Understanding Islam — Page 208
IS THE HOLY QURAN MORE VIOLENT THAN THE BIBLE? 206 there is no specific phrase there, which says that “God approves the violence” committed by Jacob’s sons, the fact remains that this story is mentioned in the Torah – a holy book for the Christians – and the lack of condemnation of such violence is a form of approval in and of itself. If the story had been mentioned just as an historical account in a book of history, this argument could have made some sense. But the Bible is not just a book of history. It is a holy book about holy people of God and Jacob was one such holy man. In Gen. 35, following the horrific and brutal actions of Jacob’s sons, the Biblical God appears to be unaware of their heinous crimes and during a journey, it says, “a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them”. 1 Is this how a Just God is supposed to ignore such genocidal crimes committed by the same people he is protecting by casting “terror” on the cities that happen to be located around them? Not only that, but God says to Jacob: I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land that I gave to Abraham