Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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Child sacrifices | G.D | Sunday, December 8, 2013 |
Question: Dear Bro., Recently we were talking of child sacrifices and another case recently emerged in India ( our home country). My Catholic brother inlaw remarked that it was very prevelant in the olden days and that God Himself in the Old Testament had asked for it. Now how do we argue this? I understand that God didn't let Abraham go through with it. But the fact that God asked of it........... what do I say? We all know it was just to test Abraham and it does have similarities to Jesus's ultimate sacrifice. But why child sacrifice? Just to bring to your knowledge that I am trying to be a good Catholic in a family full of New agers and not so serious Catholics. Thank you for your time. |
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Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC
Dear Sir: I apologize for the delay in answering your question. I had computer problems. The true God, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, never asked for actual child sacrifice, something that was practiced by other peoples. The story of Abraham and Isaac is about a test of the faithfulness of Abraham. God never intended nor would he have allowed Abraham to actually kill Isaac, his son, or if God did allow it, He would have raised Isaac up since the Covenant with Abraham was through Isaac. It was only a test to see if Abraham will give up his son for God. The story is a pre-figurement to the story of Jesus, the only begotten son of the Father, who voluntarily gave himself up as a sacrificial Lamb for the sins of man, to redeem mankind and give him the opportunity of friendship with God forever. There is no other instance of God seemingly asking somebody to sacrifice their child. That is because this one instance was a test and not an actual sacrifice. Abraham had faith that God would provide a sacrificial lamb and Isaac would not have to actually die. And, if God allowed Isaac to die, Abraham's faith knew that God would raise Isaac back to life. The Navarre a Bible commentary says:
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