Expert: Mrs. Priscilla Lyons - 4/5/2005

Question
I was raised by a Muslim Father and a Christian mother.  Recently I have heard a lot of biased Christian propaganda against Islam on the basis that Islam is inherently violent.  
I find this downright ludicrous when Christians rant against “violent” Islam and are ignorant of Biblical history.  Take the following texts:

Deuteronomy 7:1-2: "... the seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them."
Joshua 6:21: "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
Joshua 10:40-41: "So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon."

Deuteronomy 2:26-35 - Land of Heshbon "...we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain."

(Numbers 31:7): "They warred against Midian, as YAHWEH commanded Moses, and killed every male. They killed the kings of Midian ... And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. All their cities in the places where they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire."

(Numbers 31:15) : "Moses was enraged with the officers of the army ... ‘So you spared the women! ... Kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man, but keep the virgins for yourselves ... divide them up evenly.'"

1 Samuel 15:2, 20): "Thus says YAHWEH of hosts, 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'" And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. And Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them." ... So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites ... and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword ... And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of YAHWEH, I have gone on the mission on which YAHWEH sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek , and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites."
       Leviticus 20:13:13 " 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.


Numbers 15:32-35: 32 While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp."

In these passages God is instructing his people in the ways of genocide and bigotry.
Please explain to me how Christianity is anymore tolerant accepting and peaceful than any other religion.  

Answer
Dear Amir,
  Thank you for writing.  I'm sure there are misunderstandings on both sides and many variations among Christians and Muslim, but it is still important to consider these claims as you are doing.
   One aspect I believe important to consider is the limited scope of the Biblical references you mention.  God never told the Jews to kill all non-Jews like the Koran says to kill all infidels.  The area God promised Israel is very small compared to United States, and God gave the inhabitants of that land more than four hundred years of mercy before the fullness of their iniquity brought justice . Genesis 15:13-21
   God started teaching mankind the consequences of sin in a literal way like we try to protect children from serious harm by the less serious pain of spanking.  Homosexuality still shortens a man's lifespan by the diseases associated with feces and semen entering the bloodstream through the tears from anal sex, but if one learns from the examples in the Old Testament, one is protected from such consequences.  
   Numbers 31:16 explains that you don't hug what killed 24,000 people (Number 25:9).  We should wise up ourselves and not embrace the temptations that cause much destruction and often death--the sexual sins, alcohol, etc.
   When God became human and paid the ultimate consequence for sin, He provided humans with His life and power to go beyond a child's understanding of learning to avoid sin just because of the consequences.  We can now mature to obey God because we love Him and trust His love for us.  We know that His rules protect us and provide a life that can be lived to the fullest.  
   In comparison to God's ways in the Old Testament, God seems to work in a more tolerant, accepting and peaceful way now, but God has always wanted the best for people.  Sometimes it takes a little pain to get our attention and keep us from "driving off the cliff" before it's too late.  But most importantly, we need to understand the enormous, eternal, and grave consequences of our sins.  God doesn't want us to be separated from Him forever and has provided the only perfect payment for the sins that separated us from Him--the sacrifice of the only perfect human, Jesus.  That is the only sacrifice that meets His perfect standard and allows us access to a perfect Heaven, untainted by even one sin (Just the one sin of Adam and Eve escalated to bring all the problems the earth has now, compared to the perfect place it was before they sinned.) The Judge removed His judicial robe and became One of us to pay the price to free us from eternal separation from Him, the Source of all Life, Love, and Justice.  (Death is the consequence for pulling away from the Source of Life Genesis 2:17).  Jesus would never have HAD to die because He had no sin.  He willingly GAVE His life in our place.  If we are willing to trade our sinful life for His perfect life (II Corinthians 5:21), He will live in us to change us and give us life forever with Him.  
   All of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, and all of the bloodshed by the Israelites, then their own punishment by the Babylonians, are to teach us the consequences of pulling away from the Source of Life, but there is more than just physical life.  Only Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to God except through the perfection of Jesus (John 14:6).  
   To be a Christian, you have to accept God's salvation for yourself.  You won't be a Christian if I hurt you enough to make you say anything to get me to stop, or if I scare you enough that you do whatever it takes to get along.  Even offering the physical life of your son or offering your own sinful physical life is not enough and is an insult to and a rejection of God Who already gave His own perfect Son, the Creator of everything, for your salvation.  God offers His love and life for you to be able to fulfill your uniquely created purpose to reflect His image.  It is only in fellowship with Him that we understand why we were born.  He wants you to trust Him enough to live for Him.  Nobody can make you do that, but I can plead with you to respond to God's calling in your heart.  Don't let your pride keep you from trusting your Creator completely--please accept His salvation.
   Love,
   Mrs. Priscilla Lyons