If the Bible just called a spade a spade, and
condemned sexual sins outright, then no one can possibly have grounds to criticise it. The
real indictment against the Bible, at least much of the Old Testament, is that its normal
tone is coarse and barbaric.
The
Hebrew word for a woman simply refers to the sexual interest a man has in her. In early
times, according to the Bible, a Hebrew woman was only a piece of property, a vent for man’s
lust and a mechanism for child–bearing. Daughters were at the disposal of their
farthers; any man who received the paternal sanction, which generally had to be paid for,
could sexually enjoy them.
This
comes out very clearly in the disgusting story of Lot and the men of Sodom. Heavenly
beings ("Sons of Elohim") visit the nephew of Abraham, while low fellows from
the Sodomite mob besiege his house and demand the handing over of his guests for
homosexual purposes. As a considerate host, Lot offers these lecherous beasts the
opportunity of raping his virgin daughters. "Behold now, I have two daughters which
have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is
good in your eyes, only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the
shadow of my roof." (Genesis, 19:8.)
It
is unthinkable that any self-respecting father, let alone a Prophet of God as Lot was,
could shamelessly request a man or a number of men to have access to his daughters. This
is a vile fabrication that casts a terrible aspersion on the unimpeachable character of a
Prophet of God!
A
kindred story, even more revolting, is told in Judges, chapter 19. A Levite and his
concubine are entertained by her father at Gibeah, in the territory of the tribe of
Benjamin. A mob of Benjaminites assaults the house and threatens the Levite with their
bestialities. So the father offers his daughter for their enjoyment. In the words of the
New English Bible, (Judges, 19:16-30): "While they were enjoying themselves, some of
the worst scoundrels in the town surrounded the house, hurling themselves against the door
and shouting to the old man who owned the house, 'Bring out the man who has gone into your
house, for us to have INTERCOURSE with him.' The owner of the house went outside to them
and said 'No, my friends, do nothing so wicked. This man is my guest; Do not commit this
outrage. Here is my daughter, a virgin; Let me bring her out to you. RAPE her and do to
her what you please; but you shall not commit such an outrage against this man.' But the
man refused to listen to him, so the Levite took hold of his concubine and thrust her
outside for them." A night of indiscriminate raping kills the poor woman. The Levite,
finding her corpse at the door of the house next morning, is now enraged, having saved his
own anus at the concubine’s expense. He therefore cuts her into twelve pieces and
sends them round "into all the coasts of Israel" as a signal for war against the
Benjaminites.
There
are several other obscene anecdotes in the Old Testament of which we may instance Ham's
mockery of the intoxicated Noah (Genesis. 9:20-27), and the incest of Lot’s daughters
with their father after they had fuddled him with wine (Genesis. 19: 30-38). Both these
stories are malignant myths. Ham is named "the father of Canaan", that is, of
the people of the land the Beni-Israel conquered. The myth of the outraged Noah is meant
to justify the enslavement of the Canaanites by the Hebrews. The other myth is a terrible
libel on the Moabites and the Ammonites, peoples near in kinship to the Beni-Isreal and
cordially detested by them. "The near in blood, the nearer bloody."
The
Hebrews were fond of symbolising Israel as an unfaithful wife who went "a-whoring
after other gods". The details of sexual infidelity are expatiated upon in the
boldest manner. Ezekiel is the worst offender. His lustful imagery of the two courtesans
Aholah (Samaria) and Aholibah (Jerusalem) is quoted here:
"The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: and they committed
whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts
pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were
Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bear sons and
daughters." (Ezekiel, 23:1-4).
This
is hardly the sort of description that would elevate one spiritually and transfer one to
the realms of divine proximity. Yet we are told that "every single word" of the
Bible is God-inspired!
Something
akin to madness must have stamped the writers of Ezekiel and Isaiah. What motivated them
to write certain verses in the manner they did, is a mystery. This may provide a good
field of research for a scholar interested in the psychological and mental make-up of
Hebrew writers of old who wrote the various books of the Old Testament.
We
read in Isaiah that his God had told him to walk in the public gaze with his
"buttocks uncovered".
"..........At the same time spake the Lord by
Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy lions, and put off
thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot...so shall the king of
Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old,
naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt."
(Isaiah, 20:2-4).
Ezekiel
had received a divine order to bake his cake with human excrement. When he protests his
innocence, the Lord relents and tells him to bake his cake with cow dung.
"And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and
thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight...Then said I, Ah Lord
God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted:...Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee
cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith."
(Ezekiel, 4:12-15).
After
reading these verses, it is difficult to imagine that the Biblical God is a decent, holy,
pure, kind, merciful, loving Being. If he gives commands to butcher infants and sucklings,
if he orders his Prophets to walk naked in public streets and to bake their cakes in human
excreta, then we would be forgiven if we say that we have no respect for such a God. The
truth of the matter, however, is that the Bible has been so terribly distorted, twisted
and altered that even the Holy personality of God Almighty did not escape the busy hands
and filthy minds of interpolators. Truth has been stretched to snapping point. Fertile
minds produced fabrications based on some actual incident; a true theme provided pivot for
a concocted hash - and all this has been passed down to posterity as the "pure,
unadulterated Word of God". A great travesty of words can hardly be imagined!
A
correspondent signing himself as CHUTZPAH, wrote as follows in the Johannesburg daily
newspaper, The Star, of 8th December, 1964:
"Sir - With all manner of books being banned
for the smallest indiscretions, it would surely be consistent with moral policy for the
Publications Control Board to ban the Bible.
The
Hebrew scripture features too much violence and is far too frank with sexual matters. A
single chapter for example, deals unashamedly with the incestuous escapade of a prostitute
and with coitus interruptus.
The
Christian scriptures make accusation against Jews, ranging from Christ's murder to
consorting with the devil.
Since
these passages are hardly calculated to foster inter-racial peace and understanding and
since the Hebrew scripture can contaminate the innocent minds of young people, it would
surely be in the public interest to order all copies of the Bible withdrawn from
circulation."