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Drunk with Blood: God's Killings in the Bible
Completely Revised Second Edition with 23 new killings from the Apocrypha.
Drunk with Blood includes a separate account for each of God's 158 killings. These stories fill the pages of the Bible, yet they are seldom read in church and are ignored by most Bible believers, which is a shame because God is so proud of his killings:
"I kill ... I wound ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh." Deuteronomy 32:39-42
You've probably hear of a few of God's killings. Noah's Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, David and Goliath, maybe. But there are over 150 others that are unknown to pretty much everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike.
Did you know, for example, that God:
*Forced friends and family to kill each other for dancing naked around Aaron's golden calf?
*Burned Aaron's sons to death for offering him strange fire?
*Burned complainers to death, forced the survivors to eat quail until it literally came out their noses, sent "fiery serpents" to bite people for complaining about the lack of food and water, and killed 14,700 for complaining about his killings?
*Buried alive those that opposed Moses (along with their families)?
*Burned 250 men to death for burning incense?
*Rewarded Phinehas for throwing a spear though the bellies of an inter-tribal couple while they were having sex?
*Ordered, assisted in, or approved of dozens of complete genocides?
*Accepted human sacrifice in the cases of Jephthah's daughter and Saul's seven sons?
*Helped Samson murder thirty men for their clothes, slaughter 1000 with the jawbone of an ass, and kill 3000 civilians in a a suicide terrorist attack?
*Smote the Philistines of several cities with hemorrhoids in their secret parts?
*Killed a man for trying to keep the ark of the covenant from falling and 50,070 for looking into the ark?
*Approved when David bought his first wife with 200 Philistine foreskins?
*Killed King Saul for not killing every Amalekite as he told him to do?
*Slowly killed a baby to punish King David for committing adultery?
*Killed 70,000 because David had a census that he (or Satan) told him to do?
*Sent a lion to kill a prophet for believing another prophet's lie, another lion to kill a man for not smiting a prophet, and some more lions to kill people that didn't fear him enough?
*Killed 450 religious leaders who lost a prayer contest with Elijah and burned 102 men to death for asking Elijah to come down from his hill?
*Sent two bears to rip apart 42 boys for making fun of Elisha's bald head?
*Killed 27,000 Syrians by having a wall fall on them, sent an angel to kill 185,000 sleeping soldiers, interfered in human battles to kill a half million Israelite and a million Ethiopian soldiers?
*Killed King Ahab for not killing a captured king, and then sent King Jehu on a series of mass murders to kill all of Ahab's family and friends who had ever "pissed against a wall?"
*Killed Jehoram by making his bowels fall out?
*Killed Job's ten children in a bet with Satan?
*Killed Ezekiel's wife and told him not to mourn her?
*Killed Ananias and Sapphira for not giving Peter all their money?
*Killed King Herod by feeding him to worms?
All of these killings, and more, are found in the Bible, and their stories are told in the 2nd Edition of Drunk with Blood.
Drunk with Blood includes a separate account for each of God's 158 killings. These stories fill the pages of the Bible, yet they are seldom read in church and are ignored by most Bible believers, which is a shame because God is so proud of his killings:
"I kill ... I wound ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh." Deuteronomy 32:39-42
You've probably hear of a few of God's killings. Noah's Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, David and Goliath, maybe. But there are over 150 others that are unknown to pretty much everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike.
Did you know, for example, that God:
*Forced friends and family to kill each other for dancing naked around Aaron's golden calf?
*Burned Aaron's sons to death for offering him strange fire?
*Burned complainers to death, forced the survivors to eat quail until it literally came out their noses, sent "fiery serpents" to bite people for complaining about the lack of food and water, and killed 14,700 for complaining about his killings?
*Buried alive those that opposed Moses (along with their families)?
*Burned 250 men to death for burning incense?
*Rewarded Phinehas for throwing a spear though the bellies of an inter-tribal couple while they were having sex?
*Ordered, assisted in, or approved of dozens of complete genocides?
*Accepted human sacrifice in the cases of Jephthah's daughter and Saul's seven sons?
*Helped Samson murder thirty men for their clothes, slaughter 1000 with the jawbone of an ass, and kill 3000 civilians in a a suicide terrorist attack?
*Smote the Philistines of several cities with hemorrhoids in their secret parts?
*Killed a man for trying to keep the ark of the covenant from falling and 50,070 for looking into the ark?
*Approved when David bought his first wife with 200 Philistine foreskins?
*Killed King Saul for not killing every Amalekite as he told him to do?
*Slowly killed a baby to punish King David for committing adultery?
*Killed 70,000 because David had a census that he (or Satan) told him to do?
*Sent a lion to kill a prophet for believing another prophet's lie, another lion to kill a man for not smiting a prophet, and some more lions to kill people that didn't fear him enough?
*Killed 450 religious leaders who lost a prayer contest with Elijah and burned 102 men to death for asking Elijah to come down from his hill?
*Sent two bears to rip apart 42 boys for making fun of Elisha's bald head?
*Killed 27,000 Syrians by having a wall fall on them, sent an angel to kill 185,000 sleeping soldiers, interfered in human battles to kill a half million Israelite and a million Ethiopian soldiers?
*Killed King Ahab for not killing a captured king, and then sent King Jehu on a series of mass murders to kill all of Ahab's family and friends who had ever "pissed against a wall?"
*Killed Jehoram by making his bowels fall out?
*Killed Job's ten children in a bet with Satan?
*Killed Ezekiel's wife and told him not to mourn her?
*Killed Ananias and Sapphira for not giving Peter all their money?
*Killed King Herod by feeding him to worms?
All of these killings, and more, are found in the Bible, and their stories are told in the 2nd Edition of Drunk with Blood.
300 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 2010
68 people are currently reading
471 people want to read
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September 8, 2013why anyone would want to be religious after reading this I do not know. do not call the bible holy either. a good eye opener.
April 14, 2014
Hopefully this gets adapted as the next big-screen Biblical Hollywood epic if Noah does well enough. While it would make for a terrific animated feature, I fear it might run into trouble with the MPAA, particularly the parts where God forces parents to cannibalize their children (when he's not forcing them to just flat out kill them, rather than kill them and then eat them, too), or the instances in which he cajoles a band of terrorists into raiding towns for some good old fashion slaughter and forcing holy circumcisions on infidel children. Now that we know how many God has killed, my next question is what is the final number of clothes rent and people falling on their faces?
December 15, 2011
It's a listing of all the times God kills a bunch of people in the Bible. And God loves murderin' folks. Whether it's one person, a guy and his family, or whole civilizations. Just thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of people getting killed, often with little explanation. The book is as advertised - a write up on each killing, done by God or condoned by God. It isn't great, but it doesn't try to be and it's an easy read and sometimes funny because of how comical some of it all is, like God striking people with hemorrhoids.
August 11, 2012
It's funny. I laughed out loud at times at how this author paints god... But that's about it.
June 19, 2024
Un libro que no quiero que lea mi abuelita.
October 29, 2014
Everyone who believes in an Abrahamic religion should read this book. I would subdivide ‘everyone’ into two categories:
1. Those who have read and studied the entire Bible/Torah etc. I’ll call these ‘The Students’.
2. Those who know just bits of the Bible/Torah etc. I’ll call these ‘The Dabblers’.
Starting with ‘The Students’. Nothing in ‘Drunk with Blood’ is new to them. They believe their god inspired, and actively took part in, the murders of hundreds of thousands/millions of Jews and Gentiles throughout the biblical time period. They know, for example, that 42 little children were torn about by two bears for teasing a prophet (Elisha) about his bald head.
Why should ‘The Students’ read this book when they’re already aware of the genocidal nature of their god? Because ‘Drunk with Blood’ puts their god’s atrocities under a new spotlight. If they still love their god after consuming a fresh catalogue of his vicious murders and enslavements – then they are welcome to him.
‘The Dabblers’ are the much larger group. You could legitimately call them a global throng or multitude. I was a ‘Dabbler’ in my younger years. I was preached a highly edited version of ‘The Bible’ and its characters during my school years. I was told that Samson was very strong – and that he used god’s power to punish some wicked people.
I wasn’t told Samson was wicked. And most probably unhinged.
I wasn’t told that Samson caught 300 foxes; tied them into pairs by the tail; tied firebrands to each vulpine brace; then released his pyromaniac fox-pairs into the crop fields of an enemy to get revenge. The preachers either didn’t know that detail (were ‘Dabblers') or kept it from their congregations because it makes Samson sound like a psychopath. (If I knew anyone who caught 300 foxes then set them on fire and released them into crop fields – I’d inform the police. And they’d be arrested pretty quickly.)
There’s lots more detail about the murderous and cruel behavior of god and his cronies in 'Drunk with Blood'. If you’re a ‘Dabbler’ and you don’t know this stuff – buy this book. If you still love your god after reading it…
you're welcome to him.
1. Those who have read and studied the entire Bible/Torah etc. I’ll call these ‘The Students’.
2. Those who know just bits of the Bible/Torah etc. I’ll call these ‘The Dabblers’.
Starting with ‘The Students’. Nothing in ‘Drunk with Blood’ is new to them. They believe their god inspired, and actively took part in, the murders of hundreds of thousands/millions of Jews and Gentiles throughout the biblical time period. They know, for example, that 42 little children were torn about by two bears for teasing a prophet (Elisha) about his bald head.
Why should ‘The Students’ read this book when they’re already aware of the genocidal nature of their god? Because ‘Drunk with Blood’ puts their god’s atrocities under a new spotlight. If they still love their god after consuming a fresh catalogue of his vicious murders and enslavements – then they are welcome to him.
‘The Dabblers’ are the much larger group. You could legitimately call them a global throng or multitude. I was a ‘Dabbler’ in my younger years. I was preached a highly edited version of ‘The Bible’ and its characters during my school years. I was told that Samson was very strong – and that he used god’s power to punish some wicked people.
I wasn’t told Samson was wicked. And most probably unhinged.
I wasn’t told that Samson caught 300 foxes; tied them into pairs by the tail; tied firebrands to each vulpine brace; then released his pyromaniac fox-pairs into the crop fields of an enemy to get revenge. The preachers either didn’t know that detail (were ‘Dabblers') or kept it from their congregations because it makes Samson sound like a psychopath. (If I knew anyone who caught 300 foxes then set them on fire and released them into crop fields – I’d inform the police. And they’d be arrested pretty quickly.)
There’s lots more detail about the murderous and cruel behavior of god and his cronies in 'Drunk with Blood'. If you’re a ‘Dabbler’ and you don’t know this stuff – buy this book. If you still love your god after reading it…
you're welcome to him.
March 30, 2018
I do agree with the general premise of this book: to collect all of The God of the Bible's killings in one spot, so they are not diluted by reading the Bible over the course of a year or so.
The point is there are many, MANY killings to account for. Human sacrifice, war, murder, genocide, fratricide, and much more, either commanded or approved of by The God of the Bible.
Particularly in the days of the Old Testament, by also in the New Testament, The God of the Bible truly is very violent and drunk with blood.
This book removes doubt over that point. The source is the Bible itself. Many believers either never read the passages about God's killings, gloss over them or explain them away devotionally. My problem with the author, and why I deducted a star, is that his commentary can be needlessly crass. I wish he'd keep things more polite, as such a tone would possibly reach more readers. This is not a major flaw with the book, but something to bear in mind going in.
Reading this book, believers are left to decide whether they approve of the numerous killings or not. The killings are not only numerous, but often quite vicious. When human leaders kill on such a level they are resisted and toppled by freedom-loving peoples, not respected and revered.
I recommend this book to those who are willing to examine the Bible critically. For those who are only willing to approach the Bible with unflinching devotion I doubt this book will do much good.
When a Christian friend recently read this book and discussed it with me, though he admitted the killings were indeed numerous, vicious and beyond what he had thought to be recorded in Scripture, his final say on the matter was, "if God did it, it must be righteous."
The point is there are many, MANY killings to account for. Human sacrifice, war, murder, genocide, fratricide, and much more, either commanded or approved of by The God of the Bible.
Particularly in the days of the Old Testament, by also in the New Testament, The God of the Bible truly is very violent and drunk with blood.
This book removes doubt over that point. The source is the Bible itself. Many believers either never read the passages about God's killings, gloss over them or explain them away devotionally. My problem with the author, and why I deducted a star, is that his commentary can be needlessly crass. I wish he'd keep things more polite, as such a tone would possibly reach more readers. This is not a major flaw with the book, but something to bear in mind going in.
Reading this book, believers are left to decide whether they approve of the numerous killings or not. The killings are not only numerous, but often quite vicious. When human leaders kill on such a level they are resisted and toppled by freedom-loving peoples, not respected and revered.
I recommend this book to those who are willing to examine the Bible critically. For those who are only willing to approach the Bible with unflinching devotion I doubt this book will do much good.
When a Christian friend recently read this book and discussed it with me, though he admitted the killings were indeed numerous, vicious and beyond what he had thought to be recorded in Scripture, his final say on the matter was, "if God did it, it must be righteous."
Want to read
October 9, 2017I've heard good things about this book, and though it's not as popular as SAB (the Skeptic's Annotated Bible) by the same author, I've seen people who prefer this. I tend to enjoy fictitious books about demons, murder, and beings who are written off as good or evil yet are - by behavior - the opposite. This book is clearly about a "person" a lot of people think represent objective morality being a blood-crazed... whatever you would call him. Perfect!
August 17, 2018
The funniest dark book ever
We all tend to think that we’ve read the bible, but when u start seeing the details the way this book present them, you will get a new perspective. Highly recommended for good laughter every day!
We all tend to think that we’ve read the bible, but when u start seeing the details the way this book present them, you will get a new perspective. Highly recommended for good laughter every day!
August 20, 2015
I read most of this information in other books. This would be a good reference books in debates with believers.
November 23, 2019
Absolutely incredible? A well written, heavily documented description of the Christian god’s blood thirst, depraved murders, punishments, and genocides “he” committed personally aside from the completely insane orders he routinely gave his “favorite” men after his own heart, such as Moses and Joshua for starters, to murder every living creature from the elderly to animals to women to children “dash the babes against the stones” and especially the pregnant women, who seemed to take special delight in ordering his slaves to plunge their swords into their bellies, yank the fetuses out and dash them against the stones too! And that’s not even counting the tens of thousands of slaves “the lord” sometimes commanded his “Chosen” to capture and own, nor the hundreds of thousands of virgins, the vast majority of them almost certainly being children, for the men to “take as wives” (or to keep them as sex slaves the pediphiles could endlessly rape because the lord ordained it). I haven’t read the book of Joshua in a few years but I recall keeping track of all of the god ordered genocides of entire peoples and cultures while god “gave” the “promised land” to his people only by slaughtering millions and STEALING all of it from the people who had living there for centuries! I recall that I had counted at least 42 major genocides in that book alone and possibly quite a few more. And this book documents every single murder the christian god commits or orders others to do so. In fact several people have actually counted up all of the known and estimated murders this god is responsible for in the OT and it’s over 20 million! And this author may be one of those who does this. I guess the point is the preachers all know this and make every effort to avoid the atrocities so their flocks just hear the white washed stuff about Jesus, peace and love which is also funny since he repeatedly states he comes not to bring peace, but the sword and to turn families against each other while urging his followers to turn in their possessions to get enough money to buy swords, etc, but that’s the topic of other books. No wonder the church leaders try to ensure their followers never see this crap. If they did, anyone still possessing human decency and ethics would leave the church forever. As for the others who are just fine with this, it’s no wonder that most of the killings throughout history have been because of or at the hands of religion. Especially the Christian god. No need to bring up the Crusades or dark ages. Remember Hitler had a special agreement with the Pope and his official sign off for the Catholic Church while the majority of the German soldiers were devout Lutherans who believed they were doing God’s will! Nuff said. An eye opener for those who don’t know but have the guts to read and research for themselves and get access to this information from god’s own word and confirmation to those who already know the truth of the most evil alleged creature throughout time and space...
January 30, 2021
When I started reading this book, I was quite skeptical, not because of the topic, but because of its nature, which is a description of facts that I know perfectly well from my theological studies prepared by a self-proclaimed researcher without a proper scientific apparatus. However, I must admit that I am full of admiration for the author's choice of the appropriate passages illustrating how fierce and completely selfish and sick because of his overgrown Ego is a creation that has been made over the centuries of the one they call YHWH.
Moreover, what really captivated me in the author's approach is his fantastic sense of humor. It must be admitted that by presenting such macabre antics of Mr. YHWH, Steve Wells kept moderation in his irony and sarcasm so as not to offend the feelings of those who believe in these dictations described in the Bible.
And what's most important in this book is that those believers in the Book and what it gives, confirm what they may suspect that YHWH is the author of all the killings described in the Bible, while Satan has a complete absolute zero, or null. And in this context, they are confronted with this famous excerpt from the letter of St. John the Evangelist - "God is Love", one has to admit a specific way of showing this love ☺
Moreover, what really captivated me in the author's approach is his fantastic sense of humor. It must be admitted that by presenting such macabre antics of Mr. YHWH, Steve Wells kept moderation in his irony and sarcasm so as not to offend the feelings of those who believe in these dictations described in the Bible.
And what's most important in this book is that those believers in the Book and what it gives, confirm what they may suspect that YHWH is the author of all the killings described in the Bible, while Satan has a complete absolute zero, or null. And in this context, they are confronted with this famous excerpt from the letter of St. John the Evangelist - "God is Love", one has to admit a specific way of showing this love ☺
February 18, 2017
Steve Wells gives a good summary of the topic. His book lacks any deep insights or analysis, but he does his best to remain true to the text and explain the context of each passage. I recommend this book to anyone who either hasn't read the Bible or someone who sincerely believes in the Bible. The excerpts discussed in this book are great examples of Bible content that you won't hear about in Sunday school. As Isaac Asimov once said, “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.” This book will help you understand why this is a true statement.
June 29, 2018
Pretty shocking to see all of "Gods" atrocities in the open and treated as,real, true and literal events. God of love, really?
September 2, 2014
Brilliant compliment to Skeptic's Annotated Bible. A must read.
August 20, 2014
Hilarious
August 29, 2021
An honest biblical account of bible god/jesus.
Anyone who worships these fictional entities is deficient in many things including morals and critical thinking skills.
Anyone who worships these fictional entities is deficient in many things including morals and critical thinking skills.
April 24, 2014
It was ok, Nothing special! pretty much proved how much ofacrock of shit the old testament is.
October 8, 2023
In the Old Testament God is said to be ‘drunk with blood’ on several occasions, because of various slaughterings of people. The author of this book calculates that there are 135 incidents of slaughtering, which result in a death count of 2,476, 636 explicit killings of people. As several of the incidents involve massacres of groups, cities or entire populations, it is difficult to quantify some of the incidents fully, but the author applies a hermeneutic to reach a grand total of God’s killings as 24, 634, 205.
It is interesting to see how those figures are arrived at, although there were also aspects of some of the methodologies that could be quibbled with. Eg, should every destruction of a city be counted as 1000 deaths? Exodus records the Eygptians as having 600 chariots, and so the author calculates a total force of 5000 are killed in the Red Sea. But Ramases armies tended to have 1000 chariots in a division of 5000 soldiers, so perhaps a smaller force would fit the text better? etc. etc.). Nevertheless, by and large this was an informative trawl through a set of biblical texts which are not well known to modern Christians.
However the book’s interpretation of the significance of the biblical texts is problematic. It is excessively simplistic and literalistic in how it treats those texts. For example the author notes that Onan spills his seed on the ground and notes a sin of contraception (14%). However, some biblical scholars see that text as really being about Onan defrauding inheritance rights by trying to avoid an inconvenient conception.
Similar issues arise in the interpretation of stories about God’s slaughters and massacres. The Old Testament contains literary genres and styles, and redaction of the texts means that those styles can be found in the quasi historical sections too. Creation does not have to be interpreted as 7 literal days. Nor does God’s killing have to be interpreted as being about… killing. It could be about seriousness.
For example, the story of Abraham sacrificing his son can be interpreted as a story about how no one should value any possession more highly than God. If the story was written today, then it might be about Abraham being willing to give away his Rolls Royce. The equivalent in the ancient world was about Abraham’s willingness to lose his son and heir. This means that even though the story seems on the surface to be about killing, in reality it isn’t necessarily a story about killing.
Unfortunately, the book does not recognise that biblical texts can be read in different ways. Instead, it assumes a simplistic and literalistic reading of texts, and then berates Christians (in a mocking tone) for being ‘dishonest or lazy’ in not seeing how awful God is (97%). The author claims that ‘either they (Christians) don’t read the Bible, or they ignore the parts that are disturbing.’
But that conclusion rests upon the fallacy of ‘narrowing the options’ (or ‘false dichotomy’). Christians needn’t be dishonest or lazy. Instead, they can read the biblical texts in a way which recognises the complexity of historical texts, and thus avoids simplistic literalism.
Overall, an interesting collection of texts, but a disappointingly simplistic analysis leads to a fallacious conclusion.
It is interesting to see how those figures are arrived at, although there were also aspects of some of the methodologies that could be quibbled with. Eg, should every destruction of a city be counted as 1000 deaths? Exodus records the Eygptians as having 600 chariots, and so the author calculates a total force of 5000 are killed in the Red Sea. But Ramases armies tended to have 1000 chariots in a division of 5000 soldiers, so perhaps a smaller force would fit the text better? etc. etc.). Nevertheless, by and large this was an informative trawl through a set of biblical texts which are not well known to modern Christians.
However the book’s interpretation of the significance of the biblical texts is problematic. It is excessively simplistic and literalistic in how it treats those texts. For example the author notes that Onan spills his seed on the ground and notes a sin of contraception (14%). However, some biblical scholars see that text as really being about Onan defrauding inheritance rights by trying to avoid an inconvenient conception.
Similar issues arise in the interpretation of stories about God’s slaughters and massacres. The Old Testament contains literary genres and styles, and redaction of the texts means that those styles can be found in the quasi historical sections too. Creation does not have to be interpreted as 7 literal days. Nor does God’s killing have to be interpreted as being about… killing. It could be about seriousness.
For example, the story of Abraham sacrificing his son can be interpreted as a story about how no one should value any possession more highly than God. If the story was written today, then it might be about Abraham being willing to give away his Rolls Royce. The equivalent in the ancient world was about Abraham’s willingness to lose his son and heir. This means that even though the story seems on the surface to be about killing, in reality it isn’t necessarily a story about killing.
Unfortunately, the book does not recognise that biblical texts can be read in different ways. Instead, it assumes a simplistic and literalistic reading of texts, and then berates Christians (in a mocking tone) for being ‘dishonest or lazy’ in not seeing how awful God is (97%). The author claims that ‘either they (Christians) don’t read the Bible, or they ignore the parts that are disturbing.’
But that conclusion rests upon the fallacy of ‘narrowing the options’ (or ‘false dichotomy’). Christians needn’t be dishonest or lazy. Instead, they can read the biblical texts in a way which recognises the complexity of historical texts, and thus avoids simplistic literalism.
Overall, an interesting collection of texts, but a disappointingly simplistic analysis leads to a fallacious conclusion.
July 11, 2020
In this book, Wells documents 158 incidents and acts in the Bible that resulted in the death of a human being. These include either direct killing committed by the God of the Bible, His commands to others to commit the killing, and/or His approval to such acts.
Wells counted the total number of casualties in those 158 incidents to be 2,821,364 lives (based on the numbers declared in the Bible itself.) However, since many of the incidents did not report how many was killed, he estimates that the total casualties of the killings in the Bible to be 25 million.
The most atrocious killing in the Bible is the Noachian Flood (Genesis 7:21-23):
21. Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.
22. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
23. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (Gen. 7:21-23)
The Bible did not mention how many perished in that flood, but the Author estimates the number to be around 20 Million humans. The number of the animals, the creatures that move on the ground, and the birds that perished in the flood could be in billions.
At the end of the book, a table is included that summarizes the casualties in each of the 158 killings.
The Book is fun to read, and it demonstrates the extent of the Bible’s immorality.
Wells counted the total number of casualties in those 158 incidents to be 2,821,364 lives (based on the numbers declared in the Bible itself.) However, since many of the incidents did not report how many was killed, he estimates that the total casualties of the killings in the Bible to be 25 million.
The most atrocious killing in the Bible is the Noachian Flood (Genesis 7:21-23):
21. Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.
22. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
23. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (Gen. 7:21-23)
The Bible did not mention how many perished in that flood, but the Author estimates the number to be around 20 Million humans. The number of the animals, the creatures that move on the ground, and the birds that perished in the flood could be in billions.
At the end of the book, a table is included that summarizes the casualties in each of the 158 killings.
The Book is fun to read, and it demonstrates the extent of the Bible’s immorality.
March 14, 2020
my first book from Steve wells is skeptics annotated bible, it is quite an eye opening experience for me coming from a christian background, I find it refreshing to see what other peoples point of view were. the problem with skeptics annotated bible is that its quite long because it is the whole bible with commentary from the point of view of a skeptic. If you haven't read the skeptic annotated bible then this is a good substitute, but the problem with this book is it only focuses on gods killing/genocide, he didn't include the other absurdities inside the bible, you wont get their whole perspective of the bible but otherwise it's still a great book to read.
October 12, 2022
This whole reading experience can be summed up in one quote from the blurp:
"If you still worship God by the end of this book, you have some explaining to do."
It's insane how many killings and senseless slaughters the God of Christianity gets away with. It's actually disgusting. I feel like God's cruelty in the bible oftentimes gets justified by saying "they deserved it" or "they were enemies of the lord", but even if they were (which most of the time they weren't), how can a slaughter ever be justified?
"If you still worship God by the end of this book, you have some explaining to do."
It's insane how many killings and senseless slaughters the God of Christianity gets away with. It's actually disgusting. I feel like God's cruelty in the bible oftentimes gets justified by saying "they deserved it" or "they were enemies of the lord", but even if they were (which most of the time they weren't), how can a slaughter ever be justified?
September 20, 2023
This book made me feel that it was okay to feel uneasy about the bible and Jesus’ teachings, and helped me untangle some of my ideas about god. I already knew I didn’t believe and was traumatized by the church, but this helped me see on a fundamental level, beyond my own experience and emotions about the church, that the Bible really describes a god that, even if I believed in him, I could never ever bring myself to worship.
January 8, 2021
After a while, all those killings become quite boring. It's not the author's fault; he's just reporting the facts and the facts are that God kills a shit ton of people in very repetitive ways and after a while I became numb to it.
I was going to rate this three stars, but the obsessiveness required to finish writing this book is ironically biblical and deserves a mention.
I was going to rate this three stars, but the obsessiveness required to finish writing this book is ironically biblical and deserves a mention.
October 31, 2021
"David played with his hand as that other times and there was a javelin in Saul's hand and Saul cast the javelin for he said I will smite David even to the wall with it and David avoided out of his presence twice."
April 26, 2018
If the "Horrible Histories" series ever did the bible this would be the end result. It's literally that.
July 12, 2021
I guess hitler, mao, and Stalin were all secretly lovers of the Bible. all aspire to be as good at killing as god, and none succeeded.
December 12, 2017
Pretty good book. Not many surprises if you've already read the Bible, but still entertaining. I wrote a longer review on my site if you're interested.
July 21, 2021
I used to seriously doubt that some Bible stories really happened. Now I am very convinced that it didn't.
April 9, 2014
The subtitle is a bit misleading: yes, this lists all the instances in the Bible when God kills someone. But the total includes not just the direct killings, but also God's assists, when he helps someone else kill someone, as well as the instances where he orders someone to kill someone, and the cases where God approves of someone's killing. If you were to count only the instances where God kills someone personally, you'd get a lower number.
However, I don't think this affects the total a whole lot, since one of the first things God does is to kill just about every man, woman, child, and animal on the planet.
In addition, the book is (or can be) only about half as long as it seems: Wells summarizes a section of the Bible, then quotes the relevant passage to show that he's not making stuff up. There's some editorializing as well, but perhaps less than one might think. Of course, there's plenty to annoy those who think the Bible should be held above reproach.
On the whole, Wells's approach is pretty direct: point out some of the more violent parts of the Bible and let it speak for itself. On the other side of the ideological fence, I found that Bible apologists prefer to have discussions about how we don't know God's plan and might perceive an act of kindness as cruelty, but are loath to discuss specific passages, like the various massacres in Kings and Chronicles.
If you're curious, the list of killings is summarized here. Or download the text from The Internet Archive.
However, I don't think this affects the total a whole lot, since one of the first things God does is to kill just about every man, woman, child, and animal on the planet.
In addition, the book is (or can be) only about half as long as it seems: Wells summarizes a section of the Bible, then quotes the relevant passage to show that he's not making stuff up. There's some editorializing as well, but perhaps less than one might think. Of course, there's plenty to annoy those who think the Bible should be held above reproach.
On the whole, Wells's approach is pretty direct: point out some of the more violent parts of the Bible and let it speak for itself. On the other side of the ideological fence, I found that Bible apologists prefer to have discussions about how we don't know God's plan and might perceive an act of kindness as cruelty, but are loath to discuss specific passages, like the various massacres in Kings and Chronicles.
If you're curious, the list of killings is summarized here. Or download the text from The Internet Archive.
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