Unsung heroes of the Bible.

[Valigarmander]

The Bible's filled with people who do awful things and are praised for it, I'm sure you all know that. But what about the inverse: people who do admirable things but are punished or shamed for them?

The first I'm aware of is Korah, whose story is told in Numbers 16. Korah was a Levite who was among the Israelites being led from Egypt by Moses. As they're wandering through the desert, Korah and his pals Dathan and Abiram, along with a couple hundred others, come to Moses and Aaron and state that God is among all the Israelites, and that the entire congregation is holy, and so why should those two raise themselves above everyone else? Sounds almost democratic. God responds by sending a fire to consume Korah and 249 of his coconspirators, and has the earth swallow whole Dathan, Abiram, their families, and all of their possessions. A lot of the Israelites aren't happy with this, and so God smites them (14,700 of them) with the plague and kills them.

Next we have "Doubting" Thomas, shared in John 20:24-29. After Jesus comes back from the dead, he presents himself to most of the apostles. When the other apostles go to tell Thomas, who hadn't been present, that Jesus was back, Thomas refused to believe it until he saw Jesus himself, wounds and all. About a week later Jesus comes by and lets Thomas stick his fingers in his holes (gross), and Thomas believes. Jesus finishes with the antirational declaration, "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Are there any other Biblical figures who demonstrate good attributes that are denigrated in the story?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Ronald Reagan once was a Democrat,  but changed to the party of god. That was in the bible wasn't it?

[Solitary]

   Solitary

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I'd be interested.  I like obscure references to stuff.

[stromboli]

My favorite character is Aragorn. Oh wait. That is another fictional book. Never mind.

[Hydra009]

The Babylonians.  :P

Job's wife.  Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die."

Also, the poor servant in the parable of talents seems cruelly judged.  Granted, he wasn't a very shrewd investor (the poor tend to not be good at that sort of thing), but he was honest and dependable.  He preserved what little was given to him (which he could have exchanged for a hot meal or some new rags) and returned it faithfully.  Seems like he should've been given a little more appreciation.

[Valigarmander]

Incredulity of St Thomas is not a good example for this. Because that's actually a 'solid scene' used for 'being skeptic' and 'getting enlightened' in front of the 'evidence'. Lol. The story of Thomas doubting the Jesus coming back doesn't really tell 'doubt' as we like to see. On the contrary.

I'm not sure what you mean. I included this story primarily of Jesus's response to Thomas's doubt, which was essentially, "Here's your evidence, but it would have been much better if you believed without seeing it."

[Poison Tree]

Also, the poor servant in the parable of talents seems cruelly judged.  Granted, he wasn't a very shrewd investor (the poor tend to not be good at that sort of thing), but he was honest and dependable.  He preserved what little was given to him (which he could have exchanged for a hot meal or some new rags) and returned it faithfully.  Seems like he should've been given a little more appreciation.

I feel that I must point out that the "servant" as he is usually called was, in fact, a slave.

[stromboli]

My problem is that there are other issues that never get discussed about the bible. Like, did Jesus have nipples? I mean, immaculate birth yada yada. A dick? did he even NEED one? Was Joseph boning Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus? How did that work? Did Jesus get wood when he was hangin' with Mary Magdalene? Supposedly she was a pretty sweet little number.  Did the apostles hit on her? I mean 12 guys and one babe, come on.

And then Jesus shows Peter how to catch a whole shitload of fish, was Peter thinking "Dude, franchise!" when he joined up? And all the possible holy dollars- Jesus sweat, for instance. little bottle, big bucks. And magic baskets for reproducing fishes and loaves.

And don't get me started on Noah. What, solar powered spiritual chain saw? Must have done some serious wood removal, because the place where he built the boat is mostly desert now. So many questions nobody deals with. 

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You know what I wonder shoe is how many people,  common folk actually ever got a chance to look at those paintings. Since very few people ever even saw a book I imagine even fewer people actually got the honor to glimpse at the paintings.