Deuteronomy 22:28-29

[Godscreated]

Hey guys, I was pressing a guy on Deuteronomy 22:28-29 in a discussion elsewhere

"28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives."


I asked him if society would be more moral if people obeyed this law, and he came back with this:

First of all, this is a Jewish Civil Law. I would encourage you to see the brilliance of the law. Much like America's civil law that makes men who get women pregnant, have to pay child support, this law make men pay for the crime of rap. If a woman in Jewish culture was found not to a virgin, she was disregarded by other men and had no future for marriage. This took care of this problem. Again, they may or may not be more moral, but they would be healthier and more civil.

I just wanted some help developing my thoughts in regard to this apologetic. What do you guys make of this? How might you respond to it?

I do have a few ideas on how I might reply, the main problem with the passage is that it doesn't give the rape victim any say in what happens, but I just thought I'd post this here and see if you guys thought of anything that didn't occur to me; I have been somewhat sleep deprived lately so it wouldn't surprise me.

 With the advice you were given and the response from the guy you challenged, you're between a rock and a hard place. Next time maybe you'll consider staying quite before challenge Christians who have studied the Bible.

GC