(January 23, 2014 at 1:48 am)rasetsu Wrote:
I won't pretend that I've read all this garbage, nor buy all of Drich's meanderings, or have thought about it all that deeply, but my impression on reading your first post, and which has only been strengthened with additional arguments, is that the references to the offering of the first born of Israel are largely references to symbolic offerings, not literal ones. The inconsistencies inherent in the David and Bathsheba narrative are, to my mind, a separate issue, and in their inconsistent testimony to Yahweh's character, add as much confusion to an already confused question as they do clear it up. A muddy mirror does not yield a clear reflection, so that record likely needs setting aside on this specific question. There are certainly passages which raise some hair raising questions about the Jewish attitude toward human sacrifice, but I see no smoking gun here.
I thought that too, but 1 kings 16:34 changed my mind.
16:34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
