Note: I don't normally post these sorts of articles on this website, but in the interests of healthy debate, and to prepare Christians for the sorts of questions they're likely to be asked, I'm reproducing it here to encourage you all to think! Rowland. (See the Statement for Faith for our position on the Bible.)

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"Mark and Bev Tindall" wrote

18 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What is the last of the Ten Commandments?

Don't boil a young goat in the milk of its mother. --Believe it or not, this prohibition in Exodus 34:26 is the official tenth commandment, from the only set of stone tablets that were called "the ten commandments." There were three sets of commandments:

1) The first time Moses came down from Mount Sinai with commandments, he merely recited a list (Exodus 20:2-17), which is the version most churches today erroneously call the "Ten Commandments," although they were not engraved on stone tablets and not called "the ten commandments."

2) The first set of stone tablets was given to Moses at a subsequent trip up the mountain (Exodus 31:18). In this farcical story, Moses petulantly destroyed those tablets when he saw the people worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:19).

3) So he went back for a replacement. God told Moses: "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest." (Exodus 34:1) Here is what was on the replacement tablets (from Exodus

34:14-26):

1) Thou shalt worship no other God. 2) Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. 3) The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. 4) Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest. 5) Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks. 6) Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God. 7) Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven. 8) Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left until the morning. 9) The first of the firstfruits of thy land shalt thou bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. 10) Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Keep this in mind next time you are tempted to boil a goat. This list differs, obviously, from the one in Exodus 20 (was God's memory faulty?), but it is only this list that is called the "Ten Commandments": "And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." (Exodus 34:28)

2. What is the penalty for working on the Sabbath?

You will be stoned to death.

"Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to

you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whoseoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your

habitations upon the sabbath day." (Exodus 35:2)

For the chilling application of this law, see Numbers 15:32-36, where a man who picked up sticks on the sabbath was stoned, "and he died; as

the Lord commanded Moses."

3. What happens if you are not a virgin on your wedding night?

You will be stoned to death. --This barbaric punishment is still being

followed in some parts of the Moslem world. There is no such penalty,

needless to say, for a groom who is not a virgin.

"If any man take a wife, and go in unto her . . . and say, I took this

woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid . . . and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring

out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die . . ." (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)

4. Which food does the bible expressly permit you to eat?

Locusts. --Since ham and lobster are verboten to bible believers, how about some barbecued grasshopper or steamed locust for dinner?

"Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind." (Leviticus 11:22)

"And the same John [the Baptist] had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." (Matthew 3:4)

5. When the Israelites conquered the Midianites, what part of the spoils of war was given to the priest as "the Lord's tribute"?

32 virgins. --Of the 32,000 virgins that were kept alive as "booty" for God's warriors, 32 young captives were handed to the priest.

"And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was 675,000 sheep, And 72,000 beeves, And 61,000 asses, And 32,000 persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him . . . of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord's heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Numbers 31:32-41)

6. According to the bible, who created evil?

God.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil:

I the Lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7)

The word "create" above is bara, the same word used in Genesis 1:1. The word "evil" is ra, such as in Genesis 2:9, "the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Some versions, such as the NIV, have unjustifiably softened the implications of this verse by translating ra as "disaster" or "calamity," although ra is used repeatedly throughout scripture to refer to moral evil. (See Isaiah 7:14-15: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil [ra], and choose the good.") But even if the "disaster" interpretation were allowable, the verse still depicts God as a troublemaker.

7. According to the bible, where does God live?

In darkness. --How can the "God of light" live in darkness?

"Then spake Solomon, the Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness." (I Kings 8:12. Repeated in II Chronicles 6:1) "And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies." (II Samuel 22:12) "He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." (Psalm 18:11) "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice . . . clouds and darkness are round about him." (Psalm 97:1-2)

This contradicts I John 1:5: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all . . . If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another."

8. According to biblical biology, what is a bat?

A bird. --Biblical biology rates an 'F.' Bats are mammals, not birds. This is another good reason to keep bibles out of science classes.

"And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the vulture . . . And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat." (Leviticus 11:13-19, where "fowl" is oph. Repeated in Deuteronomy 14:11-20, calling the same list "birds" [tsippor] and "fowls" [oph])

9. According to biblical anatomy, where does thinking happen?

In the heart. --Biblical anatomy also rates an 'F.' The heart is an organ that pumps blood--it does not process thoughts, although the biblical writers erroneously thought it did. The word "brain" appears nowhere in the bible.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7) "And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him." (Luke 9:47) "For the word of God is

quick, and powerful . . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) See also Deuteronomy 15:9, Judges 5:15, I Chronicles 29:18, Esther 6:6, Job 17:11, Psalm 10:6, Psalm 33:11, Jeremiah 23:20, Isaiah 10:7, Daniel 2:30, Acts 8:22.

The word "heart" in the bible was not used in the modern sense of "emotion" because it is depicted as having thoughts, intentions, and imaginations. The emotions were usually considered to be in the kidneys.

In biblical times, the kidneys ("reins") were the seat of the emotions. "Reins" was used roughly then as "heart" is sometimes used today: "Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins." (Psalm 73:21) "Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not my heart envy sinners." (Proverbs 23:16-17) "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways." (Jeremiah 17:10) "All the churches will know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts." (Revelation 2:23)

10. What price did David pay King Saul for his first wife?

The foreskins of 200 Philistines. --What would Saul want with 200 foreskins? Possibly proof that his new son-in-law was a truly macho man for his daughter. (More likely, this reflects the pagan practice of offering foreskins as a rain/fertility ritual.)

"Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife." (I Samuel 18:27)

11. According to the bible, what does Satan look like?

A red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns. - The only physical description of Satan given in the bible:

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:3-9)

12. In dollars (shekels), how much is a woman worth?

Half a male. --Depending on age, a female is worth approximately half as much as a male:

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel

of the sanctuary. And if it be a female,then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels." (Leviticus 27:1-7)

This devaluation of women is reflected in the "double uncleanness" of giving birth to a daughter:

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. . . . But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks . . ." (Leviticus 12:1-5)

13. What is the Mosaic Law punishment for being handicapped?

You are not allowed in church. --This is an ancient, unenlightened view, treating the disabled as inferior people.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. . . . a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous. Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire . . . he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he

profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them." (Leviticus 21:16-23)

14. According to the Bible, when may a husband have sex with his wife?

Not during her menstrual period. -- women are "unclean." This is also an example of disproportionate punishment, as being "cut off" from the

tribe for this "crime" (see below) was likely a death sentence in a nomadic culture.

"And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days . . . and if any man lie with her at

all, and her flowers [impurity] be upon him, he shall be unclean seven

days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean." (Leviticus 15:19-24) "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 the people." (Leviticus 20:18)

15. What Christmas tradition is expressly forbidden in the bible?

Christmas trees. --Many other Christmas traditions have their roots in

pagan practices, such as the holly wreath, a fertility symbol. Even the date of Christmas, near the winter solstice, is linked to sun worship. Modern Christians have stolen Christmas from the pagans.

"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. . . . They are altogether brutish and foolish." (Jeremiah 10:2-8)

16. What does Paul prohibit a woman from wearing in church?

Gold. --How many Christian women know they are breaking God's law by wearing gold wedding rings to church? Or pearls or braids or expensive

clothing?

"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame-facedness and sobriety; not with broided [braided] hair, or

gold, or pearls, or costly array." (I Timothy 2:9) Paul was not simply

giving his own personal advice here; he introduced these verses with: "Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." (I Timothy 2:7)

17. What group of people will make it into the heavenly choir?

144,000 male virgins who have not been defiled with women. --No women allowed! Notice the sexism: women "defile" men.

"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. . . . And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth." (Revelation 14:1-4)

18. Can Christians ask their boss for a raise?

No. --It is unChristian to ask for a raise: "And [John the Baptist] said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? and he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:13-14) Modern Christians who love their families know better than this: it is not responsible to deny yourself a fair market wage, especially if you have children to support. Real family values transcend the bible. [John the Baptist was "preparing the way" for Jesus when he supposedly

spoke these words.]

Adapted (drastically!) from http://www.ffrf.org/bquiz.html