The Wicked Bible and the Wicked War

The Wicked Bible and the Wicked War
by Laurence M. Vance


"Thou shalt not commit adultery." ~ The Holy Bible

"Thou shalt commit adultery." ~ The Wicked Bible

Does the Bible condone adultery? At one time that depended on which Bible you read.

The introduction of the computer has certainly made it easier for printers to set type. Although occasionally a typesetting error still gets by the proofreaders, it is rare to see a blatant typo in a book produced since the advent of computers. Since printers in the seventeenth century didn’t have that luxury, it is a wonder that books published back then don’t contain more errors than they do.

Misprints in the Bible have always been of particular concern. An edition in 1631, nicknamed the "Wicked Bible," omitted the word not from Exodus 20:14, changing the prohibition against adultery into the command: "Thou shalt commit adultery." A contemporary historian recorded that

His Majesties Printers, at or about this time, had committed a scandalous mistake in our English Bibles, by leaving out the word Not in the Seventh Commandment. His Majesty being made acquainted with it by the Bishop of London, Order was given for calling the Printers into the High-Commission, where upon Evidence of the Fact, the whole Impression was called in, and the Printers deeply fined, as they justly merited. With some part of this Fine Laud [Archbishop William Laud] caused a fair Greek Character to be provided, for publishing such Manuscripts as Time and Industry should make ready for the Publick view.

Okay, the misprint was fixed, and most people are against adultery, so what is my point?

My point is simply this: Bush apologists, Republican loyalists, Christian warmongers, and other assorted defenders of the war in Iraq are doing just what the king’s printer did back in 1631, but only worse since they are doing it deliberately. By justifying U.S. troops killing for the state in Iraq they are effectively removing the word not from another commandment: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13).

This is done in a number of ways: the commandment never applies to killing in war, the commandment obviously doesn’t mean "the taking of any life," so it cannot be applied to killing in war, the commandment doesn’t apply if you are just following orders, the commandment doesn’t mean what it says, the commandment is different now because of September 11th, the commandment doesn’t apply to Muslim infidels, the commandment is not being violated if you kill for the state, the commandment doesn’t apply if you’re in the military.

Because the U.S. military does very little to actually defend this country, but instead is used to invade, occupy, bomb, or defend other countries, military recruiters, pastors, and parents who encourage young men and women to join the military are in effect saying "Thou shalt kill." They may call it defending our freedoms, regime change, fighting the war on terror, liberating Iraq, or spreading democracy, but it is still a wicked endeavor in a wicked war.

Friends, family, and supporters of U.S. soldiers: We have a holy Bible not a wicked Bible. What part of "Thou shalt not kill" is so hard to understand?

March 13, 2006

Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] is a freelance writer and an adjunct instructor in accounting and economics at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL. He is also the director of the Francis Wayland Institute. His new book is Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State. Visit his website.

Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com

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I didn't realize the commandments were political.

 

Does the commandment apply to the state? Is it OK for the state to murder?

 

Did David lie about Goliath? Did not Goliath provoke the confrontation? Was not david the underdog in the fight? Did david kill a bunch of innocent children in the affair?

 

Since we are clearly the aggressor in the current action are we in compliance with Duet. 20?

Deu 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.


Deu 20:2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,


Deu 20:3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;


Deu 20:4 For the LORD your God [is] he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.


Deu 20:5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man [is there] that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.


Deu 20:6 And what man [is he] that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not [yet] eaten of it? let him [also] go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.


Deu 20:7 And what man [is there] that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.


Deu 20:8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man [is there that is] fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.


Deu 20:9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.


Deu 20:10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.


Deu 20:11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, [that] all the people [that is] found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.


Deu 20:12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:


Deu 20:13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:


Deu 20:14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, [even] all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.


Deu 20:15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities [which are] very far off from thee, which [are] not of the cities of these nations.


Deu 20:16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee [for] an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:


Deu 20:17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:


Deu 20:18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.


Deu 20:19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field [is] man's [life]) to employ [them] in the siege:


Deu 20:20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they [be] not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

 

USA =/= Israel </font>[/QUOTE]Are you trying to say that our government is not bound by any Biblical rules or the law of God?

 

That is true. However they were under the DIRECT COMMAND OF GOD to destroy God rejecting reprobates out of the land that the Lord intended to give them for a possesion. GW is hardly under the direct command of the Lord.

 

How is our government killing the people of Iraq self defense? When did Iraq attack the US?

 

BTW, is any government always right when it goes to war or just ours?