I've never thought of the ten plagues -- not to mention the drowning of the Egyptian army -- as distinguished by their non-violence.
Tom,
Maybe that depends on who you think was really responsible for the violence ?
God, or those who were consistently warned but despite all the miracles they saw with their own eyes still decided to enslave the poor and march their army into the sea ?
If Pharaoh marches his army into the sea, does that prove that God is violent or that Pharoah is violent ?
God Bless
Maybe that depends on who you think was really responsible for the violence ?
God, or those who were consistently warned but despite all the miracles they saw with their own eyes still decided to enslave the poor and march their army into the sea ?
If Pharaoh marches his army into the sea, does that prove that God is violent or that Pharoah is violent ?
God Bless
Maybe that depends on who you think was really responsible for the violence ?
Yes, blame the victims.
"At midnight the LORD slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh on the throne to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the first-born of the animals."
If you call this "God's non-violent way," you have no scruples about doing violence to language.
Yes, blame the victims.
"At midnight the LORD slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh on the throne to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the first-born of the animals."
If you call this "God's non-violent way," you have no scruples about doing violence to language.
The Navarre commentary on the Pentateuch says that in many places scripture attributes actions to God in the sense that God is the author of all of creation, not necessarily that God decided to go out and kill someone.
What if God foresaw a plague coming which would kill all the first born, warned Pharaoah what was coming and how to avoid it, and then allowed nature to take its course as the consequence of Pharoah's actions? To me, this passage doesn't prove a violent God at all.
All my experience of God has always been of a God of peace. That's what I experience at prayer, at mass, and in front of the tabernacle. I have no experience of a God of violence, only of a Satan of violence.
God Bless
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What if God foresaw a plague coming which would kill all the first born, warned Pharaoah what was coming and how to avoid it, and then allowed nature to take its course as the consequence of Pharoah's actions? To me, this passage doesn't prove a violent God at all.
All my experience of God has always been of a God of peace. That's what I experience at prayer, at mass, and in front of the tabernacle. I have no experience of a God of violence, only of a Satan of violence.
God Bless
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