Illogical

 

Murder.

Genesis 9.6 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.

If you killed someone, your punishment will be death penalty because human beings are created in God's image. An eye for an eye is the process of punishment given by the creator. However, when Cain murdered Abel and desired death instead of facing his sentence, God himself said that whoever kills Cain, vengeance would befall upon him seven times over. Thus, rather than putting Cain to death as per law, God prohibited anyone to kill Cain. Is this a reasonable way of giving justice to mankind by divine creator by breaking his own rules?

Genesis 4:15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Animal sacrifice.

Leviticus us 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Christians believes that the son of man was sacrificed on the cross to forgive the sins of humanity. The old Jewish cult of sacrificing animals on the altar for the atonement of sins was replaced by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Is there any logical sense for killing an animal or human being to be offered as burnt sacrifice for the atonement of our sins? Why is it necessary that an innocent creature should die in order for our sins to be forgiven? Does God really endorse this kind of rituals?

It is ethically wrong and selfish on our parts to inflict pains unto another creature for the sake of purifying ourselves because animals too experiences the same level of agony and pain like human being. The idea that God requires us to sacrifice animal for the atonement of our sins originated from Hebrew religious cult, since the time of Abraham. We are told that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as offering to God and without any hesitation Abraham was about to kill his son; but God stopped him and instead provide him a ram at the last minute. In Hebrew bible, there are multiple instances of both human and animal sacrifices as offering to God for different occasion. The very idea of this ritual probably emerged as a form of repayment to god for the misdeeds of mankind by offering his valued possession, which was animal in those days. Based on this pagan belief, the sacrificial ritual had been continually practiced by the believers till the crucifixion of Jesus the Nazareth. Animal sacrifices were stopped after the crucifixion of Christ on the belief that his life was sacrificed for all sins of humanity, thus took away the necessity of offering animal's blood to god.

For any reasonable person, it is difficult to accept the logic that the blood of an animal will wash away the sins committed by human beings. It is naturally unjust for any creature to carry the yoke of another person no matter what the circumstances may be. Each individual person should be responsible for his own guilt. Neither I should suffer because of you nor should someone else suffer because of me. This is the universal principle of justice. It is fatuous even for Jesus to die so that your sins may be forgiven. Though illogical enough yet men willingly believe because they have faith.

 

Burnt offering.

Leviticus deal not only with the special duties of the Levites but it also concerns mainly the service of worship at the tabernacle, which was conducted by the priests who were the sons of Aaron, assisted by the tribe of Levi. Leviticus is a manual of regulations enabling the holy King to set up his earthly throne among the people of his kingdom. It explains how they are to be his holy people and to worship him in a holy manner.

Leviticus 1:9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

1:13............ It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord

1:17 ..........It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:2..... on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:9 ...... grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

3:15........it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

3:16The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma.

The burnt offering on the altar giving a pleasing aroma to god has been repeatedly mentioned in the book of Leviticus, which rather sounds absurd to a reader at times.

Reading the book of Leviticus, you will realize that the God of Old Testament truly like the aroma of the animals burnt on the altar. Any healthy male animal with no defect was a perfect choice to be sacrificed as burnt offering so that the aroma is pleasant enough to convince God in order to make atonement for your sins. If these laws were in fact directed to mankind by god through Moses; perhaps today's Christians are worshipping him in a wrong way unless God's taste has changed over a period of time. Some said that the blood of Jesus Christ washes away our sins and therefore the old tradition of offering animal blood on the altar is no longer necessary. However, if you read carefully about the special duties prescribed in Leviticus, you will realize that it is not the blood but a pleasing aroma, which God strongly desires.

Since God never said we should stop killing animal for burnt offering, there is a good chance that believers could be offending him for arbitrarily ending the ritual of animal sacrifices. I wonder why God stopped revealing his laws to his worshippers unlike the olden days of Moses.

Death penalty for unauthorized offering.

Leviticus 10:1-2

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

During the time of Moses, God's laws were as stringent as the laws of any worldly dictatorial regime; or perhaps even worse. A minute mistake can cost life without warning. Here, the two sons of Aaron were killed because they probably burnt the wrong incense without authorization from god. The exact reason for their death is obscure, however they did something wrong contrary to God's command; it could be because the incense gave a bad aroma displeasing to him or it could also be because they were drunk. It was a tragic lost to Aaron, still then Aaron was sternly warned not to mourn the death of his sons or he too would be killed. Ironically, strange that such tragic incident could also happen during offering to God.

Purification after childbirth.

Leviticus 12:1-5

According to Moses law, when a woman gives birth to a male child, she remains unclean for two weeks. She must wait sixty six days to be purified from her bleeding. On the other hand, if the child is a male, she is ceremonially unclean only for one week and she must wait thirty three days to be purified from her bleeding.

Is it morally right to consider a woman unclean simply because she gives birth to a child? Either the born child is a male or female, there is no reason for a birth mother to be unclean for different period of time. This purification law is the outcome of Jewish tradition, which finds no basis in the modern society except for the ignorant fanatics. Besides, there is no medical reason for a woman giving birth to a female child would remain unclean for a longer period of time. It simply reminds us of the old Jewish society whereby females are treated differently by denying them even basic rights. Gender inequality was highly prevalent and therefore, people preferred son over daughter. All these laws allegedly revealed to Moses by God were the byproduct of their tradition and culture, which has nothing to do with God, because God do not differentiate any child whether the newborn is male or female.

 

Polygamy.

Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

1 Corinthians 7:2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

Although bible prohibits polygamy, almost all popular figures in the Old Testament were polygamists. For example, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon etc. King David was one of the favorites of God and he was also called as a man of God's own heart because of his faith in God. No doubt David have 17 wives altogether which was evidently clear that he failed to abide God's laws yet he was still a perfect man in the eyes of God. Besides David, all the above-mentioned patriarchs practiced polygamy however, God never objects about their immoral behavior. It was rightly pointed out by some atheist scholar that God was extremely biased towards his own people.