Christian Morality Evolves

Yahweh, the Mosaic Law, and Christianity:

the Evolution and Relativity of Christian Morals

 by Matthew Kruebbe

For some unfortunate and illogical reason, many modern Christians are fond of claiming that their morals, "God's rules," are "absolute" and "unchanging."

However, it can easily be demonstrated that Christian morality evolves, has evolved, and is relative, de facto, being interpreted differently by individual Christians, different societies, and different eras. 

This presentation will address:

1. New Testament Morals which are no longer practiced or are questionable, even to Christians.

2. Old Testament Morals which are questionable, and sometimes offensive, even to Christians.

Part 1:  The New Testament:

Do YOU have the same opinions on morality as the writers of the various books of the New Testament?

Here are examples of Biblical Christian morality debated, ignored, or rejected BY many modern Christians themselves:

1. The writer of 1 Corinthians considered it immoral for a woman to pray with her head uncovered (1Cor 11:5), or for a man to pray with his head covered (1Cor 11:4).   “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.  For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head, and because of the angels.” (1Cor 11:7-10).  According to Paul, even the angels care whether a woman covers her head.  Did the angels simply stop caring one day?  Do you agree with Paul and his moral absolutes?  Paul says further, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God” (1Cor 11:16).  Note also that Paul believes Jewish mythology about Adam and Eve.

2. 1Cor 11:14 – “Doesn't even nature itself teach you, that, if a man has long hair, it is a shame unto him?”  -  Really?!  Do you agree with this morality?

3. 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 – “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.  If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”  -  Do you agree with this?

4. 1Tim 2: 11-12 – “Let a woman learn in peace, fully submitted; but I do not permit a woman to teach a man or exercise authority over him; rather, she is to remain at peace.”  Many modern Christians disagree with this element of ancient Christian morality. 

5. 1Tim 2:9 – “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments.”  I bet the majority of the Christian women in the U.S. would disagree with traditional Christian morality on this issue, though a minority do try to stick to tradition.

6. Romans 13:1-7 – “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (also, Titus 3:1; 1Peter 2:13)  Is that always true?  Even if Democrats make the laws?!?!

7. For Paul (Romans 1) and Yahweh (Lev 20:13) homosexuality was an abomination, but many modern Christians question this.

8. According to Galatians, Paul, Peter, James, and other Christians could not even agree for certain whether Gentiles had to be circumcised, or whether it was moral for Jewish Christians to eat at the same table with uncircumcised believers.  Paul allegedly condemned Peter for hypocrisy. (Acts tells a different, happier version.)  According to Galatians, James and many Jerusalem Christians considered it immoral to remain uncircumcised.  Most Christians today do not.

9. Slavery:  “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear” (Ephesians 6.5).  Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible supported the institution of slavery. Neither the biblical Jesus nor the earliest Christians said that slavery was immoral, yet so many modern Christians do think so.  If the South had won the American civil war, more people would have persisted even longer in thinking slavery acceptable.

10. Divorce = Adultery:  Mark 10:11 Jesus answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.”  The author of Matthew 19:9 wrote the dialogue differently (even though he was using Mark as his source) AND added that divorce was acceptable in cases of adultery.  Many modern Christians believe that there are many acceptable reasons for divorce.

11. Lust/Desire = Adultery and is Bad:  “I tell you that anyone who looks at a married woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”  Matthew 5:28-29.  Most modern Christians do not think this is to be taken literally, even if they do take literally the parts they like!  Also, some modern Christians don’t think it’s immoral to lust, as long as they do not act on it. 

12. Swearing oaths: “But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, … [or] by your head. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”  (Mt 5:34-37).  Yet modern Christians believe it is okay to swear on the Bible in a law court or to be sworn into public office.

13. Praying in Public is Wrong:  “And when you pray, do not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the assemblies and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet”  (Mt 6:5-6).  Yet many modern Christians want prayer in schools and government buildings, and they love to pray in public, at football games, at graduations, on sidewalks in front of the school at “See You at the Pole” events, etc.

14. Wives submitting to their husbands as their "masters":  1 Peter 3:1-6 “Likewise, you wives should be subordinate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct when they observe your reverent and chaste behavior.  … the holy women who hoped in God … were subordinate to their husbands;    thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him "lord" ("master"). You are her children when you do what is good.”  Many modern Christian women think that at least some parts of this are too extreme.  Many do not believe they are immoral when they don’t obey their husbands.

15. Problematic Sayings of Jesus:   Most Christians only follow the parts of scripture they like.  When confronted with a passage they dislike or do not follow, many modern Christians will offer an excuse that the biblical Jesus must have been exaggerating or not being “literal” when he said things like the following:

    • "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Mt 5:38-41).

    • Lend money to your enemies and don't ask for anything back!  Luke 6.34-35:  "34. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35. But love your enemies, do good to them, and LEND to them without expecting to get anything back."  

      • This is so impractical that hardly anyone will EVER listen to it.  If you give to everyone who asks and you never ask back, you will go broke. However, in the context of the gospel, the author seems to have intended it seriously.  I confess I took it seriously when I was a believer.

    • "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:43-44).

      • “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell / Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell / Gehenna.  (Mt 5:29-30).

      • Verses like these are among the many reasons for the long history of extreme psychological guilt, fear, and repression among believers.

    • “But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.”  (Mt 5:22).

    • Do not think about food, drink, or clothing:  “Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear.”  (Mt 6:25).  

      • Can you imagine what the world would be like if "Christians" actually followed these ideas?

      • Do not think about the future:  “Take no thought for tomorrow: for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself.”  (Mt 6:34).

    • “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  (Mt 7:1).

    • “Ask and it will be given to you … For everyone who asks receives.” (Mt 7:7-8)  

      • This is obviously not true, but excuses abound.

      • "Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”  (Luke 12:33. And this is not the passage where Jesus is addressing only a single young man,  cf. Mk 10:21. No, this is a passage intended for everyone to wishes to follow Jesus. See verses 41 and following).  

      • Obviously, not many Christians are willing to take this seriously, but in its original context, it was intended to be interpreted at face value (i.e. "literally").

      • "Woe to you who are rich.” (Luke 6:24).  “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  … It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  (Mt 19:23-24).

    • Hate your family:  "If any man come to me, and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26).    

      • Sometimes people forget Christianity is just a cult that became popular. Requiring devotion that surpasses all other values and people in a person's life is a good way for cults to retain their members. 

If so many Biblical sayings of Jesus cannot or should not be followed, why do people have the impression that this gospel character was such a great teacher?

16. Did Jesus come to bring peace?  ... No!  ... Christians typically say Jesus came to bring peace to the world, but in the Bible, Jesus explicitly says he did NOT come to bring peace:

    • Matthew 10:34-36: (allegedly Jesus talking):  “Do NOT suppose that I have come to bring PEACE to the earth. I DID NOT COME TO BRING PEACE, BUT A SWORD. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, ... a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

    • Luke 12:51:  (also allegedly Jesus speaking):  "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?  NO, I tell you, but DIVISION."

A great many people fail to realize that the Jesus character in Mark and Matthew was an extremist, want-to-be-king/messiah, who claimed that the generation he lived in would not die before the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven.  Did such failed prophecies originate as ancient fiction meant to inspire a Jewish revolt against Rome, or were those failed predictions really spoken by a historical Jesus whose biography was eventually augmented and fictionalized after his failure and death?  I don't know. But they were wrong, either way, and Western civilization has continually suffered due to reinterpretations of all that eschatological nonsense.

17. Should Christians keep the law of Moses?  

According to the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament, the law of Yahweh given to Moses was to last forever, and even Gentiles would one day acknowledge it:  Isaiah 2:1-4; 8:20; 19:2; 42:1-9; 42:24-25; 51:4; 56:6-7; 60:1-22; 66:19-23; Jeremiah 33:17-18; Ezek. 37:24; Ezek. 40-48; Micah 4:1-3.  

Matthew 5 (possibly written by a Jewish Christian whose community followed the law) presents Jesus as agreeing with the Old Testament prophets, saying, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." In fact, here Jesus says, "not the smallest letter" nor "the least stroke of a pen" will by any means disappear from the law "until heaven and earth disappear."  In Mark and Matthew, Jesus often gives judgements that are even stricter than Mosaic law (Mt 5; Mk 10; Mt 19).  “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:19-20). The rest of the New Testament, not written from the same perspective, says the opposite about the law.  Rom. 10:4: "Christ is the end of the law." Eph. 2:15: speaks of Christ "abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations."  Heb. 10:1: "The law is only a shadow."  Gal. 3:24-25: "The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."  Col. 2:13-17: says that Jesus "cancelled the written code, with its regulations. . . . He took it away, nailing it to the cross." New Moon celebrations and Sabbath days were just "a shadow"  [making Isaiah 66:19-23 impossible to fulfill].  If the Hebrew god Yahweh's laws were not good enough and needed to be updated or amended or to be superseded by Jesus, then Yahweh’s morality CHANGES.  Such was the evolution of Christianity away from being a sect within Judaism and toward accommodating Greek and Roman beliefs.

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Part 2: The Old Testament:

Many Old Testament laws allegedly given to Moses by Yahweh were primitive, were obviously invented by humans, and would not be well tolerated by modern, well-educated people. 

Even people who actually believe in "Yahweh" should admit that "his" moral rules were not absolute and have changed over time:

1. Polygamy:  In the Bible Yahweh never says anything against polygamy, and some of his most famous followers in mythology were polygamous (especially in the early mythology):  Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon.  While the New Testament does not forbid polygamy, 1 Tim 3:2 demands that overseers/bishops be “the husband of but one wife,” and most modern Christians consider polygamy immoral despite the fact that in the literature, Yahweh never said so.  Mormons have heavily debated this too.

2. Slavery:  The ancient Jews and their biblical Yahweh acknowledged the morality of slavery (e.g. Exodus 20:17; 21:1-7).  The Mosaic law supports it, even in the ten commandments, and the law of Moses was supposed to be eternal.  It was even acceptable to sell one’s own daughter into slavery (Exodus 21).

3. Beating Slaves:  Exodus 21:20-21 – If a man beats a slave, it is acceptable as long as the slave gets up within 2 days and can continue his/her work.  Why?  Yahweh and Moses say that the slave is money/property.

4. Sabbath: Yahweh allegedly killed a man for collecting firewood on Saturday and was called "just" by worshippers (Num. 15:32-36). Today, according to many Christians, Yahweh does not do such things or consider it immoral to collect wood on any day of the week.  Did he change his mind?  Did Yahweh give his approval for Roman Christians to change observance from the Sabbath to Sunday, from the 7th day to the 1st day? In 321 CE, the Pagan sun-worshiping Emperor Constantine declared that Sunday was to be a day of rest throughout the Roman Empire.  About 364 CE, the Church Council of Laodicea ordered that religious observances were to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. Sunday became the new “Sabbath.”  By 2000 CE, a majority of modern Christians no longer worried about what they could or could not do on the “Sabbath.”  Plenty of Christians consider Sabbath observance obsolete.

5. Yahweh allegedly ordered the killing of children (e.g. 1 Sam 15).  Most modern Christians consider that immoral.

6. Yahweh allegedly punished the descendants of Ham following Noah's curse, which was due to a minor incident involving being seen naked and perhaps mocked while drunk.  What did the descendants do wrong?  Many modern Christians would criticize such an action if performed by anyone but Yahweh.  (See also Exodus 20:5; 34:7 below, which likewise features the notion of God punishing people's descendants for what their ancestors did.)

7. Yahweh allegedly ordered the death penalty (usually by stoning) for cases in which many modern Christians would consider it immoral to kill another human.  Yahweh ordered the death penalty for all of the following:

• 1. • disobedient children (Deut. 21:18-21),

     • people with other religions (Deut 13:6-10; 17:2-5),

     • anyone who curses his father or mother (Lev 20:9),

     • homosexuals (Lev 20:13),

     • blasphemers (Lev 24:16),

     • adulterers (Lev 20:10),

     • and others. 

8. Yahweh allegedly thought it was immoral for a man to have sex with a woman during her menstrual period; if it happened, both were to be exiled (Lev 20:18).  Many modern Christians do not consider such sex immoral, even if they do not all have such sex.  Is it moral to exile someone for having sex during menstruation?

9. Yahweh allegedly considered it immoral to wear clothing woven of two different kinds of material, or to sow a field with two different kinds of crops (Lev 19:19).

10. Yahweh allegedly considered it sinful/immoral to eat rabbits or pigs (Leviticus 11:6-7) or shrimp or catfish (Leviticus 11:9-12).  In the New Testament, he decided it was okay after all (Acts 10).  This is another case where Gentile Christianity won out over Jewish Christianity. 

11. Yahweh allegedly considered it wrong to shave one's beard or sideburns: "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." (Lev 19:27)

12. Yahweh and ancient Jews (like many other cultures and their gods) considered women to be the property of men and generally inferior. 

• If you study the Mosaic law, you will see that it primarily addresses men.  Ex 20:17 lists a wife among a man’s possessions: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.”

• Also, if men were dissatisfied, they could divorce women (Deut. 24), but there was no provision for women divorcing men. 

• If a woman gave birth to a female child, she was ritually impure for twice as long than she would have been for a male child (Lev 12:2-5). 

• Many modern Christians do not believe that women actually belong to their husbands, or that female children are more impure than male children. 

13. The Bible says Yahweh punishes the children and grandchildren of sinners for crimes they didn’t even commit. “I Yahweh your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; etc.).  In the minds of many modern Christians, God only punishes people for their own sins.  Yahweh was immoral by most modern standards.

14.  “But if any harm follow, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21: 23-25).  The Jesus character in the gospel of Matthew seemed to think his “father,” Yahweh, was a bit harsh in this, and that it was better to give up vengeance (Mt 5:38-41).

15. The Old Testament also openly boasts of genocide and ethnocentrism (Jews thinking their culture was better than all others).

• Deut. 2:33-34 (“... we utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain.”); 

• Deut. 3:3-6 (“And we utterly destroyed them, ... the men, women, and children, of every city.”); 

• Joshua 6:21 (“And they utterly destroyed all ... both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.”). 

According to Jewish priests, their god Yahweh Elohim divinely commanded and approved of genocide:

• Deuteronomy 7:2, 16; 13:15; 

• 20:16-17 (“But of the cities of these people, which Yahweh Elohim gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes.”); 

• Joshua 10:40; 

• 1 Samuel 15:2-3 (“Thus says Yahweh of armies ... go and smite ... and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”). 

It should be obvious from the lists above that even though Christians and other religious individuals may claim that their morals are absolute and unchanging, such claims are 100% groundless. 

Each individual Christian seems to create his/her own form of Christianity. 

And since no personal, super-human God ever actually speaks for himself in any way that is fair, straightforward, and open to all, religious morality is always mere human morality, invented by men who merely claimed divine authority.

Christians frequently disagree with each other about moral issues, especially when it comes to specifics.

Why does no God intervene and explain to them the right thing to do?  Why does their God never speak?  Why do they get confused, if the “Holy Spirit” of “the Living God” is really dwelling inside them? 

Answer: Because there is no holy spirit or risen Jesus living inside them; the claim is empty and absurd.

What makes the situation worse is that 

• the whole Jewish story of the Exodus as described in the Bible is extremely problematic historically (i.e. it is mostly mythical), 

• there are obviously mythical elements to the story of Moses, 

• Moses didn't really write the Torah (at least not as it now exists in the Bible), 

• the "Mosaic" Law borrows many concepts from earlier ancient law codes, like Hammurabi's Code and others,

• there is no way that the Mosaic law was really given to Moses by "God" in the manner or at the time which the Bible asserts, and 

• the entire Torah is more myth and legend than history.  

Those who believe the Bible to be "God's Word" are simply unaware of ancient history, of what the Bible really says, and of the differences between the two.

Related Topics and Other Examples:

1. Ancient Judeo-Christian hang-ups about sex

2. Biblical Views Of Women