The Bible is Peaceful.

First, let me just say that your Old Testament claims do not apply to us. They only applied to the country of Israel (way back then) and the law was passed by God to the Canaanites who were evil people. This should sum it up pretty well: Christianity does not advocate killing or murdering non-Christians on the basis of their unbelief. The Christian God has commanded disciples of the religion to go into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing everyone (Matthew 28:19) in the name of Jesus Christ (or, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost). However, since the fifth century when St. Augustine of Hippo laid out the principles of Just War, the church has taught that it is OK to kill in defense of those who cannot defend themselves. In that sense, then, it would apply to the question at hand in this manner: If a non-believing sect (religious or secular) attempts to bully children, women, or another class of people who cannot defend themselves then it is an act of justice to violently oppose this bullying through warfare with these provisos: The war is waged through a legitimate authority, such as a nation with a military power and not simply as a gang of rogue mercenaries; and the central motive or end aim must be to re-establish peace. St. Thomas Aquinas further expounded upon St. Augustine's Just War doctrine and added some of his own tenets such as: Must be waged as a last resort Can be waged to redress a wrong suffered Must have a reasonable chance of success Violence of war must be proportional to the injury being redressed Weapons must be used on combatants, not non-combatants Again, the end result should always be to re-establish peace. Old Testament passages that deal with God's commands to the Jews to kill members of the surrounding cultures must be seen in the proper light in order to understand and ascertain their meaning. It might seem unjust to casual observers some thousands of years removed, but understand that the nature of the world at that time was much more brutally violent than in our own times. Many cultures would kill for the sheer joy of it, for the sake of dominance. And their weapons were much more primitive and death was painful. God commanded the Jews to take over the land that would become Israel and to kill all the members of the cultures that resided there. The purpose was to establish spiritual purity. The surrounding cultures would have corrupted the Jews and God wanted them to remain true to his Commandments. Of course, they disobeyed him and didn't kill all the women, children, and animals as he commanded and the surrounding cultures corrupted them. Most Christian theologians interpret those Old Testament verses to be "types" that foreshadow the Christian's commitment to spiritual purity. God does not expect the Christian to kill everyone who doesn't believe. Rather, he expects the Christian to take a harsh approach to sin in his own personal life - to "kill" it. That is, the Christian is to reject anything that leads him to sin against God's Commandments. To unbelievers he is supposed to show grace and offer mercy. Jesus" sword was never a literal one. In fact, when Peter took up a sword to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus rebuked him and told him to put away his sword, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). Why then, did Jesus say, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." What kind of sword did Jesus come to bring? As a result of His visit to the earth, some children would be set against parents and a man"s enemies might be those within his own household. This is because many who choose to follow Christ are hated by their family members. This may be part of the cost of discipleship, for love of family should not be greater than love for the Lord. A true disciple must take up his cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). He must be willing to face not only family hatred, but also death, like a criminal carrying his cross to his own execution. True followers of Christ must be willing to give up, even to the point of "hating" all that is in our lives, even our own families, if we are to be worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37"39). In so doing, we find our lives in return for having given them up to Jesus Christ. Jesus purpose : Jesus put it this way in Luke 19:10: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Jesus had just been criticized for going to the house of a "sinner." Jesus responded by affirming His mission was to save people who needed saving. Their reputation for sinfulness was not a reason to avoid them; rather, it was a reason to seek them out. Many times during Christ"s ministry, He sought to forgive those whom the self-righteous leaders of the day shunned. He sought out and saved the woman at the well and the Samaritans of her town (John 4:39"41), the sinful woman with the alabaster jar (Luke 7:37), and even one of His own disciples, Matthew, who had been a tax collector (Matthew 9:9).All through the Gospels, we see Jesus call to repentance and forgive the worst of sinners. No one is too sinful to come to Him. In fact, He goes after those who are lost, as the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin show (Luke 15:1"10). In the story of the prodigal son, Jesus teaches that God will always welcome with open arms those who come to Him with a repentant heart (Luke 15:21"22; cf. Isaiah 57:15). Even today, Jesus continues to seek and save those who humbly place their faith in Him (Matthew 11:29; 18:3"4; Revelation 3:20). His ultimate gift was dying for our sins. Yes God orders to kill but in what context? The final marching orders of the bible is peace. God commands to kill others after they have sinned and they are being used as an instrument of God. The caaanites were evil and were given ample time to repent. In response to your accusation that the Bible is anti- woman, read this: https://www.gty.org... Just to clarify, the Bible contains a lot of metaphors. met"a"phor G2;medəG6;f"r,G2;medəG6;fər/ noun a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Now, when it says to "cut off thy hand" and what have you in Matthew, you have to understand that was a metaphor. He meant that worldly attachments, friendships, and employments of any kind that cannot be pursued without leading us into sin, be they ever so dear to us, must be abandoned, or the soul will be lost. " It is better for you to enter life maimed."Again, metaphor. Not that there will be any such thing, as upon the resurrection, going into heaven without a limb; for the words are to be understood, not literally, but figuratively. And the sense is, it is better to part with everything here, that is detrimental to a man's doing, or enjoying, what is spiritually good, and enter into eternal life. And in response to your nonsensical claim that "Jesus kills children" I would argue that based on the source you gave me, it's credibility is already weakened. https://answersingenesis.org... You must understand the context, the extensive use of metaphors, and the time period. Jesus came to heal the relationship with God and humans, to fulfill the covenant. Jesus Christ, who I'm surprised you've portrayed as such a criminal, considering he's a big prophet within Islam, promoted peace throughout his entire life. Thank you, and I look forward to your reply.