"The OT...contains all accepted moral laws" - calling out IamJoseph

In another thread, IamJoseph made this statement: Since a real reply to this bold statement would be off-topic in that thread, I'd like to propose a thread where the numerous examples of widely accepted moral laws not supported by or even opposed by the Old Testament can be brought to IAJ's attention.I think this would be a useful exercise for those who believe the Bible, particularly the Old testament, is an actual moral guide.My own examples will follow, should the topic be promoted.Faith and Belief, perhaps?

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

Thou shalt not enslave thy fellow children of god.

Where to start, IamJoseph?

quote:

---

Exodus

​

20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me

​

22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

​

23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

​

23:32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

---

So..."freedom of religion" or even tolerance of other faiths was definitely not a moral law espoused by the OT.The freedom to worship (or not worship) in whatever way one chooses is one of the most basic human rights held by the global community today.There's one example, as you requested, IAJ. Any response?

---

Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

Nothing to say for yourself, IaJ?

---

Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

What I find even funnier is that the OT apparently assumes those gods exist.

the hebrews were never monotheists. they were henotheists. there may be any number of gods, but i like this one.

Since IaJ hasn't replied, and I think this is worth more than simply proving him wrong, I'd like to continue pointing out ethical laws either not contained in the OT, or specifically contradicted.

quote:

---

Genesis 17:12-13
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised.

​

Exodus 12:44
But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.

​

Exodus 21:2-6
If thou buy a Hebrew servant....

​

Exodus 21:7
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant....

​

Exodus 21:20-21
If a man smite his servant or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished; notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.

​

Exodus 21:26-27
And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.

​

Exodus 22:2-3
If a thief ... have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

​

Leviticus 22:11
If the priest buy any soul with his money....

​

Leviticus 25:39
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee....

---

And so on and so forth.The Bible obviously approves of slavery. Hell, the slave owners of the American South used the Bible as justification for their evil enterprise for many years - and they were right, biblically.(we won't discuss passages like Exodus 21:16 "He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death," because contradictions aren't the topic of this thread...)Slavery, of course, is reviled by the international community, and is considered one of the most abhorrent examples of human rights violations.Yet another ethical law not only absent from the OT, but directly contradicted.

---

Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

The list of laws IaJ was referring to can easily be looked up here.

Let's not forget Genocide:gen·o·cide
-noun
the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

quote:

---

12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

---

Killing all firstborn children in Egypt, just because they were Egyptian? That qualifies as both Genocide and Infanticide. Hell, it even mixes in animal cruelty, but that's hardly surprising considering the Biblical god demands blood sacrifice constantly in the OT - half of Leviticus is given over to the rules for proper sacrifice!

quote:

---

Exodus 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

---

An entire kingdom murdered.More from Exodus:

quote:

---

21:34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

---

Another entire population killed. Note that "none left him alive" would mean women and children were killed, too.

quote:

---

25:16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 25:17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them...

---

God himself specifically orders killing yet another tribe.

quote:

---

31:7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

---

So they kill all of the males...

quote:

---

31:9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

---

...and took all of the women and children as slaves!But wait! Moses gets angry at this...

quote:

---

31:15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

---

quote:

---

31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

---

The Hebrews kill all of the male children, and any girl or woman who is not a virgin.And then they take all the virgin girls for themselves...presumably as sex slaves.So...there we have more genocide, along with sexual slavery and rape.How about the famous story of Jericho? Everyone remembers hearing about how the "walls came tumbling down" in Sunday School, right?What about the rest of the story?

quote:

---

Joshua 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

---

The Israelites killed every man, woman, child and even animal in the city. Today, children are taught happy songs about how the walls of Jericho miraculously fell.They leave out the part about soldiers tearing babies from their mothers arms and stabbing them with a sword, before killing the mother as well.The prohibition against Genocide is another ethical principle not supported in any way by the OT, but accepted as obvious by the global community today.

---

Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

Even within his list of laws, some directly oppose "accepted moral, ethical laws." For example, #199: "To keep the Canaanite slave forever (Lev. 25:46)"I've been taking the entire OT as a whole rather than just the 613 Commandments of Judaism, but even restricting it (and his claim referred to the entire OT, not just these laws) still shows him as factually incorrect.

---

Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

quote:

---

the hebrews were never monotheists. they were henotheists.

---

Now that's a new one. Henotheists - as in believing in hens?==================Concerning laws, few realise the significance of many laws which impact science and cosmology. The laws relating to time and a calendar, for example, are merely listed as single verse commands, that these be observed strictly at specific time. Often these were not given with dates, because as yet calendars were not formalised, and these instructions had to be given via observable and then known portraits of nature, such as harvest time, full moon, sun set, etc. The people had to scratch their heads and employ the minds to new tresholds, and devise a means of responding to such laws. Here, we can see how science developed from ancient theology. Here, we can also see the impact of the OT ritual laws when alligned with the then known science of other theologies and nations, and whether the OT contaned any deep wisdom of nature and the universe - hw they stand with today's advanced generation. This is important in determining the status of all laws seen in the OT, and thus a good intro in evaluating these laws - not to fast on the draw.TIME & THE HEBREW CALENDAR.This calendar records much ancient historical data not available elsewhere, and contains criteria of time measurements from pre-existing premises, while still being based on stats contained only in the OT. These OT references, which impact the hebrew calendar, are listed in this summary, which renders this a calendar which used ancient knowledge developed by early nations and their sciences, while also being different, and also the most accurate and oldest active time keeper of humanity's history.There is no history per se outside this calendar; history being alligned to modern man input, whereby a 'name' becomes more relevent than a Dinasaur skeleton imprint. This calendar is thus also one of the early possessions of mankind's science and mathematical devices which protected human history's recording on this planet. Its the only one of its kind.Note that this summary states there is no physical cycle of 7 days, it came from G-d in Eden (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11) - yet this held up for humanity's time processing; also note this unfolds the origins of the Zodiac, and the input of several early nations and their sciences which became totally synchronised with the OT verses and constants. Its chief import is, this calendar would not be possible if the references in the OT, which it applied in its creating, were not scientifically correct!

quote:

---

The Hebrew Calendar: Origins and History.

​

7 Day Week:

​

The Jewish people were the first people to organize their life around the weekly cycle. They justified the seven day week on the basis of the verse from the Book of Genesis, where it is stated that G-d created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested.

​

Here is a chart outlining the Hebrew name for the days of the week, its Gregorian calendar equivalent, and the meaning of each Hebrew name for the days of the week. As mentioned, the Hebrew names for the first six days of the week remind us that the spiritual goal of the week is the day of unity and wholeness - Shabbat or the Sabbath. Each day of the week reminds us that we are preparing for the "peace" - the "shalom" in Hebrew - meaning unity and wholeness - of Shabbat or the Sabbath:

​

Hebrew Name For The Days Of The Week / Gregorian Name For The Days Of The WeeK / Meaning of Hebrew Day Name:

​

Yom Rishon B'Shabbat Sunday the first weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Yom Sheini B'Shabbat Monday the second weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Yom Sh'lishi B'Shabbat Tuesday the third weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Yom Revi'i B'Shabbat Wednesday the fourth weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Yom Chamishi B'Shabbat Thursday the fifth weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Yom Shishi B'Shabbat Friday the sixth weekday of the approaching Shabbat
Shabbat Saturday Sabbath

​

*****

​

Why is the Jewish Calendar a Lunisolar Calendar? (Lunisolar = follows the cycle of the moon I.E. lunar, and sun I.E. solar)

​

The Hebrews needed an understanding of astronomy in order to fix the dates of the festivals. The biblical commandment in the Hebrew Bible to "Keep the month of Aviv" or "Keep the month of Abib" (Deuteronomy 16:1) made it necessary to know the position of the sun. In addition, the biblical commandment to "Also observe the moon and sanctify it" (Exodus 12:1-2), also made it necessary to know the phases of the moon, hence the need for a lunisolar calendar.

​

When Does A Jewish Day Begin And End in the Jewish Calendar?

​

The Jewish day in the Jewish calendar begins at sundown and ends at nightfall on the following day. By extension, the Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and ends with the appearance of three stars of the second magnitude on Saturday evening, which is estimated to occur when the sun is seven degrees below the horizon. The Hebrew Bible states: "And it was evening and it was morning", in that order (Examples are: Genesis 1:5, 1:8, and 1:13).

​

New Year; 1st Day of 1st Month.

​

The 1st day of Nissan or Nisan is also the date for the first month of the Hebrew/Jewish calendar, in other words, months in the Hebrew/Jewish calendar are numbered beginning with the month of Nissan or Nisan as explicitly stated in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 12:1-2) where it says about the month of Nissan or Nisan: "(G-d) said to Moshe and Aharon in the Land of Egypt, 'This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year”. In fact, the title "First of the Months" ("Rosh Hodashim" in Hebrew) is reserved in the Torah for the month of Nissan (Exodus 12:2).

​

Here is a table comparing the Hebrew/Jewish civil calendar and civil month number with the Hebrew/Jewish religious calendar and religious month number, respectively:

​

Civil Calendar Month Number Religious Calendar Month Number
Tishri 1 Nisan or Nissan
(Aviv = "Spring" in Hebrew) 1
Heshvan or Cheshvan 2 Iyar 2
Kislev 3 Sivan 3
Tevet 4 Tammuz 4
Shevat 5 Av 5
Adar 6 Elul 6
Nisan or Nissan (Aviv) 7 Tishrei 7
Iyar 8 Heshvan or Cheshvan 8
Sivan 9 Kislev 9
Tammuz 10 Tevet 10
Av 11 Shevat 11
Elul 12 Adar 12

​

********

​

Origin of 12 Months in the Year; The Annual Earth Revolution Period; Hours/Minutes/Seconds; The Zodiac.

​

The names of the Babylonian months come from the Akkadian language, a Semitic language which originated in the city of Akkad, in northern Babylonia. Akkadian was spoken in Babylonia before the 10th century B.C.E. By the late 10th century - early 9th century B.C.E., Aramaic replaced both Akkadian and Hebrew as the spoken language in Babylonia. By about 600 B.C.E., Babylonian astronomers had identified the ecliptic, meaning the sun's apparent course around the earth, and they divided this course into 12 parts (meaning they divided this course up into 12 months), each named for a constellation in which the sun rose during that period. The sun determined the length of the year by its passage through the 12 parts, with the moon passing through all of them in 29 1/2 days. Our horoscope is a direct descendant of the Babylonian system of calculation since the day, which was a 24-hour period, was broken up into 12 segments, the 12 segments into periods of 30-degree segments each, and those, in turn, broken down into 60 minutes and finally further divided into 60 seconds. The Babylonian year began at the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox. Later on, the Greeks adopted this method of dividing up the heavens and time, calling this set of 12 calendrical constellations, the zodiac ("zodion" means "animal figure" in Greek). The beginning of the Babylonian month in the Babylonian calendar was determined by the direct observation by priests of the young crescent moon low on the western horizon at sunset after the astronomical New Moon. This custom is remembered in Judaism and Islam with the principle that the new calendar day begins at sunset.

​

Pre Babylonian Hebrew Calendar

​

In Pre-Exilic times (meaning prior to 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E., before the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah), the names of four months are mentioned: Aviv or Abib (first), Ziv (second), Eisanim or Ethanim (seventh), and Bul (eighth). However, these four names are actually derived from the Canaanites and at least two of these names are Phoenician names. All four references to these month names are mentioned in the account of Solomon's relation with the Phoenicians and their assistance with the construction of the First Temple (1 Kings 6:1, 6:37, 6:38; 8:2).

​

******

​

Hebrew Calendar References in the Torah:

​

” The Jewish calendar has 12 lunar months (from crescent to crescent) of 29 or 30 days each (1 Kings 4:7).
” The Jewish civil year begins with the 7th religious year month, which is Eisanim or Ethanim/Tishrei or Tishri, and is in either September or October in the Gregorian calendar (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22).
” Agricultural year - autumn (early rains), winter (rains), spring (latter rains), summer (long, hot, dry).
” Sabbatical years (every 7th year).
” No sowing or reaping (Leviticus 25:2, 25:7, 25:20, 25:22).
” Cancel debts (Deuteronomy 15:1).
” Fellow Hebrew servants released (Deuteronomy 15:12).
” Jubilee years (after 7 weeks of years, 50th year) (Leviticus 25:8-12).
” Land returns to original owners (Leviticus 25:13-17, 25:23, 25:24).
” Biblical days go from sundown to sundown (Genesis 1:5, 1:8, 1:13, 1:19, 1:23, 1:31; Leviticus 23:27, 23:32; Numbers 19:16, 19:19).
” 1 hour = 1/12 the period from sunrise to sunset.
” Example hours: 1st = 6-7 P.M., 3rd = 8-9 P.M., 6th = 11 P.M. - Midnight, 9th = 2-3 A.M., 12th = 5-6 A.M.
” Note that Roman hours started from midnight, rather than from sundown.
” The night was divided into 3 watches of 4 hours each.
” 7 day weeks with the 7th day (Saturday) being the weekly Shabbat or Sabbath.
” Note that there is no physical cycle of 7 days, it came from G-d in Eden (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11) and is based on mathematical calculations.
” All dates are based on the Jewish religious calendar (where 1/1 is first day of Aviv/Nisan or Nissan)
” There were 7 special annual ceremonial events I.E. sacred assemblies, feasts (Leviticus 23:1-44)
” Omer Offering: 1/16, the day after the 1/15 ceremonial Sabbath (Leviticus 23:10-14 compare Leviticus 23:6 and Leviticus 23:14)
” A sheaf of the first fruits of the barley harvest is waved before the L-rd.
” Shavuot (Feast of Harvest, Feast of Weeks): 3/6, 7 weeks (50 days inclusive) starting from the Day of the Omer Offering or the Day of Wave Sheaf (2nd evening of Passover/Pesach) (Exodus 23:15-21, Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:15,16, Numbers 28:26-31, Deuteronomy 16:9-11)
” The ceremonial Sabbaths were distinguished from the weekly Sabbaths of the Ten Commandments (Leviticus 23:1-4, 23:37, 23:38).
” Where in the Hebrew Bible is the date of Passover mentioned? Answer: Exodus 12:1-14, 34:25, Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 28:16, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8, 16:12.
” Where in the Hebrew Bible does it mention the length of the Passover festival? Answer: Exodus 23:15, Exodus 34:18, Leviticus 23:6-8, Numbers 28:17-25, and Deuteronomy 16:3, 16:4, 16:8.
” Festival of the Passover (I.E. lamb) Offering: 1/14 (Exodus 12:1-14, Exodus 34:25, Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 28:16, Deuteronomy 16:1-8,12)
” Rosh Ha-Shanah: 7/1 (Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 29:1-6).
” Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): 7/10 (Leviticus 16, Leviticus 23:27-32, Numbers 29:7-11).
” Cleansing of the sanctuary and the genuine people of G-d (Leviticus 16:17,30,33).
” Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Ingathering)
” 7/15 - 7/21 (seven days) (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:33-43, Numbers 29:12-38, Deuteronomy 16:13-15).
” Simchat Torah: Rejoicing, joy complete (Leviticus 23:40, Deuteronomy 16:14,15).
” Shemini Atzeret: The closing assembly of the annual festival cycle (Leviticus 23:36,37)

​

Additional Notes:

​

While in captivity in Babylonia, the Jews began a strict observance of Shabbat, or the Sabbath, which is the period of rest on the seventh day. Since the exiled Jews in Babylonia were unable to pray in their Temple in Jerusalem, it having been destroyed by the Babylonians when they conquered the Kingdom of Judah in 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E., and deporting most of the Jews to Babylonia, the Jews created in time what they lost in space: giving the seventh day of the week (Saturday) to G-d in the form of Shabbat, or the Sabbath. In fact, Shabbat is so holy to the Jewish people that in the Jewish calendar, the days are designated by their position in relation to Shabbat I.E. the sixth day before Shabbat, the fifth day before Shabbat, and so on.

​

Exodus 20:8-11 reflects how the week is deeply embedded in Biblical tradition. The "day of rest", the seventh day, is in fact part of the 10 Commandments: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the L-rd thy G-d; in it thou shalt not do any work...For in six days the L-rd made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the L-rd blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).

​

================================================== =

---

quote:

---

Nothing to say for yourself, IaJ?

---

I had no prompts of these posts. I see you guys have zoomed into some laws which appear very negatively presented. Firstly, I myself find any law which is racist or positively wrong, unacceptable. Further, I also believe that if a book contains one positively bad/wrong law, it renders the entire book unacceptable, where that book presents itself as a divine inspired document; because G-d cannot be selectively or partially right, and still omniscient.I have questioned some laws myself, starting in the goal of evidencing these as wrong, in order to not accept the entire works. I did find that the wrong aspect was a result of limited knowledge in the subject. With regard my bold statement, all world accepted moral/ethical laws are contained exclusively in the OT: I stand by this statement. This has not been taken up, and instead, some laws have been presneted here as being unacceptable; as opposed to showing any law from any other place, being accepted by the world, and not already contained in the OT.And what I refer to as 'world accepted', is that it is not limited to being followed only by the adherants of that religion, but rather that it is accepted by others, and other countries and nations, and enshrined in their institutions and constitutions. Obviously, not all peoples or countries or ideologies would follow all the laws, because some would impinge on their own laws and beliefs, for example, we do not see communist states accepting free elections, liberty, democrasy and inalienable humans rights: this does not infringe my statement, any more than murder being wrong and murderers existing.The only law I found which is generally accepted and not contained in the OT, is that of Bigamy, said to be introduced by the least likely source, namely by Rome. I still wonder if this qualifies, because post-law [post Moses], multi wives were fully abandoned, and Rome introduced this law for different reasons than moral/ethical considerations. Still, that Rome 'mandated' this into law, is something worth acknowledging. But this thread did not posit any canditates to negate my bold statement. What happened?!

quote:

---

Where to start, IamJoseph?

---

I would think, by not including ritual laws, which are specific to its prefixed, 'UNTO YOU' [Israelites], and by showing some world accepted laws not contained in the OT.

quote:

---

Exodus
20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me

---

Understand what that means. Not that there is an acknowledgement of other Gds, but that this was the percieved beliefs prior to Abraham's Monotheism. It means there are no other Gods ['I am the Lord, there is no other'/Ex]. we see that the 2nd C of Sinai forbids the worship of any components of the universe, including those on this earth, including images and animals: obviously, there can be no view that this is because the images and animals are Gds, but because it is false and a wrong path. This does not come under moral/ethical laws, but ritual. This is a good, correct, intelligent, unquestionable law, even from the pov of atheists, scientists and other belief systems. There can be no Monotheism w/o forbidding other false worshiping; this is what caused Abraham to flee his hometown in UR, with a death sentence decreed against him. In all cases of understanding the laws, its intergration premise must be factored in: one cannot conclude with a contradiction in another place - this signifies a wrong turn, an incorrect understanding. Wrong way - your bad - go back.

quote:

---

22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

---

Human sacrifice was first forbidden in the OT; as well as incest, beastiality and basing knowledge and direction according to the occult. The term of the text is sorcerors, and this is different from modern times palm readers and crystal balls, which were murdered in 1000s by the medevial church. in biblical times, a sorceror was a very evil person, able to cause the death of a family member, or making a nation go to war, as well as inculcating very vile practices which cannot be recovered from. In all cases, the issue of a death sentence is qualified by several conditions, even before convicting the owner of an animal which killed humans - warnings and conditions apply; the penalty adaptable to the generation's held ways - even for wanton murder [capital punishment was first abolished in Israel, 2900 years ago]. But the law against ancient sorcery was a good law, and not to be confused with superstitition, today's modern white witches or bias against other forms of believers ['LOVE THE STRANGER'; etc].

quote:

---

23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

---

Read carefully this exacting text. NOT BOW = limited to worship only; AFTER THEIR WORKS = abandoning Monotheism laws and practicing Polytheism/paganism via ensnarement - inducement and purposeful design. It does not sanction being disrespectful of other beliefs or not accomodating them w/o prejudice [DO NOT VEX THE STRANGER; etc]. Here, both party's interests must be negotiated, and the stranger is also onuserable by 'HONOR THE LAWS OF THE KINGDOM WHICH HOUSES YOU'. If one accepts to go and live in Mecca, for example, they cannot flaunt that nation's laws.

quote:

---

23:32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

---

No covenant = which would contradict the existing Abrahamic covenant.

quote:

---

33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

---

This is qualified with, and applying to: 'lest they make thee sin against me'. It is an extension of the previous verse 32, namely, it refers to making covenants with them of a religious nature. It is similar to a national patriotic law, where alliegience is already made by virtue of being a citizen of a nation, which acts as a covenant.

quote:

---

So..."freedom of religion" or even tolerance of other faiths was definitely not a moral law espoused by the OT.

​

The freedom to worship (or not worship) in whatever way one chooses is one of the most basic human rights held by the global community today.

​

There's one example, as you requested, IAJ. Any response?

---

But on a closer examination, those laws represent the antithesis of your conclusion. Now go and check them in comparison of any other theology anywhere. Exceot for the US Constitution, which is derived from the OT laws, and some nations like India which have been tolerent and hospital to many peoples for 1000s of years, I have not seen the equivalence of the OT laws in relation to tolerance in any other sector. Certainly not in christianity and islam, where these laws are not found as mandated:DO NOT VEX THE STRANGER [A 'stranger' in the OT is one from a different belief, nation and tradition]LOVE THE STRANGERDO NOT LIE TO THE STARNGERDO NOT CHEAT OR DECIEVE THE STRANGEREQUAL RIGHTS FOR THE STRANGER AS THE INHABITANTFOR YOU WERE STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND AND YOU KNOW HOW THAT WAS.

this is completely off-topic, completely undemonstrated, uneducated bible drivel.and no, more uneducated ravings.
dictionaries aren't hard. they name things. it's amazing. you like naming things.henotheism: the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods.the middle east of prehistory was filled with regional gods, tied to the land. case in point, when the man came down from philistia and decided to worship the god of abraham, he took home soil from israel. he couldn't worship the god of israel unless he was "in israel" or rather "on israeli soil". why do you think abraham's god brought him to a place where he could worship him? it wasn't because israel was some oasis in the desert. it's still fucking desert. but it was the land of that god.no matter what your pastor says, "you shall have no other gods before me" doesn't mean money or sex or chocolate or "whatever you might love more than jesus" it really means other gods. they were absolutely convinced of a full pantheon of various levels of supernatural creatures. believing that there may be other gods but you only worship one is henotheism.also, stop saying maths. it makes you sound stupids.