I have been told that God in the HS/OT is very bloodthirsty and perhaps no more so than when it comes to the temple sacrifices that are required for all sorts of things. Guilt offerings, sin offerings, thanksgiving offerings, atonement offerings, etc. all were some animal that was sacrificed. Additionally, it has been said to me the temple had a channel to direct the sacrificed animals blood out of the temple and that channel is larger than one might think it would be - insinuating that there was a lot of blood.

It is easy to look at an ancient system of religion as recorded in the Bible and come to the conclusion that religions of the Bible are religions that adore a very violent God. I believe this is an uninformed reading of the culture of the time, and here is why.

Early civilization was one built on the idea of sacrificing things to the gods in order to make them happy. If you made the correct sacrifice, then god would be happy. However, this understanding of the gods is one that ultimately leads to loads of violence. Say you are a rancher and you have a productive herd, you might sacrifice an animal to say thank you to the gods. The next year your herd is plagued with sickness so you offer up a larger sacrifice in order to please the gods - notice the violence can quickly grow over time. The same is true if you have another good year. You offer up a sacrifice but it cannot be the same amount of sacrifice that you gave the first year because your herd has had two good years and has grown. So you give a larger sacrifice in order to show the gods you are very thankful and their generosity is not unnoticed by you. Again, even in good years the violence can quickly grow over time.

"Book of Leviticus Chapter 1-1 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media)" by Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing.

However in the Bible there is an image of a God who says, "look I AM who I AM and nothing you do will affect that. As such I do not need sacrifices to keep me happy. However, humanity you seem addicted to these sacrifices so here is the deal. If you feel the need to sacrifice something then here are some very specific guidelines so that we can work on containing the violence you are addicted to. Every year on the day of atonement, you don't have to sacrifice more than you did in the past. Whatever the sin is, the offering is the same - you don't have to offer a larger sacrifice for larger sins. I cannot break your addiction to violence for you, but I can help you contain the violence and pain you inflict on creation."

And so yes, there is violence in the Bible, it is there because humans (not God) are addicted to violence. I am thankful for a religious tradition that, while often times forgotten, is a religion built on peace.