Seems like God could have merely said that instead of stressing everybody out. If the Jewish sages are correct, God's test caused Abraham's wife Sara to have a heart attack.
Sages, Masters, there are thousands of stories,
Can you tell me what you ate for breakfast on the 11/7 1978?
I don't tend to take misrash literally. Gets you into trouble to do so.
Nope, but I'm much better at citing sources. At least the book if not the page number. For instance I can tell you that the Qur'anic story about Abraham busting all of the idols in his father's shop can be found in the Midrash literature as well, though I couldn't tell you exactly where. Actually I can, because I just googled it and found the story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_and_the_Idol_Shop
See? Easy.
I even found a source for your own story. It is from Rashi's commentary.
I know the story of Abraham busting the idols without google.
So what,s new pussycat?
http://coatofmanycolors.net/2012/05/31/chayei-sarah-the-life-and-death-of-sarah/
I don't tend to take misrash literally. Gets you into trouble to do so.
You can believe what you want. I'll trust my faith over random people.You can't take Genesis literally either, because it is plenty disturbing without the embellishments of midrash.
So if we view the story of the binding of Isaac as myth, what is the message of this myth? I don't think the story matches your message ("Unlike the gods of the nations surrounding you, I do not require the blood and life of your children."). No, the message I hear is: "Never question God - even if His instructions seem evil, insane, unenlightened, etc."
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12984-sacrificeSacrifices revert to the most primitive forms of religion—ancestral animism and totemism. The sacrifice is a meal offered to the dead member of the family, who meets his own at the feast. As the honored guest, he is entitled to the choicest portions of the meal.
...
The primitive notion of sacrifice is that it is a gift, which is the meaning of the Hebrew word "minḥah." During the period of cannibalism the gift naturally takes the form of human victims, human flesh being the choice article of food during the prevalence of anthropophagism. It is also that which by preference or necessity is placed on the table of the deity. Traces of human sacrifices abound in the Biblical records.
...
Blood belonged to Yhwh; no man might eat it (I Sam. xiv. 32-34; Lev. xvii. 3 et seq.). The blood was the soul. When animals were substituted for human victims, blood still remained the portion of the Deity. No subtle theological construction of a philosophy of expiation is required to explain this prominent trait (see S. I. Curtiss, "Primitive Semitic Religion," passim). The blood on the lintel (the threshold covenant) at the Passover was proof that that which the Destroyer was seeking—viz., life—had not been withheld. The rite of Circumcision (Ex. iii. 24) appears to have been originally instituted for the same purpose.
...
The donative character of the Hebrew sacrifices appears also from the material used, which is always something to eat or drink, the common dietary articles of the Israelites. The phrase "food of God" (Lev. xxi. 6, 8, 17, 21; xxii. 25; Ezek. xliv. 7) proves the use for which such offerings were intended; and Ps. l. 13 also reveals this intention.
If you believe the deity lives in the clouds, then you would turn the meat into smoke.
Can you tell me what you ate for breakfast on the 11/7 1978?
When some religious person does something evil, stupid, or whatever, I often hear advice such as "don't condemn the religion; those people weren't really following Islam, Christianity, ...".
My opinion is the opposite. People are shaped by circumstances. Nobody is innately good or innately evil. Under slightly different circumstances, Joseph Stalin might have become a priest or a baseball commentator or almost anything. Society shapes the individual. When we see people from a certain society behaving badly, we cannot simply blame the individuals; we must blame their society. When religion is an important part of their society, then we must blame their religion.
Obviously we need to punish individuals, because that deters misbehavior. However, we need to look at the true causes of misbehavior - psychological, early childhood, poverty, ... and in some cases religion. Blaming the individual is pointless, because it is very possible that nobody has free will.
Jesus did not mince words with the religious Pharisees who derived their character from the Devil.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The true cause of misbehavior comes down to who your spiritual father is.
As a Christian, I assume that you believe all true Christians have been born again with a new parent - God? And I assume you believe that everybody else continues with their natural-born parent - Satan?
I am glad you seem to agree that external factors contribute to individual misbehavior.
Do you think certain non-Christian religions might be more prone to promote misbehaviors of various kinds?
Would you agree that we should criticize these religions for the misbehavior of some of their members that results?
O my, what a disaster.
At sea school we got salt.
They said it would give us straight teeth and curly hair.
Happy Days.
As an example, if we can demonstrate statistically that believing in Islam doubles the probability of domestic abuse relative to believing in atheism, should we criticize Islam? The majority of Muslims do not commit domestic abuse - still just a minority. (BTW, I don't have any statistics showing this; I'm just giving a hypothetical.)
I don't necessarily believe that true believers should criticize non-christian religions because then it appears that they are establishing their own Christianity as a religion and true Christianity is not a religion, it is the living, dynamic being of Christ living in and through men. Now, at the same time, men have taken the Bible and codified it and created many systems of belief out of the Bible and thus have created many "Christian" religions, but in it's simplicity and pureness, true Christianity is not a religion. It is Christ.
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