Savo's work and writings. He is an intelligent man. If you are going to insult someone's post, at least make sure your comments are grammatically correct.
You may get as existential as you like on this subject - the words are very clear. The intent is very clear. The bible is evil.
"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." is clear in word and intent.
Just because you speak enigmatically does not make you correct - it simply makes you difficult to disagree with.
The Old Testament is not just bullshit but dangerous, violent, mysoginistic, inbred, volatile, anti everything decent and humane bullshit~
The New Testament crucifies violently, demeans, belittles, almost gets a sick descriptive thrill from inscribing the life of someone who may have existed and tried to make the world a less a**holey place to live and got the serious shaft for it~oh yeah and that last bit about Armageddon~some scribes must have had access to some serious hallucinogens~
Wow, the mandates to violence are awe inspiring.
Betty Bowers
www.zlspublishing.com
Most of the 5 (6 if you include the slavery verses in the replies) are taken out of context, both the text of the bible AND the context of the times in which it was spoken. Some of them mistake metaphors for instructions, etc. I cannot defend all the verses in the bible, but what other ancient writing is free of these types of atrocities? These seem very mild compared to Assyrian myths and Greco/Roman era history.
Of course most of the people who quote these verses haven't read the bible. If they did, they'd see their errors in interpreation immediately. Presupposition is a powerful tool when used on the ignorant.
(it is a very short verse, but has so much potential as a word picture.)
Balaam beat his ass with a stick.
1. God
2. The Bible
3. Church
Do not confuse the three.
He ain't raising vegetables, folks . .