Do Christians hate us

[ChristineES]

Many of the stories of the Bible are violent because people have always been violent. The Bible is about people who are followers of God. The past is filled with violence as is the present. Even now, if certain people win a war, some of them will believe it is because God wanted them to win and is on their side. And if they lose, they will believe God is against them.

 

[4consideration]

you can tap dance around it all day,It absolutely positively does speak of killing numerous people.

Don't get angry at me,I never wrote it,It's in your Bible so get upset at the Bible.

Oh, sorry. I missed this. Are you under the impression that I wrote the Bible?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

It depends on the person. Some Christians are quite hateful and others aren't.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If they hate anyone, there is no way they can rightfully call themselves a "Christian."

 

[metis]

1John.4[20] If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

 

[4consideration]

These type of verses cause many such as Christians to cherry pick, and at the same time they say that all the bible gods words, its either you believe the bible is all true or its not, you cannot have it both ways.

All Christians don't view the bible as all true, or as the container of all Truth. My guess is most Christians DON'T do that -- but that's just from my personal experience. Even for those that consider it all true, there is still the matter of context and viewing the bigger picture within which a particular verse resides. Different people have different contexts for viewing the bible.

I disagree about the cherry picking in this case.

Cherry picking is done by those who choose to extract single quotes and use it to support their purpose, when a larger context would present a different picture. It can be done for or against anything. It's not cherry picking to say that someone left out the larger context.

There is cherry picking going on here, IMO, and it is in extracting individual quotes from different books of the Bible -- apparently to support the title/topic of this thread "Do Christians hate us".

 

[michel]

Despite those verses, I can assure that I don't hate anyone at all. I never thought about stoning anyone. The Christians I know personally don't speak of stoning people, either.

But I can't win with this argument, I've seen similar. If I say I don't stone people then anyone can say "then you're not a true Christian" and if I were to say that I do, then I am called hateful.

I agree, to me, Christianity is not about hate - nor judging.....In fact, "punishing" people is God's job - not ours
Matthew 7:1-2/3

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,
and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye
and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

 

[psychoslice]

All Christians don't view the bible as all true, or as the container of all Truth. My guess is most Christians DON'T do that -- but that's just from my personal experience. Even for those that consider it all true, there is still the matter of context and viewing the bigger picture within which a particular verse resides. Different people have different contexts for viewing the bible.

I disagree about the cherry picking in this case.

Cherry picking is done by those who choose to extract single quotes and use it to support their purpose, when a larger context would present a different picture. It can be done for or against anything. It's not cherry picking to say that someone left out the larger context.

There is cherry picking going on here, IMO, and it is in extracting individual quotes from different books of the Bible -- apparently to support the title/topic of this thread "Do Christians hate us".

I see what you are saying and there is some truth in that, but for me personally its a different story, I was a Christian for about 17 years and i have seen cherry picking to cover up for something that makes god look like a monster, everyone does it, i don't like to cheery pick, I just see what i see and not sugar coating it.

 

[payak]

Cherry picking is following the beautiful aspects of a book and outright denying the terrible things written,that's cherry picking.

 

[payak]

I should make it clear to,the nt in my opinion is beautiful,as to is Jesus,the ot however is shameful.

 

[Windwalker]

I should make it clear to,the nt in my opinion is beautiful,as to is Jesus,the ot however is shameful.

And yet, for arguments sake, didn't Jesus in his good teaching, draw from the OT to show the good in it? And then doesn't this say something that challenges your assessment of it as a whole to be shameful?

You see, even diamonds can be found in the dirt. To seek those and to illuminate those, is not cherry picking which seeks to call the dirt a diamond as well. Truth exists even in the midst of ignorance.

 

[dawny0826]

Woman with “familiar spirits” must be stoned to death. Leviticus 20:27
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Exodus 22:18


You must kill those who worship another god. Exodus 22:20

Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different than your own. Deuteronomy 13:6-10

Kill all the inhabitants of any city where you find people that worship differently than you. Deuteronomy 13:12-16

Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Kill anyone who refuses to listen to a priest. Deuteronomy 17:12-13
Kill any false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:20

Any city that doesn’t receive the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mark 6:11

Jude reminds us that God destroys those who don’t believe in him. Jude 5

Don’t associate with non-Christians. Don’t receive them into your house or even exchange greeting with them. 2 John 1:10

Shun those who disagree with your religious views. Romans 16:17

Paul, knowing that their faith would crumble if subjected to free and critical inquiry, tells his followers to avoid philosophy. Colossians 2:8

Whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar and an anti-Christ. 1 John 2:22

Christians are “of God;” everyone else is wicked. 1 John 5:19

The non-Christian is “a deceiver and an anti-Christ” 2 John 1:7

Anyone who doesn’t share Paul’s beliefs has “an evil heart.” Hebrews 3:12

False Jews are members of “the synagogue of Satan.” Revelations 2:9, 3:9

Everyone will have to worship Jesus -- whether they want to or not. Philippians 2:10

A Christian can not be accused of any wrongdoing. Romans 8:33

the last 2 are amusing

Context. Do you understand the concept of context in regards to greater events and historical happenings at the time?

What I find amusing is when someone who isn't of my faith, takes passages from my Holy Book out of context and then insists that they know how people of other faiths interpret and apply such passages to their faith walk.

Have fun.

"If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another." - Anonymous, Buddhist Quote

"The whole purpose of religion is to faciliate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, forgiveness." - Dalai Lama

 

[Walkntune]

Woman with “familiar spirits” must be stoned to death. Leviticus 20:27
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Exodus 22:18


You must kill those who worship another god. Exodus 22:20

Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different than your own. Deuteronomy 13:6-10

Kill all the inhabitants of any city where you find people that worship differently than you. Deuteronomy 13:12-16

Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Kill anyone who refuses to listen to a priest. Deuteronomy 17:12-13
Kill any false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:20

Any city that doesn’t receive the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mark 6:11

Jude reminds us that God destroys those who don’t believe in him. Jude 5

Don’t associate with non-Christians. Don’t receive them into your house or even exchange greeting with them. 2 John 1:10

Shun those who disagree with your religious views. Romans 16:17

Paul, knowing that their faith would crumble if subjected to free and critical inquiry, tells his followers to avoid philosophy. Colossians 2:8

Whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar and an anti-Christ. 1 John 2:22

Christians are “of God;” everyone else is wicked. 1 John 5:19

The non-Christian is “a deceiver and an anti-Christ” 2 John 1:7

Anyone who doesn’t share Paul’s beliefs has “an evil heart.” Hebrews 3:12

False Jews are members of “the synagogue of Satan.” Revelations 2:9, 3:9

Everyone will have to worship Jesus -- whether they want to or not. Philippians 2:10

A Christian can not be accused of any wrongdoing. Romans 8:33

the last 2 are amusing

Did Jesus stone anyone? I think not! A Christian is a follower of Jesus.
Key to understanding the death in the law was to point out that it brings death if you try to follow it for righteousness.The law was not intended to bring life and righteousness but to bring man to the end of himself and even if that means death. When the self righteous law followers presented their righteous works to Christ, he made it even more difficult with the law showing that with man it is impossible but with God all things are posible. True Christianity is about walking in love. Come to the end of yourself(die to yourself) and allow Christ to live through you. love can do no wrong and no laws can come against it for in Christ all laws are fulfilled.He gave the two greatest commandments which are completely impossible in ones self and that is to Love God with all of your heart, mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all of the law.It is imposible to love without love and God is love.Cant be done in yourself without God. We must rely on him for the provision and not ourselves.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Woman with “familiar spirits” must be stoned to death. Leviticus 20:27
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Exodus 22:18


You must kill those who worship another god. Exodus 22:20

Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different than your own. Deuteronomy 13:6-10

Kill all the inhabitants of any city where you find people that worship differently than you. Deuteronomy 13:12-16

Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Kill anyone who refuses to listen to a priest. Deuteronomy 17:12-13
Kill any false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:20

Any city that doesn’t receive the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mark 6:11

Jude reminds us that God destroys those who don’t believe in him. Jude 5

Don’t associate with non-Christians. Don’t receive them into your house or even exchange greeting with them. 2 John 1:10

Shun those who disagree with your religious views. Romans 16:17

Paul, knowing that their faith would crumble if subjected to free and critical inquiry, tells his followers to avoid philosophy. Colossians 2:8

Whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar and an anti-Christ. 1 John 2:22

Christians are “of God;” everyone else is wicked. 1 John 5:19

The non-Christian is “a deceiver and an anti-Christ” 2 John 1:7

Anyone who doesn’t share Paul’s beliefs has “an evil heart.” Hebrews 3:12

False Jews are members of “the synagogue of Satan.” Revelations 2:9, 3:9

Everyone will have to worship Jesus -- whether they want to or not. Philippians 2:10

A Christian can not be accused of any wrongdoing. Romans 8:33

the last 2 are amusing

​

First of all, Christians are not under the Law so the OT quotes do not apply. Take out the ones that refer to what God will do and one is left with nothing that says to "hate" non-Christians. Nice try though.
Those are also seemingly some very free translations. Can you attribute the source?

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Payak, those laws that you quote had to do with a time that was very different than now. Regardless of whether Christians are held by the law or not, that is part of the history that we claim. I would say, yes, some christians take these things seriously, and some Jews may as well. However it is not the majority view. It's the complexity of humanity that we would hold onto our past and say that things that occurred in the past must have a direct relation with what happens now. But we know so much and at the same so little, and we have seen that in our history humanity has been more wrong than right, so hopefully as we move forward we can push these moments that espoused behaviors we would not tolerate now and move towards more peaceful matters.

 

[Athan]

Woman with “familiar spirits” must be stoned to death. Leviticus 20:27
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Exodus 22:18


You must kill those who worship another god. Exodus 22:20

Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different than your own. Deuteronomy 13:6-10

Kill all the inhabitants of any city where you find people that worship differently than you. Deuteronomy 13:12-16

Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7

Kill anyone who refuses to listen to a priest. Deuteronomy 17:12-13
Kill any false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:20

Any city that doesn’t receive the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mark 6:11

Jude reminds us that God destroys those who don’t believe in him. Jude 5

Don’t associate with non-Christians. Don’t receive them into your house or even exchange greeting with them. 2 John 1:10

Shun those who disagree with your religious views. Romans 16:17

Paul, knowing that their faith would crumble if subjected to free and critical inquiry, tells his followers to avoid philosophy. Colossians 2:8

Whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar and an anti-Christ. 1 John 2:22

Christians are “of God;” everyone else is wicked. 1 John 5:19

The non-Christian is “a deceiver and an anti-Christ” 2 John 1:7

Anyone who doesn’t share Paul’s beliefs has “an evil heart.” Hebrews 3:12

False Jews are members of “the synagogue of Satan.” Revelations 2:9, 3:9

Everyone will have to worship Jesus -- whether they want to or not. Philippians 2:10

A Christian can not be accused of any wrongdoing. Romans 8:33

the last 2 are amusing

It was a different time. The Lord had to be more stringent because it took almost nothing for the people go astray, and that usually spelled disaster for society. I think we're experiencing some disasters of biblical proportions today.

 

[payak]

First of all, Christians are not under the Law so the OT quotes do not apply. Take out the ones that refer to what God will do and one is left with nothing that says to "hate" non-Christians. Nice try though.
Those are also seemingly some very free translations. Can you attribute the source?

Nice try you say,like most here you assume things,you assume I'm doing what exactly.

I have seen numerous websites with the quotes i posted,so with my limited knowledge i saught answers here regarding these verses.

People being defensive and even worse assuming have not given a single answer except for a few posters.

I came with a question not a claim.

 

[Windwalker]

People being defensive and even worse assuming have not given a single answer except for a few posters.

I would be one of those few who offered a reasonable understanding. But what I think you fail to understand is that the sites you are pulling those from are anti-religion sites that seek to attack the religion. People naturally are going to become defensive when you are using the very arsenal of those who are constantly on the attack of the religion because of the crazy fringe fundamentalists who read all this stuff literally.

Suppose someone from Christianity here started a topic asking you to explain how Buddhism can be followed by calling out how sexist Buddhism is, citing obscene teachings that say women cannot be enlightened in this lifetime because they are female; how the women nuns are only allowed to go out seeking for contributions only after the male monks have,etc. And then go to Buddhist detractor sites and start quoting the lists of reasons why Buddhism is an unenlightened religion, after you've heard them all again and again and don't read them that way yourself?

Perhaps a little more wisdom on your part would serve you.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Regardless of the motives of the OP, I think there's a few interesting points here, which I'll just mention, but are probably discussions for other threads.

1. The Bible says "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life". If we take the teachings of the Bible literally, yeah, there's a bunch of stuff there that one wouldn't expect to come from a "loving god". But if you bypass the surface meaning, and dig a little deeper, maybe through mystical means, you'll find other things there, that a surface reading wouldn't normally render. The Eastern Orthodox church excels at this type of interpretation, particularly of the OT.

2. Why do we see such horrible things from a supposed "loving god" in the OT, such as demanding his followers to murder, kill, maim, run people from their homes, and demand the utmost of what he considers purity, who, in the visions of the prophets, what we see is almost kin to the ideas the pagans had of their war gods, yet in the NT, we see the exact opposite? In the NT, we see an actual loving god, one who forgives, cares, and loves, regardless of whether one follows him or not? There's a huge disconnect between the OT and NT, and while part of this comes from the obvious cultural differences between the time periods they were written, one can see that they are not two religions that share commonalities, but two completely different religions. I'm a bit confused about what a follower of the NT has to do with the OT, myself.

 

[Windwalker]

Regardless of the motives of the OP, I think there's a few interesting points here, which I'll just mention, but are probably discussions for other threads.

1. The Bible says "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life". If we take the teachings of the Bible literally, yeah, there's a bunch of stuff there that one wouldn't expect to come from a "loving god". But if you bypass the surface meaning, and dig a little deeper, maybe through mystical means, you'll find other things there, that a surface reading wouldn't normally render. The Eastern Orthodox church excels at this type of interpretation, particularly of the OT.

I think it's not even so much the need to reinterpret them to make them spiritual, or something. I find the myth of Joshua's conquest of Canaan to be strictly a tale of national identity. There is really no mystical understanding of a story that has God ordering the slaughter of these peoples (which is especially interesting in light of archaeological evidence that the Jews in fact were Canaanites themselves). I see it in much the same light as we do the myths of any culture about their origins, painting their leaders on white horses, conquering the savages, etc. God is just a central figure in national identity, like a patriot missile, or something. I think tying to see spiritual metaphors in these is a bit of a reach.

2. Why do we see such horrible things from a supposed "loving god" in the OT, such as demanding his followers to murder, kill, maim, run people from their homes, and demand the utmost of what he considers purity, who, in the visions of the prophets, what we see is almost kin to the ideas the pagans had of their war gods, yet in the NT, we see the exact opposite? In the NT, we see an actual loving god, one who forgives, cares, and loves, regardless of whether one follows him or not? There's a huge disconnect between the OT and NT, and while part of this comes from the obvious cultural differences between the time periods they were written, one can see that they are not two religions that share commonalities, but two completely different religions. I'm a bit confused about what a follower of the NT has to do with the OT, myself.

An interesting thought I had to share is that if you look at the origins of Christianity, it was at first not a separate religion but was part of Judaism. It wasn't until later on that the philosophical differences led to them splitting apart into two separate religions. As that happened and the non-Jewish populations swelled the ranks of the early Christian body, they actually became anti-Semitic, rejecting and persecuting Jews. So their identification which a Jewish lineage became something different than what it was originally for them, where tying themselves to the OT was important to them.

Then add to this the complexity of why people follow a particular religion. For most, it doesn't have to do with finding spiritual awakening, but rather about identification with a group. "I am a Christian", is about group identification, and perhaps a personal path. The spiritual seekers in any religion, are the rarity. So tales of a jealous God as part of a cultures origin myths, don't jar the sensibilities of many as much for that reason. They don't have that inner connection to spirit, and God fighting for their team is a natural symbol to them. That religious relationship is all external to them. God is 'for them', not 'within them'. Those who do move deep within, these images of God cause a little more of a challenge to wrestle with. How can a eternal loving God be represented as a monster?

So some passages boil down to either cultural artifacts, or they are misunderstood through poor translations, or they are simply challenging spiritual teachings that those who lack a certain level of spiritual insight will naturally read badly. I see there are multiple factors in this.