"t's a good thing that you are hiding behind your anonymous keyboard"
No points for that deliberate threat...but a very very threatening, provocative, and cowardly statement, little one! Chuckle!
Most sensible people on SI use what are known as "usernames". This is to prevent their families from being harassed, threatened, and possibly seriously injured by immoral and deranged people such as you, Asshole! After repeated threats from you (both publicly and in PMs), I agreed to meet with you, and I am can assure you, GIRLY...I am looking forward to it with great gusto! And I promise you I will not be holding a keyboard, little one!
Message 28699948
"your Anti Semitic BLOOD LIBEL amounts to Hate Speech"
You are a libelling racist pig. Let us set down some facts for the record.
1). "Blood Libel"
"A term now usually understood to denote the accusation that the Jews—if not all of them, at all events certain Jewish sects—require and employ Christian blood for purposes which stand in close relation to the ritual, and that, in order to obtain such blood, they commit assault and even murder"
"The first literary reference to it is made about this time in the following passage from the writing, "Bonum Universale de Apibus," ii. 29, § 23, by Thomas of Cantimpré (a monastery near Cambray): "It is quite certain that the Jews of every province annually decide by lot which congregation or city is to send Christian blood to the other congregations."
So, little one...Blood Libel refers strictly to an accusation started by Christians and used by Christians for centuries to justify persecution of Jews. But (of course) you knew that! See also who is probably the most revered non-catholic Christian of all time--the Father of Protestantism--Martin Luther: Lies of the Jews.
"This gives you a clear picture of their conception of the fifth commandment and their observation of it. They have been blood thirsty bloodhounds and murderers of all Christendom for more than fourteen hundred years in their intentions, and would undoubtedly prefer to be such with their deeds. Thus they have been accused of poisoning water and wells, of kidnaping children, of piercing them through with an awl, of hacking them in pieces, and in that way secretly cooling their wrath with the blood of Christians, for all of which they have often been condemned to death by fire. And still God refused to lend an ear to the holy penitence of such great saints and dearest children. The unjust God lets such holy people curse (I wanted to say "pray") so vehemently in vain against our Messiah and all Christians. He does not care to see or have anything to do either with them or with their pious conduct, which is so thickly, thickly, heavily, heavily coated with the blood of the Messiah and his Christians. For these Jews are much holier than were those in the Babylonian captivity, who did not curse, who did not secretly shed the blood of children, nor poison the water, but who rather as Jeremiah had instructed them [Jer. 29:7] prayed for their captors, the Babylonians. The reason is that they were not as holy as the present-day Jews, nor did they have such smart rabbis as the present-day Jews have; for Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel were big fools to teach this. They would, I suppose, be torn to shreds by the teeth of today's Jews."
humanitas-international.org
For the record, I have never accused Jews past or present of requiring Christian blood for rituals. That was a Christian thing and whatever of it remains is a Christian thing. So don't confuse me with your superstitious racist heroes, little one.
2). Human Sacrifice in Ancient Culture (including throughout the bible)
Human Sacrifice by ancient cultures including Judean culture is not a matter of debate. It is well documented in scholarship. And it exists throughout the bible. I will give you some links to enjoy at the end of this post, little one. In the meantime, I asked you several questions in this post where human sacrifice appears to be indicated. I asked you if your Sunday School abundance of knowledge (te hee!) was able to provide an alternate explanation of the text as to the ugly genocide, the rape, the culling of human prey from the herd of prisoners, and the Tribute given to YHWH? I am still waiting for your answer, little one! Here are the questions (including helpful links) once again.
Message 28735511
"Did Eleazar make a Heave Offering as the laws of his tribe and his God DEMANDED! What did he do with the sheep??
Did those 12,000 men really annihilate the Caananites to the last breath without losing a single man!
How did the soldiers test all the young children for virginity when they brought their prey to the outskirts of the camp? Were the girls who had had sex (usually because they were legally married) butchered because they were evil...or because they were not virgins??
Were the virgins that were culled from the herd of prisoners (the "prey) kept alive because they were good and "godly" caananites...or because they were VIRGINS!!
Why were the donkeys, sheep, virgins, and cattle culled from the herd of prisoners and given to Eleazar, the chief priest with orders that they be offered as a Heave Offering to YHWH? Describe for us what Eleazar did with this "Lord's booty".
3). Who is a Racist Pig?
Unlike you, I am a friend to all cultures and all people. I support universal human rights and freedoms and I oppose barbarism everywhere past and present. Unlike you I do not use religious special status or ignorant superstition to support and justify mythical accounts of rape, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, genocide, misogyny, and slavery.
I despise your worship of human sacrifice which is forever attached in shame to your horrible self-serving superstition which brutally clawed and murdered its way to power and influence throughout those oh so dark and inhuman ages of man. Imagine making human sacrifice the linch pin of your inglorious cult? What an ignorant Pig of a beast you are. Stinky and oh so ignorant fellow.
.
And I despise you for being the immoral piece of shit that you are. Capiche??
" I have a mind to lodge a formal complaint against you with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission"
You do whatever you want, Dung Face! Do you really think I give a flying fukk about your threats, Pisshead??? When you threaten me you are threatening YOU.
I want you to go piss up a rope! And if you are hunting me as you claim, then just be aware! Whatever province you find me in, BE acutely aware of one thing: In light of your numerous threats and your clear mental instability, any occasion of you on my property, anywhere in Canada or the United States, will be considered as an assault and a clear and present danger. In any such event, you WILL very possibly be hurt very badly. BE aware, as well, that people who need to be aware of your threats are now, as of today...fully acquainted with who and what you are.
I see your asshole friend (the only one you have on SI) is giving you recs for being a sub-human psychopathic lying asshole PRICK! You deserve each other!
See you at the Bellagio, Scumbag!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Someone who knows a bit about the bible and about the child sacrifice in the bible!! :-) :-) :-)
Brief Biography of John W. Loftus
Name: John W. Loftus
Degrees:
- B.R.E. Great Lakes Christian College, 1977.
- M.A. Theology/Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary, 1982.
- M.Div. Theology/Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary, 1982.
- Th.M. Philosophy of Religion, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1985.
- Entered but did not complete the Ph.D program, Theology/Ethics, Marquette University, 1986-1987.
Professional:
- In the ministry for 14 years as an Associate Minister, Minister, and Senior Minister.
- President of a local ministerial association.
- President of a homeless shelter.
- Taught apologetics, philosophy, critical thinking, and ethics courses as an Adjunct Professor at various Christian and secular colleges.
Publications:
- Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity (Prometheus Books, 2008).
- Why I Became an Atheist: Personal Reflections and Additional Arguments (Trafford, 2008).
- The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (forthcoming).
- Several articles in Christian magazines and journals when I was a Christian.
Personal: Happily married to the love of my life, who's also an atheist, and with whom I own a small business.
Hobbies: I'm an avid pool player who wrote a book on billiards titled "How to be The Captain of a Winning APA 8-Ball Team." In the American Poolplayers Association (APA) I'm a 7 in 8-Ball and a 9 in 9-Ball, their highest rankings. I have competed nationally in Las Vegas three times. Since 2004 I have written a monthly instructional column for the national billiard magazine, Inside Pool.
Home page: Founded the Debunking Christianity blog.
Excerpt From My Book on Child Sacrifice
By John W. Loftus at 3/19/2010
I've received more than one email from Christians who say that of all the issues I write about in my book the most troubling one concerns child sacrifice in the Bible (imagine that!?). Here's the excerpt below (from pp. 136-37). What d'ya think?
When it comes to child sacrifice it was actually commanded by God. In Exodus 22:29-30 we read: “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The first-born of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.” Later on God admitted he did this in Ezekiel 20:25-26 where he purportedly said: “Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life; and I defiled them through their very gifts in making them offer by fire all their first-born, that I might horrify them; I did it that they might know that I am the LORD.” (See note). [19] The context of the Exodus passage just quoted above concerns offerings and sacrifices, and it says God requires that first born sons are to be literally sacrificed to him. Hence, unlike other passages where there is the possibility of redemption with a substitute sacrifice (cf. Exodus 13:13; 34:10-20), none is stated there. The concept of "redemption" is an interesting one that goes hand in hand with child sacrifice, because animals were substituted for the firstborn. Yet that says nothing against the idea that a better sacrifice was the firstborn child himself, and many people in the Old Testament did just that. Circumcision was probably a substitutionary child sacrifice (Exodus 4:24). Child sacrifice was probably only considered evil when it was done in the name of a foreign god, and doing so was punishable by death precisely because it was offered to another deity (Leviticus 20:2; 18:21 Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10; II Kings 17:17 23:10; II Chronicles 28:3; 33:4-10; Ps 106:38; Isaiah 57:5,6; Jeremiah 7:31 32:35 Ezekiel 16:20,21; 20:26,31; 23:37,39; Acts 7:43).
Child sacrifice was something that several Biblical people either did, or assisted others in doing so. Abraham was not morally repulsed by the command itself and there is no command against this practice there by God (Genesis 22). Then there is Jepthah who sacrificed his daughter because of a stupid vow (Judges 11); David (II Sam. 21:7-9); Solomon and his wives (I Kings 3:16); Ahab (I Kings 16:33-34); Ahaz (II Kings 16:2-3); Hoshea (II Kings 17:7); and Manasseh (II Kings 21:6; II Chronicles 33:6). It was a problem for King Josiah (II King 23:10), for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:30-31; 19:3-5; 32:35), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16:20-21; 20:25-26, 30-31). The prophet Micah wonders if he should sacrifice his oldest son “as a sin offering” (6:6-8). It was a practice so prevalent when offered to foreign gods, that it is named as one of the reasons God sent the Babylonians to conquer Israel and forcibly take many of them as captives (II Kings 17:16-18). We even read where the King of Moab sacrificed his son which caused the Israelites to retreat in defeat. Moab’s sacrifice created a great “wrath,” (ketzef), which was an external force to the warriors in the story, indicating that his sacrifice caused some divinity to act on behalf of Moab. (II Kings. 3:26-27). In the New Testament God the Father sacrifices his only son (Jesus) as the central redemptive act of Christianity, and God still seeks to fulfill his lust for human sacrifice by burning humans forever in the lake of fire.
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[19] Hector Avalos tells us that, “For most of biblical history, Yahweh was not against child sacrifice per se, but rather against child sacrifice to other gods.” See his Creationists for Genocide. Jon D. Levenson states that "only at a particular stage rather late in the history of Israel was child sacrifice branded as counter to the will of YHWH and thus ipso facto idolatrous." The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), p. 5. Susan Niditch, in War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) says, “While there is considerable controversy about the matter, the consensus over the last decade concludes that child sacrifice was a part of ancient Israelite religion to large segments of Israelite communities of various periods.” p. 47. S. Ackerman argues that within the ancient Israelite community, “the cult of child sacrifice was felt in some circles to be a legitimate expression of Yawistic faith.” Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), p. 137. See also Francesca Stavrakopoulou, King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities, (Walter De Gruyter Inc., 2004).
First published 7/30/09
debunkingchristianity.blogspot.ca
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Judges 11:30-40 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer [ a]to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have [ b]given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” 36 So she said to him, “My father, you have [ c]given your word to the Lord; do to me [ d]as you have said, since the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” 37 She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may [ e]go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. 39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she [ f]had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel, 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to [ g]commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
1 Kings 16:34 New Living Translation (NLT)
34 It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid its foundations, it cost him the life of his oldest son, Abiram. And when he completed it and set up its gates, it cost him the life of his youngest son, Segub.[ a] This all happened according to the message from the Lord concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
Footnotes:
16:34 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads He killed his oldest son when he laid its foundations, and he killed his youngest son when he set up its gates.
2 Kings 16:3 Today's New International Version (TNIV)
3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
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Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel It [religion] is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind;
and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel.
-Thomas Paine
This page reports on the biblical history of child sacrifice and cannibalism from Joshua to the Exile. There were prohibitions against sacrifice, but only in the name of other gods. Child sacrifice was practiced throughout the world during ancient times. The ritualized murder of innocents carries right into Christianity.
Joshua Joshua practiced what is called "foundation sacrifice." In order to protect a structure from evil powers, a person was killed and buried at the foundation of a city or building. Sometimes the victim was walled in alive. In this case, Joshua's victim would be someone's first born.
26Joshua laid an oath upon them at that time, saying, "Cursed before the LORD be the man that rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his first-born shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates."
27So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land. (Josh. 6:26-27)
King David King David participated in the sacrifice of seven men at the beginning of a barley harvest with an eye towards ending famine in the land.
There was famine in the kingdom of David for three years. When David asked God what he could do about it. God explained that it was because of bloodguilt on Saul because he put the Gibeonites to death.
1Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said,"There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death." (2 Sam. 21:1)
So David called for the Gibeonites and wanted to know what he could do to expiate for what Saul did.
2So the king called the Gibeonites. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.
3And David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? And how shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?" (2 Sam. 21:2-3)
The Gibeonites replied that it was not a matter of money. What they wanted was seven of Saul's sons so they may hang them. David agreed.
4The Gibeonites said to him, "It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "What do you say that I shall do for you?"
5They said to the king, "The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
6let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them up before the LORD at Gibeon on the mountain of the LORD." And the king said, "I will give them." (2 Sam. 21:4-6)
David picked two of Saul's sons and five of his grandsons. They were hanged on the mountain before God, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adri-el the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
9and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest. (2 Sam. 21:7-9)
King Solomon Solomon earned his reputation as a wise king by settling a maternity dispute between two women. His solution was to cut the child in half. The real mother prevented the execution by giving up her claim. We are left to wonder if Solomon would have done it.
24And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king.
25And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other." (1 Kings 3:16)
He built a place for Molech.The cult of Molech was associated with child sacrifice.
7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. (1 Kgs. 11:7-8)
Israel and Judah After the time of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split up into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah.
When the kings of Israel and Judah were wining their invasion against the Moabites, the Moabite king made a burnt offering of his oldest son. A great wrath came upon Israel and they had to withdraw. In effect, the Moabite god, Chemosh, defeated Yahweh.
26When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom; but they could not.
27Then he took his eldest son who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. (2 Kings. 3:26-27)
Israel The divided kingdom of Israel came to an end with its capture by the Assyrians. God is said to have made it happen because they worshipped alien gods, made burnt offerings of sons and daughters and practiced occultism.
16And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Asherah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kgs. 17:16-18)
Give this a second thought. In order to punish his chosen people, he showed favor towards the heathen Assyrians. By this logic, it is better not to believe in God. This way he won't harm you. He might even reward you.
King Ahab Ahab and his Phoenician wife Jezebel were among God's most infamous royalty. He practiced "foundation sacrifice" in which a child in entombed in the foundation. We are told that Jericho could not be rebuilt without satisfying Joshua's curse (above). I leave it to readers to decide whether Hiel's sons were intentionally sacrificed according to Joshua's prescription or died accidently or by divine will.
33And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kgs. 16:33-34)
King Ahaz King Ahaz burned his son in an offering in accordance with the practices of other nations.
2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done,
3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. (2 Kgs. 16:2-3)
King Hoshea Hoshea was the last king of Israel before it split from Judah. Under his reign the people burned their sons and daughters.
17And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. (2 Kings 17:7)
King Manasseh King Ahaz's grandson, Manasseh, reigned for 55 years, the longest in Judah's history. He is said to have burned his son as an offering. We can safely assume that the practice was widespread among the people of Judah during his reign.
1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.
6And he burned his son as an offering, and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. (2 Kgs. 21:6, 2 Chron. 33:6)
King Josiah King Josiah's reign began approximately 50 years before the exile and lasted 31 years. Yet at this late stage, he still had to devote effort to stopping the people of Judah from sacrificing their children to Molech.
10He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Benhinnom, so that no one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech. (2 Kgs. 23:10)
Jeremiah Jeremiah was a prophet during the time of King Josiah. He complained about the people of Judah burning their sons and daughters to Molech.
30"For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD; they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
31And they have built the high place of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. (Jer. 7:30-31)
35They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. (Jer. 32:35)
Many kings of Judah were condemned for burning their sons in offerings to Baal.
3You shall say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon this place that the ears of every one who hears of it will tingle.
4Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by burning incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
5and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind; (Jer. 19:3-5)
Ezekiel Ezekiel was a prophet during and after the Babylonian Exile, 586 BCE.
As God's spokesman, Ezekiel complained about the people of Judah burning their children to death.
20And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter
21that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? (Ezek. 16:20-21)
God purposively gave bad laws which discouraged life and made them offer gifts of their first born by fire. All this was to horrify them and show them he is the Lord. We can presume that God gave these bad laws to Moses too.
25Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life;
26and I defiled them through their very gifts in making them offer by fire all their first-born, that I might horrify them; I did it that they might know that I am the LORD. (Ezek. 20:25-26)
He tells us that from the time when the people of Israel were in the wilderness, to his day they sacrificed their sons by fire.
30Wherefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go astray after their detestable things?
31When you offer your gifts and sacrifice your sons by fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.(Ezek. 20:30-31)
Take notice. In one case Ezekiel says God made the Israelites offer their children by fire to horrify them. In the other, he complains when they do the same for other gods.
Cannibalism While sacrifice was practiced as a matter of appeasement, cannibalism was imposed as a matter of punishment, and maybe at times it was a matter of hunger.
A woman complained to the king about being tricked by another woman to share in eating their sons. After they boiled the first son and ate him, the second woman refused to give up hers.
26Now as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"
27And he said, "If the LORD will not help you, whence shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?"
28And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'
29So we boiled my son, and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him'; but she has hidden her son." (2 Kings 6:26-29)
Speaking through Jeremiah, Yahweh threatened to make the Israelites eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They were to eat their warring neighbors too
9And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them. (Jer. 19:9)
As judgment, Yahweh will make fathers eat their sons and sons shall eat their fathers.
9And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
10Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. (Ezek. 5:9-10)
Speaking through Isaiah, Yahweh will make Israel's oppressors eat their own flesh and drink their own blood.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. (Isaiah. 49:26)
Micah complained about the Israelites being eaten by their enemies. Their skins were torn off and their bones were broken to make them fit in a kettle.
2you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people, and their flesh from off their bones;
3who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a caldron. (Micah 3:2-3)
Let the survivors devour the flesh of one another.
9So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another." (Zech. 11:9)
Prohibitions Child sacrifice was considered evil when it was done in the name of foreign gods. It wasn't a morality issue. The priests saw it as a violation of the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me.
Ahaz burned his son as an offering according to the abominable practices of hostile nations.
2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done,
3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. (2 Kings 16:2-3)
The sons of Judah burnt their sons and daughters, without approval from Yahweh.
30"For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD; they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
31And they have built the high place of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. (Jer. 7:30-31)
They offered their sons and daughters to Molech without approval from Yahweh.
35They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. (Jer. 32:35)
You slaughtered my (Yahweh's) children and offered them to fire.
20And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter
21that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? (Ezek. 16:20-21)
The psalmist complained about the people sacrificing their sons and daughters to demons.
37They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons;
38they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the harlot in their doings. (Ps. 106:37-39)
Heathen Sacrifice Human sacrifice was not confined to Middle East countries, it was practiced worldwide. There is evidence of ritual murders in ancient Greece. The Romans practiced it during various periods. The Phoenicians at Carthage in North Africa routinely conducted child sacrifices. When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and Britain, he found copious evidence of Celtic human sacrifice. In Scandinavia, the Norsemen sacrificed both animals and humans to their deities. The ancient Gnostic sect opposed childbirth in an "'evil" world.
When European explorers discovered new parts of the globe, they found almost every land pursuing diverse forms of human sacrifice. The South American Mayans, Aztecs and Incas were probably the record holders. Whole societies existed for the purpose of conducting human sacrifice en masse, relying on a steady stream of slaves and prisoners of war to keep their crimson altars occupied. One lapse, they feared, would blight their harvests, cause catastrophes, and even prevent the sun from rising.
Final thought
Theistic religions in one way or another were founded upon ritualized murder. What made children susceptible to sacrifice, was their virginity and their innocence. This concept is embedded in Judaism and Christianity to this day.
Paradoxically, child sacrifice ended when Judah was captured by the hated Babylonians in 586 BCE. Jews don't practice their canonical obligation to sacrifice anymore, but there is still one remaining legacy where they celebrate child sacrifice every year. And that is the Passover when Yahweh killed firstborn Egyptians and their firstborn livestock. To ease their conscience they label it as their release from Egyptian bondage.
24You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons for ever.
25And when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.
26And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?'
27you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he slew the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. (Ex. 12:24-27)
Christians may feel that their religion is above such barbarous practices. That is only because they have been dulled into ignoring the immorality of the torturous sacrifice of one innocent man."
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"...these passages in Jeremiah do intimate or imply that human sacrifices were being performed for/to YHWH. For instance, Jeremiah 32:35 (a part of the Deuteronomistic redaction of the text [9]) reads, “And they built high places for Baal, which are in the valley of ben Hinnom in order to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire as a mlk sacrifice. This I did not command them, nor was it in my heart (for them) to do this abomination…” The other passages in Jeremiah are similar.
However, even if these passages in Jeremiah are not conclusive as to whether human sacrifices were performed in YHWH’s name or at YHWH’s behest, other biblical passages confirm this fact. For instance, Ezekiel 20:25-26 directly indicates that YHWH actually commanded such sacrifices: “I [YHWH] also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not live. I caused them to sin by their (own) gifts, by causing (them) to pass through (the fire) all who open the womb [i.e., the firstborn], in order that I might horrify them, in order that they might know that I am YHWH.” Moreover, the imagery of the mlk sacrifice in Isaiah 30:27-33 (esp. verse 33) clearly indicates that such offerings were performed for/to YHWH. Micah 6:6-7 is also of note, as it condemns child sacrifice, not because it is immoral, but because, in absence of covenant fidelity and justice, it is an excessive and unnecessary form of worship, just as are sacrifices to YHWH of, for instance, thousands of rams. [10] I therefore agree with Mark Smith that “These passages indicate that in the seventh century child sacrifice was a Judean practice performed in the name of Yahweh…In [Isaiah 30:27-33] there is no offense taken at the tophet, the precinct of child sacrifice. It would appear that Jerusalemite cult included child sacrifice under Yahwistic patronage; it is this that Leviticus 20:2-5 deplores.” [11] This is of significance for another reason: because the topheth was seen as operating under YHWHistic patronage, Day’s argument that, because there was a separate place from YHWH’s Jerusalem temple for human mlk sacrifices to take place (namely the topheth) and this therefore indicates that YHWH must have been a separate deity from the alleged god Molech, is unconvincing.
The somewhat opaque references in Jeremiah referred to above have additional implications for evaluating Day’s argument that the Deuteronomists and other biblical authors, who lived at a time when (or soon after) such sacrifices were actually being performed, would not have confused the sacrificial term mlk with the name of a deity. Saul Olyan has cogently argued that this is not a case of the Deuteronomists’ misunderstanding the terms and their references; rather it is a matter of the Deuteronomists purposefully distorting the terminology and their references in order to criticize what were otherwise native Israelite practices that they deemed illegitimate. Just as they distorted the original nature of Asherah/the asherah in Israelite religion by associating her/it with Baal instead of YHWH, [12] so too the Deuteronomists, as seen in the passage quoted from Jeremiah above, associated human sacrifice, otherwise a traditional Israelite practice in certain circles, with Baal—a polemical distortion, as human sacrifice is nowhere else attested in Canaanite religion for Baal. [13] Rather, human sacrifice in Canaanite religion was associated with El (with whom YHWH was identified at an earlier period in Israelite religion). [14] That the Deuteronomists have distorted the factual reality behind the mlk sacrifice and the deity/deities for whom it was intended, one might also note that the Deuteronomists also (mis)identify Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, with Molech in 1 Kings 11:7; however, as Day himself has argued, human sacrifice was a Canaanite phenomenon, and it seems unlikely that Molech is to be equated with the Ammonite god Milcom. [15] Finally, it also seems from Deuteronomistic polemic that such sacrifices were known to take place at the bamot, or “high places,” and this again points to a purposeful dissimulation, as the bamot, contra the Deuteronomistic historiographic presentation, were a common feature of traditional Israelite religion and the worship of YHWH (although, as will be noted below, there is apparently no extra biblical evidence for such sacrifices actually taking place at the bamot). [16] For these reasons I conclude that Day has misunderstood the real problem: it is not a matter of the Deuteronomistic (and other, later) authors misunderstanding the real nature of the sacrifices and for whom they were performed (indeed, several authors know exactly for whom they were intended: YHWH); rather, it is a matter of the Deuteronomistic agenda to discredit practices which they deemed illegitimate, as in the case of Asherah/the asherah.
Other problems with Day’s analysis remain. For instance, although Day cites evidence that there was a god mlk in both Ugaritic and Akkadian sources, there is no evidence linking the god mlk with human sacrifice or with the Hebrew and Phoenician sacrificial term mlk. [17] In fact, as Day argues, the sacrificial term mlk originates from the root hlk, meaning “to go,” and in this way is similar to other sacrificial terms in Hebrew, such as ‘olah and qorban. [18] Nor is it certain that the god mlk in the Ugaritic texts pertains to the cult of the dead, [19] although it seems likely that, whoever this deity actually was, he did have some connection with the underworld. [20] These complications, in turn, may call into question the biblical evidence that might be mounted for associating veneration of the dead at the high places with child sacrifice—at any rate, there is no extra biblical evidence that child sacrifice ever even occurred at the high places [21] (and this may indicate that child sacrifice was actually not a very common practice in ancient Israel [22]). Finally, Ugarit does not even attest to the practice of child sacrifice, a serious issue for Day’s suggestions. [23]
Although mentioned above, it is worth reiterating the fact that child sacrifice in the ancient Near East was primarily the province of El (=Baal Hamon=Baal Addir=Addir Melek=(later) YHWH; cf. 2 Kings 17:31), not biblical Baal (=Hadad=Baal Shamem)—in fact, as Olyan has argued at length, there is no evidence that Baal was ever the recipient of human sacrifice in Canaanite religion (although there may be a few references for such sacrifices being dedicated to Baal among non-Canaanites [24]). [25] This is significant, because, if true, it would further undermine the credibility of the Deuteronomistic presentation of human sacrifices being performed for Baal.
Finally, it is worth discussing other ancient Near Eastern sources concerning human sacrifice. As recounted by Philo of Byblos, and as we have seen in our discussion of an alleged Molech cult in ancient Israel, there were apparently a number of deities to whom a human mlk sacrifice could be offered, including El (=Kronos), Ouranos, YHWH, and other deities. What other evidence do we have from the ancient Mediterranean world regarding such sacrifices, and to whom were they offered? As mentioned above, it seems clear that human sacrifice was an indigenous Canaanite (and hence Israelite) practice, frequently associated with El (later identified with YHWH in Israelite religions). Mark Smith has an excellent discussion of the relevant evidence, including textual, epigraphical, archaeological, and iconographic materials. [26] All I offer here is a brief summary of the most pertinent evidences.
Both Phoenician and Punic materials designate multiple recipients for the mlk sacrifice, just as Philo attests. These deities include Eshmun, Baal Hamon and Tannit (=El and Asherah [27]). [28] Other classical sources, including Diodorus Siculus, also indicate that such sacrifices were performed for Kronos (=El). [29] New Kingdom war reliefs in Egypt also depict Levantine peoples performing child sacrifices during times of war. [30] Archaeological evidence from Punic Carthage also attests to child sacrifice and burials, although some scholars have argued that the practice of human sacrifice was still quite rare there, contrary to popular polemic in the ancient world. [31] Other sites of child sacrifice are known from the ancient Mediterranean world, all the way from Spain, to Sicily, to Sardinia, and possibly Tyre. [32] Additionally, there is archaeological evidence in Late Bronze Age Ammon in Transjordan of burned children’s bones, probably indicating a cult of human sacrifice there. [33] This fact, in turn, lines up well with the biblical account of 2 Kings 3, where the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom ally together and attack king Moab of Mesha, driving him back to his city. In verse 27 king Mesha sacrifices his son upon a wall bringing “great wrath” on Israel—presumably because the god of Moab was summoned to Mesha’s defense via the sacrifice—and they (the Israelites) fled back to their own land. This story is also of note because it agrees with Philo of Byblos and Porphyry, as well as what we saw in Egyptian war reliefs: namely that these sacrifices were offered by the royal or ruling classes during times of great trouble, including war.
In conclusion, therefore, it seems quite likely that, contrary to biblical polemic and Deuteronomistic historiogrpahical distortion, human (child) sacrifice was a traditional Canaanite (and hence Israelite) practice, and that mlk sacrifices were indeed devoted to YHWH, even among royal (so-called official) circles."
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