Is The Bible More Violent Than The Quran?

[Ahimsa]

“Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible,” Jenkins says.

Jenkins is a professor at Penn State University and author of two books dealing with the issue: Jesus Wars and *Dark Passages * — books that haven’t yet been published but are already drawing controversy.

Violence in the Quran, he and others say, is largely a defense against attack.

“By the standards of the time, which is the 7th century A.D., the laws of war that are laid down by the Quran are actually reasonably humane,” he says. “Then we turn to the Bible, and we actually find something that is for many people a real surprise. There is a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide.”

It is called herem, and it means total annihilation. Consider the Book of 1 Samuel, when God instructs King Saul to attack the Amalekites: “And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them,” God says through the prophet Samuel. “But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

 

[Edwardjohn]

And?

 

[SSTeacher]

I guess a steel–plated King James Bible with sharp edges employed as a weapon of choice by an enraged Calvinist might be.

Ecumenically,
Mick

 

[Moscati]

The Old Testament, perhaps. I haven’t read the whole of the Quran. But Christians, at least, also have the New, and generally tend to interpret the Old using it. The New Testament is generally committed to non-violence. Just my thoughts.

 

[SSTeacher]

But Christians, at least, also have the New, and generally tend to interpret the Old using it.

Which Christians did you have in mind?

Curiously,
Mick

 

[Mark77]

Look at the real world. Who urges violence against innocent people & who believes “GOD IS LOVE?” ("DEUS CARITAS EST! 1 Jn 4:8)

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[ralphinal]

One holds violence has part of the story and in the last part, it teaches against it. The other holds violence as a tool to spread the faith. More people might have died in the Bible, but the Bible is not used for as much violence today

 

[Mosacked]

Ahimsa:
On hindsight, Saul has failed terribly. One now wonders at the wisdom of God.

**Amalekites are the ancestors of the philistines who are ancestors of the Palestinian arab muslims. We know that God even raised up Samson JUST to fight the philistines (the Moon Idol - Baal/Allah worshippers). - biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm
**

Perhaps to you that is violence in the wrong direction. But if Saul had done his job well, today we will not be reeling from Islamic terror and having thousands every year die from it.

Hell was made to severely punish evil. If there is totally no damage (to you - violence) to be done to evil, what then is the purpose of heaven?

Personally, I think God decided that since the evil is now stuck in the world (No thanks to the failure of Saul in failing to wipe out the Amalekites), instead of fighting them continually, the best way to save His own was to bring them out through using His OWN blood - Jesus Christ.

muslimsopenyoureyes.blogspot.com

.

 

[seraphime2008]

My two cents about this:
-Koran was revealed only during 23 years of Muhammad’s live, but it has successfully got as many as 500 plus plus violent verses toward people of the professing faith to God and the pagans…we also have to noticed that thought it was considered as self defense, Muhammad himself had ignited the fire of hostility from the beginning of his so called mission.

-The OT covered more than 1600 years of the history of Israel and a written records or library of so many prophets that came with different tone of messages to different situations of Israelites state. So the saying that it has 1600 so…so…violent verses, that is more than what we find if Koran should not be seen proportionally by the amount of verses.They were the only nation that had the notion of Oneness of God while other nations were disputing over which god is more powerful and effective. As struggling nation of relatively small sized amongst the pagan, I think the OT has shown that God was effective in maintaining the faith by showing the force and power that God has.

 

[dzheremi]

What a shame to see Jenkins come out with such piffle. I greatly enjoyed his recent Lost History of Christianity, but I think I will skip Jesus Wars if the comments made in the interview are indicative of the methodology found therein.

 

[Nine_Two]

The bible may portray more violence, but there is a stark difference between verses talking about a war 3,000 years ago, and verses telling people they should kill all pagans.

 

[ralphinal]

The bible may portray more violence, but there is a stark difference between verses talking about a war 3,000 years ago, and verses telling people they should kill all pagans.

Not to mention giving shifting descriptions of who is and is not pagans.

 

[Moscati]

Which Christians did you have in mind?

Curiously,
Mick

Hm . . . well, in my experience, all of them. (But admittedly, my experience isn’t all that broad.) Isn’t that the idea of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount? “You have heard (OT), but I say to you (NT)”. Not that the OT is somehow abrogated–rather it’s fulfilled. But Jesus casts much of it in a different light.

 

[free2pray]

I don’t see any Christians putting on ski masks and grabbing their AK 47’s and burning down mosques yelling “God is great!”

On the other hand you see Muslims do these acts and rather frequently. A cartoon is drawn of a prophet and they freak out and turn into a raging mob?

Yet shows like Family Guy, South Park and all of Hollywood blaspheme the name of Christ all day long yet not a Christian stirs. And this is even one of our most important standards one of the Ten commandments! Which says not to take the Lords name in vain.

The proof is in the pudding

Remember also that the Muslims have more than just the Koran to go off of. Example the Hadith.

Allah demands through his prophet Muhammad that Jihad be waged against the infidel the enemies of Allah and that if need be you die in the process for that’s the only way to be positive that you go to heaven, but Christ says “you’re my enemy i will die for you and purchase you a place in heaven at my expense.”

big difference if you ask me