My honest review of Christianity

[Jenny A]

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Who cares what Paul says the OT said? You might as well quote Exodus itself: "For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people, and will not let them go. 18 Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. " Exodus 9:15-18 NRSV

"But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses." Exodus 9:34-35

"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the Lord.” Exodus 10:1-2.

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Okay, let's say it's not a metaphor and god did just what he said and changed Pharaoh's mind for him so he could injure a few more Egyptians since he could come up with a better way to show his power. Happy? Cause it makes god look a hell of a lot less just and more evil to me.

It also really makes a mockery out of free will.

If you'll notice it says "he sinned once and hardened his heart." Pharaoh made the decision on his own. That's why it says he sinned again. He couldn't have sinned if he had no choice in the matter. Sin comes about because of free will. Again, it's your idea of how God operates. You're looking at him and determining that he must act according to the way you reason that he would or should. He knows the future, but doesn't always cause it to happen. It's a quality that belongs to God and not to people. When you read scripture, you need to interpret according to what has already been established in the minds of the writers.

Yes Pharaoh's actions are unbelievable (but then the whole Exodus story is unbelievable). However giving the historical accuracy of the story pass for the moment:

You can't have it both ways. Either Pharaoh has a will of his own and "god hardened his heart" is a metaphor. Or god merely made use of the Pharaoh's stubbornness in which case god is lying when he says:

"for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine."

Either god took away pharaoh's free will, or god lied. Which is it?