Bad Theology

Text for today: Daniel 6 xxiv-xxviii

Having attained high rank under the kings of Babylon, Daniel falls victim to the malice of other officials who manipulate his patron King Darius into throwing him into a lions' den. God protects Daniel through the night, and Darius has the accusers cast into the den along with their wives and children, whose bones are broken in pieces. The king praises God and Daniel prospers.

God's addiction to collective punishment of the most violent sort is once again demonstrated in His evident contentment with the execution of the wives and children. As theologians concerned with moral and spiritual rather than historical truths, we cannot permit ourselves the relativist evasion that such punishments were customary in the ancient world; nor can we rationalise away the problem by denying the literal meaning of the text. Women and children are placed among lions and all the bones in their bodies are broken, while the desire for mercy over sacrifice occurs neither to God nor to his prophet; and as a result God is praised and His prophet prospers.

Nor may we truthfully state that the New Testament overrules or contradicts the morals of the Old; God's enthusiasm for mass murder is as consistent and unalterable as the law of the Medes and Persians. The only notable difference is that Jesus proclaimed even harsher measures as the penalty for somewhat smaller derelictions than attempting the felid-facilitated demotion of a rival courtier.