Posted by blue on June 02, 1998 at 23:25:41:
In Reply to: Explain this one posted by Carlos on June 02, 1998 at 11:55:40:
: Here's some content for you. In Judges chapter 11 (I think) there is a story of a man who makes a ridiculous vow. He tells God that, if the Israelites win a battle, that he will sacrifice to God the first thing that walks out his front door when he gets home. That first thing is his daughter, who after a suitable period of mourning is dutifully sacrificed.
: Now, there is a reasonable explanation for this story. The book of Judges was assembled centuries after the events it purports to depict. The editor(s) needed to explain a certain ritual that Isralite women had incorporated from their absorption of one of the pagan tribes. So the editor(s) invented a story of a faithful Israelite to explain the pagan practice. This explanation, which I took from Isaac Asimov's Old Testament commentary, is accepted by most scholars.
Good old Isaac Asimov. The man who preached that the universe is full of ether. Also the man who went to great lengths to explain how a pot of water can freeze while being heated over a fire. His theories have long been accepted by many. Some are probably true. I doubt the one you cited.
Fundamentalists, Mormon and otherwise, have a harder time explaining the passage.
What's the problem? Jephthah screwed up.
: Any takers to justify human sacrifice?
Nope. It's a bad thing to do. It gets you in all sorts of trouble. Bad, bad, bad.
I can tell you that Jephthah's daughter is a type of the sacrifice of Jesus by God the Father. I can also tell you it was a bad idea on the part of Jepthah to bargain with God. But these are my opinions. It's a nasty story, and one I particularly dislike teaching in my adult Sunday school class, but it's not much of a theological conundrum. Have I missed your point?
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