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“ ” Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. —2 Kings 21:12

God is recorded in the Bible as having personally killed a large number of people.[note 1] While the majority of the divine assassinations certainly took place during God's time as the notoriously vengeful deity in the Old Testament, a few instances are also recorded in the (just slightly) more peaceful New Testament.

This page lists people personally assassinated by His hand or by His non-human minions; however, it is not entirely complete. It also does not include the vastly greater number of people which the Bible maintains were killed at His instruction, or in His name throughout recorded history, though those count towards his tally.

Old Testament killings by God [ edit ]

“ ” If the Old Testament had been marketed as a horror story — like a Stephen King novel — we might think differently about it. We applaud King's talent (if not the actions of his characters). Those who read his belief-suspending books can appreciate the literary value of that genre. We wink as we wince. We could make allowances for the crude (or even ) writing style of the Old Testament authors if we thought their aim was real horror story — the one that made not pretending. And neither were the readers. Today, anyone who takes the Old Testament seriously — and does not wink or wince at the gratuitous splattering of blood — is a troubled person. If the Old Testament had been marketed as astory — like a Stephen King novel — we might think differently about it. We applaud King's talent (if not the actions of his characters). Those who read his belief-suspending books can appreciate thevalue of that genre. We wink as we wince. Wemake allowances for the crude (or even camp ) writing style of the Old Testament authors if we thoughtaim was to entertain by shocking . But thehorror story — the one that made Nietzsche say he needed to put on gloves before reading it — is that those writers were. Andwere the readers. Today, anyone who takes the Old Testament seriously — and does not wink or wince at the gratuitous splattering of blood — is a troubled person. —Former evangelical pastor Dan Barker , God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction[1]

The God of the Old Testament had a very simple approach to education and law. In Genesis 9:1, God asked that Noah and his kin be "be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." Frenzied reproduction was certainly a good idea when trying to avoid extinction at the hands of an angry God, who saw death as a suitable chastisement for even the most trivial of offences.

Perspectives [ edit ]

Since large numbers of people often end up as meaningless statistics, consider the rough guide below:

20 million - In the global flood this figure is just over the maximum estimated human population before agriculture. Approximately the current population of Australia. It would take about a decade for this many Americans to die of natural causes. Actually, absolute terms aren't useful for this one as it was near-enough 100% of the population - imagine 7.5 billion people being killed should God decide to pull this one again.

- In the global flood this figure is just over the maximum estimated human population before agriculture. Approximately the current population of Australia. It would take about a decade for this many Americans to die of natural causes. Actually, absolute terms aren't useful for this one as it was near-enough 100% of the population - imagine 7.5 billion people being killed should God decide to pull this one again. 185,000 - Assyrian soldiers killed while sleeping. This is greater than the entire multi-national coalition force at the peak of the Iraq War - so imagine losing that entire force in their sleep in one night. By comparison, the bloodiest battle (on a single day) in modern history would be the first day of the Battle of the Somme, where 20,000 BEF troops were killed. 185,000 is also the equivalent of 9/11 every single day for two months. It is slightly higher than the largest ever attendances at Talladega or Daytona motor racing tracks. [3]

- Assyrian soldiers killed while sleeping. This is greater than the multi-national coalition force at the peak of the Iraq War - so imagine losing that entire force in their sleep in one night. By comparison, the bloodiest battle (on a single day) in modern history would be the first day of the Battle of the Somme, where 20,000 BEF troops were killed. 185,000 is also the equivalent of 9/11 every single day for two months. It is slightly higher than the largest ever attendances at Talladega or Daytona motor racing tracks. 70,000 - Assorted Israelites, incidentally the same number of people who claimed to be Jedi in the 2001 Australian census. This is approximately the athletics capacity of Wembley Stadium, or towards the upper end of casualty estimates for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (39,000-80,000) [4] .

- Assorted Israelites, incidentally the same number of people who claimed to be Jedi in the 2001 Australian census. This is approximately the athletics capacity of Wembley Stadium, or towards the upper end of casualty estimates for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (39,000-80,000) . 50,070 - Assuming the higher figure, this is not far off the capacity of Yankee Stadium. Sports stadiums are useful comparisons because they're areas where we have photographs of that many people in close proximity and you can see how many it represents.

- Assuming the higher figure, this is not far off the capacity of Yankee Stadium. Sports stadiums are useful comparisons because they're areas where we have of that many people in close proximity and you can see how many it represents. 24,000 - Slightly higher than the capacity of Madison Square Garden for pro wrestling.

Of course, many of these numbers do pale next to what humans do to each other, and what the planet itself has thrown at us, but it is really the motives (or lack of) that should be truly shocking. When one takes into consideration all killing committed for God and in his name (up until the present 2020), the tally increase would be much, much higher. He gives free will, but apparently, it is just a trap.

But, remember.... God loves you!

New Testament killings by God [ edit ]

God of the New Testament appears to have had a rather drastic change in personality, resulting in far fewer deity-induced deaths than seen in the Old Testament. On the other hand, the New Testament is a smaller anthology covering a much shorter time period, and makes up for it with Revelation.

Fatalities Crime Method used Biblical reference Ananias and Sapphira Lying (Offering the money they got from selling some land but secretly withholding some, in an attempt to save money while becoming well respected.) First one and then the other fell dead at Peter's feet when he questioned them. Possibly a divine heart attack. Acts 5:1-10 Herod Failure to praise God Struck down by an angel and eaten by worms. Acts 12:23 (Perhaps a potential concern for much of the human race.) (Prophesied future killings) Indeterminate amount, at least all living non-Christians and "Not Good Enough" Christians Not worshiping God, or following the Beast instead of God. Or simply being in the way. Various Detailed in the passages where God sends four horsemen (Revelation 6:1-7), commands the angels to sound seven trumpets (Revelation 8:7-11:15), commands the angels to unleash seven plagues (Revelation 16:2-17). Finally the Great Beast, his False Prophet and all non-saved are cast into a Lake of Fire. (More Prophesied Future Killings) Indeterminate amount, stated as "Like the sand on the beach" Being part of Satan's last Army Fire from Heaven Revelation 20:8-9

Mysterious ways [ edit ]

See the main article on this topic: Mysterious ways

Despite the obvious dickery above, it's quite easy for the usual theological excuse to be trotted out to explain it: God works in mysterious ways.

How many people will die at the Battle of Armageddon? [ edit ]

“ ” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. —Revelation 14:18-20

Let's assume that 1,600 stadia (320 kilometres = 320,000 metres) is the diameter of the lake of blood, therefore, the radius is 800 stadia or 160km. Let's also assume that a horse's bridle is approximately 1.5 metres from the ground, giving us its depth.

We can then calculate the volume of blood using the formula: V = πr2h. Using biblical value of π = 3 we get the formula:

3 × 160,000 × 160,000 × 1.5 = 115,200,000,000 = 1.152×1011 cubic metres of blood.

1 cubic metre = 1,000 litres

115,200,000,000 × 1,000 = 115,200,000,000,000 = 1.152×1014 litres of blood

If we divide this number by the average amount of blood in a human body, 5.5 litres:

115,200,000,000,000 ÷ 5.5 = 20,945,454,545,500

So we find that according to scripture, at a bare minimum according to one interpretation, God will kill approximately 20,945,454,545,500 people. That's in the trillions.

However, since it says flows and not pools, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that a river was formed. Assuming they measured the blood-flow using actual horses, and a horse is 1 metre across.

320,000 × 1 × 1.5 = 480,000 cubic metres of blood.

480,000 × 1,000 = 480,000,000

480,000,000 ÷ 5.5 = 87,272,727

So, in another interpretation, God will kill a minimum of 87,272,727 people to produce a horse bridle-high blood-flow.

See also [ edit ]

Notes [ edit ]

↑ Strictly speaking some non-existent God is fast-tracking people to their afterlife destinations due to the fact that from the point of view of the "immortal God", death is simply moving a soul from life to the afterlife where it can be sorted. And then there is the problem of where your afterlife will take you based on different interpretations of the Bible . Some might not even need to spend time in Hell or the Purgatory if Sola fides is their thing.