09 August 2006

Who has killed more, Satan or God?

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. Job 1:7

In a previous post, I counted the number of people that were killed by God in the Bible. I came up with 2,476,633, which, of course, greatly underestimates God's total death toll, since it only includes those killings for which specific numbers are given. No attempt was made to include the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc., with which the good book is filled. Still, 2 million is a respectable number even for world class killers.
But how does this compare with Satan? How many did he kill in the Bible?
Well I can only find ten, and even these he shares with God, since God allowed him to do it as a part of a bet. I'm talking about the seven sons and three daughters of Job.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job ... And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
...
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD ... put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
...
And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house...And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. -- Job 1:1-19
So it seems that both Satan and God share the blame (or the credit) for these killings. If so, then the tally would be:

killings
God 2,476,633
Satan 10
No contest.

Update
I've tried to assign numbers to the un-numbered killings in the Bible. You can see the detailed list here.
The results were even more lopsided: 25 million (plus or minus a few million) for God; 60 for Satan.

Here is a more complete table.
numbered killings estimated total killings
God 2,476,633 25 million
Satan 10 60
Much more information about God's killings, with a chapter on each of the 135 killing events, can be found int the book:


Drunk With Blood: God's killings in the Bible




208 comments:

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dammit said...

I think George Bush has killed more people than God or Satan.

V1ktor said...

Every time I try to sell my soul to get some goodies no one shows up to buy it...unfair world.

v1ktor
www.nagornyy.com

Unknown said...

I Think You all People forgot your Creator, GOD!!!!!!!!!
He Has the mighty power of all Heaven and Earth.
And one more thing if we wont die there will be no place on earth for the next generations.
Of course there will be very good place for u in the heaven
So Please Think Before You Write about him.

American Moose said...

Yes, he is worth worshiping. God killed those people because the devil was absolutly controlling him. Plus that is like looking at someone who did something bad and expecting him/her to have no concequences. PLUS God created the world and he is trying to keep it in at least some order compared to where it would be without him. It's his. Give your life to God and he will help you, and you reject him and expect to have no concequences. Now after Jesus was born and died and rose again God is a God of Love and Peace and now Jesus took your punishment, but there is only one thing that he can't take care of for you. Eternal Life. He won't be able to do a thing until you let him be in your life. SO DO IT!!!!!!!!

Vences said...

Actually you got the count wrong because God never killed anyone. In Genesis, it tells us that Adam and Eve lived in a perfect paradise, until the devil deceived Eve by getting her to eat from the forbidden tree of life. This deception is what cursed humanity to death for God had told Adam that if he ever ate from the tree he would die. It is the devil deception that has cursed us to death unless you accept Christ as your savior.

cjbrake said...

Adam sinned against god, after god told him that he would die if he did.... The bible says "for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of god is eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Romans 6:23
You see we have fallen short of the glory of god

Wildy said...

I can't believe that I'm defending literalists here, but technically you could increase the estimate to compensate for the servants that died in that house as well, considering the wealth that Job had.

Nayrb said...

But guys, you have to remember that many of the people that God supposedly killed are really really bad people. Why are they bad people? because of sin which was caused by Satan when he tempted Eve. So this means that Satan caused all of their deaths through sin thus showing that Satan has killed them all, not God.

... Or something like that.

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