The Bible supports evil things.

Opening

A refresher on the guidelines.

I will present my argument and you can raise your hand to argue against it.

My argument and your defense must both come from the Bible.

I’m allowed to lie to you, but if you ask me if I’m lying, I’ll be honest.

I’m allowed to use logical fallacies, but you are allowed to call me on it.

I can choose who to pick when hands are raised and I am allowed to neglect any of you if I choose to do so.

I may have multiple arguments and if I feel that either you have won an argument, or if I feel you are at a dead end, I can elect to move to another argument and we will discuss everything later.

If you have a thought, raise your hand. If someone is talking and I make eye contact with you, put your hand down and I’ll get back to you once whoever is talking is finished.

Any questions?

Opening Argument

So we have a government that we have to obey, correct?

Now whenever there’s a behaviour, the government can do one of four things.

The government can encourage a behavior by rewarding this behavior in some fashion; benefits, tax deduction, discounts, etc. The government encourages you to have children by giving you a tax deduction. The government encourages you to join the military, or to become a first responder, by giving many benefits.

The government can tolerate a behavior by doing nothing. In other words, it’s allowed, but not encouraged. I think an example of this would be owning firearms. You have the right to own a firearm, but you get no benefits or tax deductions (I think). But you also are not taxed annually for guns you own (I think).

The government can discourage a behaviour such as through tax or limitations. An example of this is smoking. Past a certain age, you’re legally allowed to go buy a pack of cigarettes, but there’s a heavy tax on smoking to make it more expensive. Why? There’s a health risk and they’re bad for the environment.

The fourth thing the government can do is outlaw something. This is obviously something you’re not allowed to do at all. If you’re caught doing this, it is an offense and you will be fined and could possibly serve jail or worse.

We can agree that the government can do one of these four things for any behaviour, right?

So last week we established that God is good even though there is evil in the world, right?

Well, what if I told you there’s places in the Bible where God not only tolerates evil. He encourages it. Would you believe me?

Argument: Genocide

So what I’m about to read is God giving an encouragement. I’ll read the behavior in a second.

Deuteronomy 7:12–16 CSB

12 “If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep his covenant loyalty with you, as he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and fresh oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock. 15 The Lord will remove all sickness from you; he will not put on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 20:17–18 CSB

17 You must completely destroy them—the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable acts they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

Answer:

Deuteronomy 20:13–18 CSB

13 When the Lord your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword. 14 But you may take the women, dependents, animals, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that the Lord your God has given you. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations. 16 However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 17 You must completely destroy them—the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable acts they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

Argument: Rape

Deuteronomy 22:28–29 CSB

28 If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered, 29 the man who raped her is to give the young woman’s father fifty silver shekels, and she will become his wife because he violated her. He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

Argument: Polygamy

Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon all had multiple wives.

1 Kings 11:3 CSB

3 He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.

Prostitution

Slavery

Starvation

Argument: Slavery

Titus 2:9–10 CSB

9 Slaves are to submit to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back 10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

Deuteronomy 15:12–18 CSB

12 “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year. 13 When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today. 16 But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, 17 take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. 18 Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free, because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Exodus 21:16 CSB

16 “Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.

Exodus 21:20–21 CSB

20 “When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse, the owner must be punished. 21 However, if the slave can stand up after a day or two, the owner should not be punished because he is his owner’s property.

Loss of servant and payment and everything.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 23

5 “Do not return a slave to his master when [he] has escaped from his master to you. 16 Let him live among you[] wherever he wants within your city gates. Do not mistreat him.