(Note: This was originially a reply to a writeup in
How to offend any Christian)
I hope I do this without sounding to
preachy (wow, what a great way to start off a
writeup). Just to correct a few errors in your quotes:
1. What punishment did God say is mandatory for an unruly child?
Stoning To Death - "And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die" (Deuteronomy 21:20-21). "For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death" (Mark 7:10). "And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death" (Exodus 21:15). "And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death (Exodus 21:17)."
It's not the way it sounds - I've discussed this with some friends, though they didn't know it was in the Bible or related to it at the time. I must admit this sounds extremely harsh, but its purpose is two fold: to scare children and to make parents more
compassionate. Obvisouly as a child the threat of stoning would be terrifing- thus you obey your parents. Though this concept of
violence == discipline is still much debated, this punishment has a different slant for it's death as a consquence (as opposed to just a
spanking). For the parents it's a strange situation; with this option, or responsibility, of your child being killed if you don't reach out to him, it forces you to reach him. Imagine having gun with the instructions "if your dog ever misbehaves, shoot it." There's no way you would, or could, shoot a dog. Strangely it makes you more compassionate to them, you try every possible resort and are more patient. Another point that clears up any doubts is
Jesus's commandment "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (
John 8:7)
2. What is God's punishment for women who wear showy jewelry and clothing?
Ugliness, misery and death - "In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon. The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels. The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy might in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn: and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground" (Isaiah 3:17-26).
Only for this instance Isaiah 3:16 - "Morever the Lord saith, Because the
daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:" Thus, this punishment was only pertaining to this specific case. It's not meant to be taken as a commandment or general rule.
3. What is God's punishment of those who overeat?
Death by plague - "And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:32-33). "The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel" (Psalms 78:31).
Only for this instance - Again,
Numbers 11:31- "And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two
cubits high upon the face of the earth...." The first part of this paragraph isn't that necessary to see that the Bible was again specifically talking about one incident, certainly not to set a precedent.
Psalms 78:22-30 - "Because they believed not in
God, and trusted not in his salvation: / Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, / And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the
corn of heaven. / Man did eat
angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. / He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. / He rainded
flesh upon them as dust, and
feathereed fowls like as the sand of the sea: / And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. / So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; / They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat were yet in their mouths...." Basically, they lost faith in God, so God gave them what they desired. And they indulged. Those who gave into sin the most were killed.
4. What did Paul say happens to those who have premarital sex?
They cannot enter Heaven so they must wind up in Hell - "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Yep, sort of. - Paul goes on to say "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). Thus, even though they committed such sins, God will still forgive them.
5. What is the punishment for a single mother having a boy out of wedlock?
The woman may not be punished but the child and his descendants will go straight to Hell - "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord: even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 23:2).
Mother maybe punished, meaning iffy. - This quote's was actually in correct context, but the meaning is a little blurred I'll admit. When it says "shall he not enter" does 'he' refer to the father of the bastard (as was the focus of the previous passages), does it mean the bastard,
or or all of the descendants? Whichever, it's clear that it's not talking about his descendants, but whoever 'he' is. Also there is nothing there about the mother not being punished; though earlier in the chapter, it talks exstensively about the punishment for
rape and
adultery (see number #9)
6. What has God done in the past to children who make fun of unattractive people?
He sent bears to maul the children to death - "And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them" (2 Kings 2:23-24).
The bears only scared off the children - It's
tare, not tear.
Dictionary.com gives this definition:
Middle English from Old French ultimately from Arabic arah, that which is thrown away, from araa, to reject.
The children were rejected, or scared off by the bears.
7. What punishment did God promise for promiscuous women?
His followers will cut off their noses and ears, burn them in fire, take away their children and strip them naked - "And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more" (Ezekiel 23:25-27). "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire (Leviticus 21:9)."
Only for this instance and nope. - The passage from Ezekiel is refering to
Aholah and
Aholibah. In Leviticus, that whole chapter is dedicated to God telling Moses about the rules of being a priest. The passage above talks about how the daughter of a priest is to be burnt as a sacrifice or punishment. But, Christ was the last sacrifice, He was the ultimate sacrifice. Even though, this offense is not to be taken lightly.
8. What does God demand happen to those couples who have sex during the woman's time of the month?
They are to be banished from society and not permitted to interact with civilized people "And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people." Leviticus 20:18.
Not just during her time of the month, but the act of a man degrading himself sexually with her - There's an alternate/literal
translation for this passage: "Or, being an husband among his people, he shall not
defile himself for his wife, etc" It's not just because it's "her time of the month", it's the fact that he is doing humilitating/disgusting things just for wife. This chapter also has the infamous passage denouncing
homosexuality "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
Leviticus 20:13
9. What punishment does God mandate for a man who rapes a virgin?
The rapist and his victim shall be married - "If a man finds a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days Deuteronomy 22:28-29)."
Yep. - The only "embarrasing" part in this quote I found was the fifty shekels of silver. But this was/is the custom in the culture for the man to pay the father of the bride. The fifty
shekels is not meant to be punishment for his crime but part of marriage. To go a little into why he must marry her- the Bible treats making love with the upmost respect. It is a
union of two souls, and as such it would be the duty of the man to "follow through" with his actions. Also, if she was already married:
Levictus 22:25 "But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man forced her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die"
10. What did Peter do to those who failed to sell all their possessions and give every dime to the Lord?
Jesus struck them dead - "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? . . . And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. . . . Then fell Sapphira straightway at Peter's feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband." Acts 5:1-10.
Only specific situation and it wasn't Jesus - The 'But' refers to the previous passages where Peter and John were praying with a lot of other people in a church. Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and the everyone was filled with the
Holy Spirit. "And the multitude of them that beleived were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common." (
Acts 4:32) So everyone was to sell whatever they had and it was then divided amoung the people by whoever needed it the most. The couple in this passage didn't however, and thus when they realized the evil they had done, gave up the Holy Spirit (or ghost). Note that Peter or John never killed them, they are merely found dead. Also Acts takes place after Jesus had been crucified, so He didn't do it either.
Most of these were simply quoted out of context, I seriously doubt
factgirl intentially did this. But still, it pays to read the entire chapter to get a sense of the whole story. Reading
footnotes and looking up
definitions of words you don't know helps too.