Deconstructing Deuteronomy 28 | Blessings, Curses & Coercion 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let it be said God loves ANYONE unconditionally. There are STACKS of conditions. Great job Kristi.

I litteraly screamed at the eating kids part. I'm atheist and never believed, but I got chills, wtf is this book and why do people still worship it😮‍💨

When I was trying to convert my ex-boyfriend to Christianity I said to him that God created us so that we could worship him. He replied that this was a very selfish egotistical reason to create human beings. I had to admit that he was right

Some people can't figure out that murder is bad, without religion telling them that it is bad...SMH!😮

I am bawling suddenly, idk, it just hit me so hard. This one… I am so hurt that I spent so much of my life dedicated to trying to worship this god and that my family is stuck in this religion, So blind to its evils. My own husband defends it still…How isolated I’ve become because of this religion. It’s so evil I just can’t stand it and it grieves me. Thank you Kristi, you are doing something huge with this channel, please be encouraged! You are so talented and gifted with the way you can speak and the way your mind works. I appreciate you so much ❤

"the lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you." Ah... Very loving indeed. I can feel the love.

It’s interesting that this video came up for me today - just yesterday I was thinking that the idea of “trust Jesus or go to hell” is coercion. Thank for laying out the horrific things of the Bible so clearly. I appreciate you!

Regarding obedience, the euthyphro dilemma comes up: “Is something good because God commands it, or does God only command good things?”

Some free choice. Someone holds a gun to your head and says 'You have a choice - give me all your money or get a bullet in the brain'. The apologist then says 'You had free will and chose to hand over the money, so the robber is not at fault'.

You might argue these plagues are just punishment for sin, But a loving parent would never celebrate the torture and suffering of their children.

This was how I thought when I was muslim; that my life would be good. I made sure I prayed my salat, was a damn good wife, and when my dad talked his mess about me I sat and took it willingly, because he deserves my respect even though he's being very disrespectful to me. Right? Wrong.

For a god that doesn't want a bunch of robots, he sure is hyper-focused on obedience.

Thank you for always finding time to post a new video. Your way of talking things out is always very comforting to me.

"God is love..." - Every Christian ever (....Terms and conditions apply.)

Also as a parent, I don’t ever expect my children to worship me, or wish them harm if they don’t listen to me. That’s just crazy. This break down is so spot on. Great job!

I have also said that God gives free will, which allows us to disobey him. Then, if we do not repent, He punishes us forever. So, cutting out the middle idea, God gives us free will so that He can torture us. That doesn't make God look like such a nice guy.

👏 More Bible study today with Kristi 🎉. More accurate information, more taking down insanity…getting my notebook!

It's funny to me to see how Khristi's soft-spoken, smart to the point demeanor cuts Christians like a knife. 😄

During all the decades I spent in Church Culture, I have never considered any of that "relationship" as applying to me. After I got out of it, I saw the Gospel as "Love me or I will hurt you." Rather stark but that is what the teachings end up saying. It's a rather abusive relationship.

It's coercion all the way through. Thank you, Kristi. It's so refreshing to see someone be honest out loud. 👏👏

Nice work as usual, Kristi. Once again, we are reminded that for the Bronze Age authors of the Old Testament, logical coherence was not a priority here. It's all about their God being the best in everything, including the best in mercy and the best in punishing those who don't obey. You can't get all the possible "bests" under one logical tent, so discard the tent, seems to be the motto here.

Remember when God said " Thou shall not enslave others" Oh wait.....

Thank you. The way you present with kindness, empathy and rational thinking is priceless. You are appreciaated and loved by many.

Holy cow. Girlfriend, you nailed it with this one. My goodness. You have a truly amazing way of putting things. Thank you.

Great you should be on TV all over the world.

Some of the most devout Christians I’ve met have suffered worse than people who are secular, so the fact that the Bible promises to take care of his believers and yet they still suffer the most shows that this god not only not real but that his promises are lies.

It makes me so sad when I point verses like these out to my Christian family members or peers and they just make excuses for them. Leaving the faith has been such an isolating experience.

What a absolute metal line by Jehovah

You know what's worse, Kristi? Whenever we dare "question" or speak out against things god does that are flat out immoral; apologists say that "we have a veil of confusion" also when we kindly tell people that we don't want to listen to "godly" music, aka gospel music, lol; they say "the demons inside of you are stirring" lolol.

I’m 3 minutes in and I can tell you that in my nearly 30 years as a Christian, none of that has happened for me. It breaks my heart. I believed in those words!

After a long week of current events, esp politicians, it was nice to hear you being RATIONAL.

Thank you again, Kristi, for another excellent logical deconstruction. Your videos are very important to me, as I am still deconstructing the decades of brainwashing from my years in various Christian churches, both mainstream denominations and a cult.

This was so good, Kristi! These verses were never studied in depth and just kind of glossed over when I was a Christian. But these passages really put a spotlight on the evil nature of the god of the Bible!

Whoa 😨, who the Heck wants that kind of relationship with anyone even if it is a God 😢 No Way 🙅‍♀️ What an eye opening video Kristi, thank you so very much for your hard work just sharing what we may have just missed or didn’t want to know about the God we once served 😅😮.

I hit you because I love you. -Abuser

“The beatings will continue until morale improves.” 😅

Oct. 7, 2023. 3:15 PM I have always noticed in Duet. 28 that the cursese were always longer than the blessings. To me that always puts things in the negative. A lot of people feel like they were forced into Christianity. When the get older they come out and get away from it.

In Job. God allows Satan too beset woe on Job, thereby by-passing his own guilt in causing Job's suffering. Here God is taking the active role in the devastation he is raining upon his disobedient "children". Even Satan didn't resort to canibilism. Great vid as allways!

BAM! My new favorite video!! To me this puts everyone in the shut-up room!! I started questioning my faith a few years ago and also thought, is this really free will?..Soooo my options for not going to hell is obedience or torture?? I believe most people become believers because of being threatened with hell🔥🔥, I know I was! Fantastic job Kristi!!

Kristi this sounds like the most one-sided prenuptial agreement ever written. I'll take my chances and just keep doing what I'm doing until I meet God face to face. Thanks for another great video, I appreciate the time and effort that you put into each topic and video. Big hug from Rienzi Mississippi 😎

Doesn't the mob do these things to people who go against the family?! Promise not to hurt people who pay them? Isn't that horrible?!

I would never treat my children, who I love, how God says he will treat “his children.” I believe in tough love after all other methods have failed if your child gets into addiction or self destructive behavior. But never ever ever would I curse my kids and delight in their suffering! I love your channel and I hope it grows quickly because you have a lot of good things to say! Thank you!

Looking forward to what will be undoubtedly another excellent video from Kristi.

You are a voice of reason Kristi. Keep up the good work!

Let me pretend I'm still a Christian and scream "out of context! Out of context!"😂😂

Kristi, I am subscribed to many channels, but yours is the only one of which I’ve turned on the bell. Thank you for everything you do. This is such a critical chapter for people with a working moral compass. I remember being in the car with my mom and my brother one time and I asked them what they thought about God commanding people to eat their children. They immediately said, “What?! It doesn’t say that.. absolutely not” I pulled up the verse on my phone, handed it to my brother, he began reading with confidence, and I will never forget the look on his face and the stutter in his voice when he got to verse 53. My mom was equally appalled. I remember also being shocked at how God commanded/endorsed the consumption of one’s children in 4 additional places in the Bible: Leviticus 26:29 (a less detailed version of the curses in Deuteronomy) Ezekiel 5:8-10 (the punishment in action) Jeremiah 19:9 (and again) 2 Kings 6:28-29 (God waited until women ate their children before giving them food the next day) Lamentations 4:10-11 (God made people eat their children as a means of payback-see the end of chapter 3)

The Bible also describes this curse hundreds of years later: She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.” (2 Kings 6:28b-29) During the Aramean siege an extreme famine led to this. Who is to blame? Is it God, Israelite disobedience, the women's actions, or the besieging Arameans? By the next chapter, Elisha predicts relief, and with the Arameans' departure, food becomes abundant.

Thanks Kristi for sharing your insights. I hope we will eventually be able to get rid of christian and other religious hypocrisy. It will be a better world for all people.❤

Kristi, I haven’t taken the time to become familiar with the Old Testament, so your presentation of this material was interesting and useful. It doesn’t change my beliefs or behavior because whatever concept I have of a “god” is so radically different from the Hebrew understanding. It’s useful in trying to grasp what the people of this faith accept. One needs to keep in mind the fact that “god” is not demanding this acquiescence and worship. It’s the spiritual and political leaders of this religion that are utilizing the reward and punishment game to control the people through fear. This was the most effective method of keeping the people in line. The key ingredient is the personification of god. People can only comprehend a god that reasons and behaves in the same manner as a human. That results in a very small and petty conception of god. These ideas were conceived at a time when earthquakes, volcanoes and the weather were considered “acts of god”. It’s sad to realize that there are still millions of people who believe in a god of this nature.

One of the best long cons yet!!! You can do everything right and still get tortured by God, ask Job

Being a crime victim myself, this has kept me from sleeping well and has my mind crazy. I had been questioning and that's how I found you. My life for the past 3 years has been all about Christ. My circle of friends I depend on, to the decor in my home. My life has been centered on God. But this I was unaware of and now I'm not turning back, I can't support this book. I wonder how much I'll lose. I feel like I found secrets out about a person I was deeply in love with really is a MONSTER!!! this has triggered so much in me

Oh I agree with christians that we need salvation from god. As in, for someone to save us from him.

Kristi - with her thoughtful & insightful sharing of the process of deconstruction - is offering Christians a guide to the path of finding out the truth behind the lies, providing the opportunity to forever change their perception of reality.

I recall having preached a sermon on this text in my Christian days. Wish I knew then what I know now.

You speak with great reason and clarity!

No wonder the angels rebelled against God. Could you imagine putting up with a megalomaniac for eternity? Even heaven would be hell under those conditions.

Your videos are consistently outstanding in both content and style. Thanks for the time and effort that you put into them.

Love thy neighbor, but as for your neighboring nations, those gotta go.

Amazing it's so nice to see true logic articulated!!!

With God the term cooersive control springs to mind.

You're our Hero Kristi. You're the true Jesus.

Oh boy. I barely made it through Deuteronomy 22 and thought it could only get better from here....

thankyou for always making it so clear and easy to see how abusive this is. I am beginning to understand why there is so much mental illness in society. how could there not be with this kind of indoctrination and cognitive dissonance.

This is so true! My students don’t always obey my rules, but I want them to go and find a different way of getting what they need if they don’t use the lessins I teach them

Deuteronomy 13:6 to 11 cracked my heart definitely, especially verse 9! It was the biggest 🚩 as a Christian, this book believer! The Christian org I was in had the nerve to show a Bible drama about this passage and had taught us to SHUN your family who leaves, no matter what😮😢

Sprinkled with humor. Very light take. Entertaining. Educational.

I'm reminded of an "In Living Color" spoof of long TV commercials for musical albums. It had Jim Carrey as an Arabic pop singer. One of the parody song titles in the track list scrolling on screen was "Love Me Tender or Die Slowly." It's basically "It's your choice to love me, but if you don't I'll kill you."

Keep on keeping on. Your work is excellent. Please don't let silly people on other forums side track you. Well not too much anyway.

Fantastic!! As a PK, I know a lot about the Bible, but I don't think I have ever taken note of these verses. Thank you!!

If God is all knowing. Then why would he create people that make him angry and miserable? He sounds like he's as miserable as the people he sends to Hell.

If we heard a parent, or parents, tell their kids that if their good, they will buy them an ice cream if their good, BUT if they aren't, they will beat them until they bleed, sleep on the floor without any blankets or pillows, take everything of theirs away, and let the bugs bite them at night; 100% of us would be automatically calling Child Protective Service. 100% of us would be absolutely horrified, and would want to take that kid home with us. WHY? Because we have higher moral values and standards than the old testament god. But because rhis is in a religious environment, I'd have to say with 100% certainty, that this is how Satan rules his world. (kingdoms) It truly saddens me to look back during my 20+ years in the ministry, and actually condone this; saying in my heart, "that's what they get for disobedience". That Was A Truly Evil Heart, and I'm still ashamed of myself for it, even 6 years later after leaving it behind. 😔 EDITED: PS; You do amazing work Ma'am! 🤗

I would like to know how you handled the Christmas holiday. I am not a Christian anymore but I always had a Christmas dinner for my family. I reminded them that "Jesus is the reason for this season". I don't believe it anymore. I'm a bit confused on how to brake it to them. I love your videos, they are so eye opening and help me so much. Thank you💞

11:00 Thinking back on my deconstruction/deconversion, I do remember that the awful stuff in the Bible was part of it. There was so much more awful stuff in there than I remembered, though!

Kristi, I notice one person disparages the idea that "it's all about context," but I think the context is really complicated. Here, to me, is one of the most important statements in the Bible. In Job 42:7 God says to Job's "comforters": “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has." Now, as some scholars have pointed out, this is an ambiguous statement. When did Job speak rightly? They have argued that this is an intentional ambiguity. That the Book of Job is a veiled critique of what is sometimes called "Deuteronomic Theology." Your success and happiness in life are determined by how well you follow God's law. When Job was written, thoughtful Jews knew that wasn't really true. There was a lot of undeserved suffering. Another thing in the Bible that is really notable is the story of Josiah in Kings and Chronicles. This was pointed out by the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. To put it in context, you have to think about what those books say about Hezekiah, another king a bit earlier. It says "Because Hezekiah followed God's law faithfully, he was successful in everything he did." Kings and Chronicles say Josiah followed the law faithfully, too, but he was defeated and killed in battle by an Egyptian Pharaoh. How come? In Chronicles, the writer tries to reconcile it with the Deuteronomic theology. 35:21-23 says that the Pharaoh sent a message saying God had called him to go to battle, and Josiah was opposing God! II Kings 23 treats it as just a tragedy, not some kind of punishment from God. The Kings account seems much more truthful, and Job showed a realization of this. Now, bear with me, I think there is a little more to say about this. Christianity has an additional problem: it doesn’t have what you could call “case law.” In other words, it doesn’t have the body of commentary and dialogue about ethical things that you see in the Talmud or in Islamic jurisprudence. Protestantism particularly opposes anything like that. Everything is supposed to be settled by what the Bible says. But sometimes the Bible contradicts itself. This might not be completely unique to Christianity, though. I understand there is a strand of Judaism called Karaism that also says every Jew must just read the Torah for him/herself and figure out what God wants. That can be pretty hard. An example of how this plays out in Christianity now is a dispute between what is called “Lordship Salvation” and “Easy Believism.” Lordship Salvation means that if you are a Christian, Christ must be your Lord. You must become more like him in behavior. Easy Believism means if you just say the “sinner’s prayer” and decide to believe in Christianity, you are going to heaven. It doesn’t demand any change in the way you live. I saw a video by an Easy Believism adherent who said Lordship Salvation is too hard and that she’s known people who committed suicide because they couldn’t be as good as Christ. This shows that Christians are not doing a very good job of thinking about how people really need to live. We as humans are active beings; we need to be able to feel good about things we do. It isn’t enough just to subscribe to a set of doctrines. I also suspect that Easy Believism shows a certain deterioration in Evangelical Christianity. When you see that Donald Trump is now considered some sort of “Christian” leader, that suggests that a lot of Evangelicals have decided not to demand any evidence of good character. Now, this is not to say that Trump couldn’t be a Christian; but to be one, he would have to say “I used to do bad things; I have now turned away from them.”

WOW, what a loving God, Yeah right. The Bible- God's word, boy are we in trouble, Thank you for bringing this to light.

So, 'do what I say and no one gets hurt?' Sounds like a mafia boss.

Its ironic that a person's decision to study the Bible and strengthen faith is often the very thing that ultimately destroys it. If God is real, he has to know whether your faith is sincere. For this reason, I think its more honorable not to pretend I believe.

Deuteronomy 28 is exactly what I tell my children (you know, the ones I love, since I’m a loving father).

Thank you so much for OPENING my eyes. I mean wow just wow, I can’t even hardly believe that’s really in the Bible. I have to say there is a lot of cruel stuff In the Bible BUT THIS TOPS THEM ALL. I can’t even describe how horrific and horrible and cruel of Jesus Christ to even consider such a horrible thing to be done even if it is a punishment.

I have seen so many people in my life, who have blown off church, God, Scriptures, and done what they please and they have enjoyed success while the rest of us who have tried to live up to what God taught us have struggled, suffered disease, had children who do everything like they are Satins Spawn. Devoted Christians dying after years of Alzheimer's, or laying in a hospital rotting slowly away with cancer.

The worse part of these passages is knowing that all of these horrible curses actually came true anyway despite the Jewish people obeying the commandments faithfully. Subjugation and enslavement by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans is detailed in the Bible itself. Then compound that with all of the horrible events that happened in the Diaspora, the Middle Ages, the Holocaust. If you take Deuteronomy seriously, the believers themselves are to blame for all of it. Not their religious and political leaders' failures in judgement and character. Not their enemies' violence, ruthlessness and avarice. Every bad thing that has ever happened to God's chosen people is a direct consequence of their personal failures, even if they never enjoyed personal autonomy themselves because they followed a king or some lunatic cult leader, or were submissive to their husbands, or were literal slaves to some occupying power. This book gives God, his priesthood and his anointed kings plausible deniability no matter what disasters and outrages were committed against the Jewish people. Deuteronomy is disgusting and I wish everyone, believers included, would bracket this book from the rest of the world's literature and admit that this book never had positive value for anyone of any time. Pre-emptive victim blaming is a scam and we don't have to fall for it anymore.

I love your videos you are a very smart woman

Every believer: "Our god is a loving and forgiving god." From anyone who has actually read the bible: "Uhhhh...no. What he clearly is would be a petty, vindictive, narcissistic, insecure, jealous, genocidal, misogynistic psychopath." Why would a loving god need to make endless threats to insure obedience and worship? Because clearly this one actually doesn't deserve any of it.

Really enjoyed this. However, why do so many deconstructionists sound like they still believe in a God, and they're just really disappointed in Him. Only people could come up with all of this, because it generally plays right into our most basic fears.

You should do a video about the stoning of a rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, the mental gymnastics that Christian apologists use to justify that one are enough to put Livvy Dunne to shame.

Gave up god a long long time ago, but it's still refreshing to hear you break down reasons I hadn't ever formulated. Just how is it that there are still so many who believe?

I hear people quote Deuteronomy to justify their hatred of trans people. Yet those same people never want to stone idolaters to death 🤔

I always wonder. What with those millions of people who have never heard, couldn't have known of this god? Were they also punished like that?

That moment when you realize you know the scriptures better than everyone around you.😮😢😂. Freedom 🎉

The Ten Commandments were not originally called commandments. That concept appeared first in the KJV of the Bible, in 1611. They were known before as the Ten Words, or Ten Utterances. So what was the agenda of King James I of England? Hmmmmm. Control of the populace, maybe?

Great video as always ❤

Good job, miss. You have done well in paraphrasing and simplifying the craziness in modern-day language. I'm looking forward to you future work.

Great work you doing, keep it up!

But, you are taking it out of context... But, that's old Testiment... But, God works in Mysterious ways...😅

Can we just admit that this document is a Bronze Age nationalistic treatise, a declaration of dominance and superiority of a people and a cautionary that members best not mess up?

Even Stephen King would not be able to imagine all these horrors for a fictional character! Since this crap wasn't actually "written" by "God", which authors were responsible for this section and who were they directing these rules and punishments toward, in order to control them?

Is someone that delight's in inflicting suffering or in punishing others good or evil?

Another great deconstruction! There is (as you are fully aware) a strong defense against deconstructionists. When you look at these stories objectively, you can't unsee the atrocities of the God of the bible. Keep doing what you are doing!

The term "free will' is not in the bible

No wonder Marcion discarded the OT and the God it promoted. By the way, great job of lighting.