My opinion on some Bible verses.

[ambelamba]

1. I don't think Cain and Abel story was related to Adam and Eve story. I guess those two stories were mashed together by redactors, possibly King Josiah's scribes. Same with Sons of God and Noah's flood story. Those two stories were originally unrelated but mashed together later on. So some people came to believe that god wiped out mankind to get rid of some kind of hybrid beings. Haha...

2. The passages about King David and his population census. God is angry just because David ordered the census. I think there was actually a census under David's order. The likely scenario is that Israel was hit with a plague during the census period. People came to believe that King David angered god by ordering the census.

3. Speaking of angry god, ancient Hebrews didn't have the concept of omnibenevolent god. God was the source of both good and evil. The true reason why OT god became a psycho b****** was that Hebrews attributed EVERYTHING to god. The concept of Satan itself was introduced much later and even with foreign influence Satan was never the enemy of god. Satan became the enemy of god because of the influence from Zoroastrianism, which featured the conflict between good god and bad god.

4. Israel was located right in the middle of a major trade route. It's no wonder why people constantly worshipped foreign idols. For pete's sake, the geographical location of Israel made it almost impossible to be safe from foreign influence. If god wanted Israelites be pure in belief, he would have parted the sea all the way to Malta or any isolated island. But the truth is, because of the location Israel was constantly invaded and conquered. They chose the wrong spot to stick with one belief.

5. The Chosen People mentality came from constant foreign invasion and conquest. The more the beaten and battered, the bigger the ego. That's was the psychological conpensation for Israelites. The Chosen People mentality wouldn't have been that great if Israel was rarely invaded and conquered.

6. Something unrelated to the Bible. Why did medieval Europeans allow Jews to handle finance? Why? Didn't they see that they are handling the whole world on a silver platter? Why weren't Jews allowed to have average jobs? Were Europeans some kind of morons?

[Manszilla]

1. I don't think Cain and Abel story was related to Adam and Eve story. I guess those two stories were mashed together by redactors, possibly King Josiah's scribes. Same with Sons of God and Noah's flood story. Those two stories were originally unrelated but mashed together later on. So some people came to believe that god wiped out mankind to get rid of some kind of hybrid beings. Haha...

2. The passages about King David and his population census. God is angry just because David ordered the census. I think there was actually a census under David's order. The likely scenario is that Israel was hit with a plague during the census period. People came to believe that King David angered god by ordering the census.

3. Speaking of angry god, ancient Hebrews didn't have the concept of omnibenevolent god. God was the source of both good and evil. The true reason why OT god became a psycho b****** was that Hebrews attributed EVERYTHING to god. The concept of Satan itself was introduced much later and even with foreign influence Satan was never the enemy of god. Satan became the enemy of god because of the influence from Zoroastrianism, which featured the conflict between good god and bad god.

4. Israel was located right in the middle of a major trade route. It's no wonder why people constantly worshipped foreign idols. For pete's sake, the geographical location of Israel made it almost impossible to be safe from foreign influence. If god wanted Israelites be pure in belief, he would have parted the sea all the way to Malta or any isolated island. But the truth is, because of the location Israel was constantly invaded and conquered. They chose the wrong spot to stick with one belief.

5. The Chosen People mentality came from constant foreign invasion and conquest. The more the beaten and battered, the bigger the ego. That's was the psychological conpensation for Israelites. The Chosen People mentality wouldn't have been that great if Israel was rarely invaded and conquered.

6. Something unrelated to the Bible. Why did medieval Europeans allow Jews to handle finance? Why? Didn't they see that they are handling the whole world on a silver platter? Why weren't Jews allowed to have average jobs? Were Europeans some kind of morons?

Very astute ideas, worth thinking over and discussing.

[Darklight]

Salaam (Peace)

"2. The passages about King David and his population census. God is angry just because David ordered the census. I think there was actually a census under David's order. The likely scenario is that Israel was hit with a plague during the census period. People came to believe that King David angered god by ordering the census."

The curious thing about this particular event is that according to one verse it was "The Lord" Who moved David to number the people, and in another verse it was Satan who moved him to do so.

"And again the anger of The Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say 'Go, number Israel and Judah'. (2 Samuel 24:1)

"And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel". (1 Chronicicles 21:1)