1-I have two questions about the Mosaic Law. The first is this. Why were they so sexist? Why were women stoned for fornication, but men were not? Deuteronomy says that husbands had their wives stoned to death if they werent virgins, regardless if the woman was faithful after marriage. Why werent men punished for fornication in the same harsh way women were, in Moses law? [/qjuote]
You haven't read that very carefully.
Both the woman and the man were to be stoned for adultery.
If a groom suspected that his new bride had not been a virgin, it was up to the bride's mother to produce the proof of virginity, which was the sheet upon which the bride and groom slept on the night of consummation.
If the bride's mother could not produce a blood-stained sheet upon demand, then the bride could be stoned. But...in real life how likely was it the mother could not produce a blood-stained sheet?
Moreover, the penalty for a false accusation was extremely heavy on that groom...how many grooms would bet what was a small fortune that the bride's mother could not produce a blood-stained sheet?
This would only happen if the young woman was promiscuous--that is, having sex before marriage without reporting it to her parents. Rape and seduction--reported to the parents--was handled in ways harsh for the man.
A valid question might be why Jews can talk about it. They still consider that Mosaic covenant valid. The Bronze Age Israelites were an unruly people. Even God said so:
"The Lord spoke further to me, saying, I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. "Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'" (Deuteronomy 9:13-14).
Jesus pointed out that the moral compromises of the Mosaic Law was because the people's hearts at that time were hard. Jesus repudiated the moral compromises that God permitted the Israelites (see "Sermon on the Mount").
But Christians are under a different covenant. Christians are not responsible for what God permitted people back in the Bronze Age.
1-That doesnt happen to all women.
2-If she reported it to them, would she still have been punished, according to Old Testament law? What if the woman had premarital sex, but didnt want to get married? It doesnt seem fair that she would be punished then.
God didnt just permit/tolerate barbaric punishments-he actually commanded it. And for the sake of arguement, let's just say God permitted and tolerated those punishments(God tolerated a lot of sin in ancient israel, like polygamy), but why did God ordain those laws to Moses? Ordaining those laws to Moses is different from tolerating the bronze age actions of the ancient Israelites-its condoning and sanctioning it.
While I know that the Bible is true, how do you expect people to know that Christianity is the true religion, when much of the Old Testament seems very similar to radical islam?
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