Christian, Would You Kill Your Son or Daughter if God Asked You To?

[BilliardsBall]

Genesis 22:1-10

"After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
​

(Yes, I know he didn't do it.)

So . . . . . . . . . . . ?

If God asked me to kill my child, I would ask regarding this passage from Hebrews:

"Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins."

1) There are no more sin sacrifices post Christ. No need to kill my child--I obviously misheard something that was not God.

2) Stop sinning.

 

[Araceli Cianna]

It's a surely a good thing that Abraham wasn't you.

Thank goodness, I wouldn't want to kill my own child because a voice in my head told me to. A god who seemingly is good doesn't seem to care an iota for human life.

 

[DavidFirth]

Thank goodness, I wouldn't want to kill my own child because a voice in my head told me to. A god who seemingly is good doesn't seem to care an iota for human life.

 

[Skwim]

Do you think it was an easy job for Abraham, never.

You, me and the others aren't prophets to answer such kind of questions.
If you were a prophet and you used to receive messages from the one
who created the universe and you have confidence on him, Abraham
had appealed to God to give him a son and God answered him by giving
him a son on the age of 100 years old, after Abraham had raised his son
and was loving him so much, God ordered Abraham to kill his only son,
God gave him the son and God asked him to kill the one that he gave to him, for
me and you, we can never do it because we don't have such relation
to God, but what difference if killing your son or the son of the other man
or even killing a sheep, all are animals created by God.

Regarding our relation to God.​

.............You have a good day.

.

 

[David1967]

Genesis 22:1-10

"After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
​

(Yes, I know he didn't do it.)

So . . . . . . . . . . . ?

No. This is a test I would fail and sleep well that night that I did. The fact that Abraham was going to do it doesn't speak well for his sanity.

 

[David1967]

land of Moriah

What about Orcs?

 

[Twilight Hue]

I asked this question before. Never did get a reply from any abrahamic believer.

Outside the stock answers, no. Not if it disagrees with the written Bible.

It's interesting to note there is a multiple approach here. In one instance, its a Father willing to kill his son on an altar for his God as the story is written out, contrasted with a Father who is willing to lay down his own life instead, as an alternative to save his son.

I think it reinforces the concept of submission that is reflected in Abrahamic religion as a Testament of submission rather than Faith when the New Testament Jesus is portrayed as killing himself on the cross instead of humankind.

It's quite a contradiction whenever the OT and NT allegory is examined closely for its alleged Harmony.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I expect god's absence could be explained by him giving up on humans after Abraham failed the test and showed how mindless and barbaric humans could be.

 

[FearGod]

.............You have a good day.

.

God asked him to kill his son, and God asked him not to kill his son,
so where's the problem.

Whereas humans are killing many innocents humans in daily basis.

 

[Skwim]

God asked him to kill his son, and God asked him not to kill his son,
so where's the problem.

The problem with your post is that it's long-winded *sigh* and presumes that others would not kill their own child if asked by god, when, in fact, two members of RF voted that they would do just that.

.

 

[Kenny]

Genesis 22:1-10

"After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
​

(Yes, I know he didn't do it.)

So . . . . . . . . . . . ?

So... that is a ridiculous question since Abraham was stopped and God won't ask that question anymore.

 

[Kenny]

The problem with your post is that it's long-winded *sigh* and presumes that others would not kill their own child if asked by god, when, in fact, two members of RF voted that they would do just that.

It also depends on how your read the question. That's one of the problems with polls. I couldn't answer the poll.

 

[Robert Vincelette]

Although most everyone already knows, it is important to note here that God stopped Abraham before he struck the child with the knife. The important thing to note here is that Abraham trusted God so much that he thought God quite capable of resurrecting Isaac from the dead, if that had proven necessary. This is great faith.

Later God sacrificed his own Son so it is not unreasonable of God to ask us to sacrifice ourselves for others and for Him if necessary.

I don't find it important because if it was Satan disguised as God Satan wins by having Abraham demonstrate the will to commit a murder that he knew was wrong and evil. It is said that the Ten Commandments which include "Thou shalt not murder," are already written in our hearts.

 

[Robert Vincelette]

If God commanded the murder of an innocent child that would make God evil and if that is so, there is no reason to trust that He will grant us any promises He offers us for obeying His evil commands.

 

[FearGod]

The problem with your post is that it's long-winded *sigh* and presumes that others would not kill their own child if asked by god, when, in fact, two members of RF voted that they would do just that.

.

I don't think they're serious, we don't have any contact with God and no
one will be asked such question, for us if such thing happened to a person
then he should be mentally ill, but the prophets have miracles which to
us are unbelievable and even crazy to even imagining they have happened,
but we have many prophecies to prove they were right, we didn't see their miracles
but we're seeing their prophecies.

 

[Skwim]

So... that is a ridiculous question since Abraham was stopped and God won't ask that question anymore.

Don't you hope.

But I have to say, your hubris is amusing.


.

 

[Skwim]

If God commanded the murder of an innocent child that would make God evil and if that is so, there is no reason to trust that He will grant us any promises He offers us for obeying His evil commands.

Well, as a lot of people are aware, god does create evil.

Isaiah 45:7
I am Jehovah, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, who does all these things.
​

So I don't think it's any kind of a stretch for him to do evil. In fact, I'd say it's pretty much expected of an evil creator to do evil.

.

.​

 

[Poisonshady313]

Where did you get that from?, even the much cherry picked and sanitised niv states "Sacrifice him "

We've gone over this already. But here it is again:

And He said, "Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Isaac, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you."

Berei**** - Genesis - Chapter 22 (Parshah Vayeira)


And Rashi's commentary on the phrase in question:

bring him up: He did not say to him, “Slaughter him,” because the Holy One, blessed be He, did not wish him to slaughter him but to bring him up to the mountain, to prepare him for a burnt offering, and as soon as he brought him up [to the mountain], He said to him, “Take him down.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 56:8]

 

[Eileen]

Let's put some context to these verses. Abraham came from a culture and lived among people for whom human/child sacrifice was very much a part of worship/placating their respective Deities. HaShem was setting up a scenario to teach something new to Abraham. HaShem abhors human sacrifice and He taught this to Abraham and all future followers of this One God that He did not want human sacrifice. HaShem appreciated Abraham's willingness to worship Him but He was teaching him how not to! Physical Human sacrifice is not a considered OK in most belief systems today (it may go on somewhere). So, there is no reason for HaShem to teach this lesson again.

 

[MrMrdevincamus]

(if an ex christian response is acceptable) Hell no. If God told me so, I'd tell God to take me instead.

If I had the same experiences Abe had, ie seen miracles and talked to God personally, yes, I sure would. Remember he was talking to the creator of the universe and everything in it. God could raise the dead with a thought etc. So if Abraham or refused God could take him or us anyway. Also, our short material life span of seventy or eighty years is just an illusion compared to the true reality of an eternal existence.

Faith too is the most important or one of the most important attributes a Christian can possess. The stronger the faith the closer to God one becomes, so maybe this was a parable I haven't really gave that bit of scripture much thought because my interest lies in apocalyptic scripture.

; {>