Chuong: Masakado came from the Heian Period, which is way before the Edo Period, where Ryo hails from. The Edo Period marked the rule under the Tokugawa Shogunate, where Tokugawa Ieyasu was the most diplomatic shogun before the shoguns and samurai before him. There's even a Japanese poem taught to children that described the character of the three great shoguns, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, of Japan during the Sengoku Period.

If the bird doesn't sing, kill it.

If the bird doesn't sing, coax it.

If the bird doesn't sing, wait for it.

Nobunaga was ruthless and violent, Hideyoshi was convincing, and Tokugawa was diplomatic.

Zax: Christian history wasn't always better. Also I don't think this response delved well into the Heian Period with Masakado and his daughter, Takiyasha. I think they were powerful and feared warriors but also intelligent. As for the frogs being used as plagues, the Bible mentioned God summoning them in Egypt to punish their people for enslaving Moses' people. *To Lisimba the Mameluke Lion.* The Bible's scene with your country being punished under God was quite graphic. There's a lot of passages about this in graphic detail.

Yamazaki: Takiyasha nearly conquered Japan and Mitsukuni was lucky enough to stop her. The battle was extremely close during the Heian Period.

Lisimba: Those passages can be depressing to read, but it does prove that those things did happen. The Bible is God's Holy Word, and so there are no mistakes or fallacies in it. And you're right to say frogs was one of the ten plagues; locusts was another. But the big one was the first born son in every family dying when the angel of death passed over it. But the Israeli offspring lived; hence the holiday known as Passover.

Leo: Which I believe is the world's oldest religious holiday still being celebrated.

Levon: Yes; that's correct.

Marshall: The Bible says that more people died by God's acts than that of Satan. Let's take a look at 2 Kings 2:23 as an example. Can anyone tell me what happened there?

Zax: 42 boys made fun of Elisha's bald head and he called a curse from God to send out two bears that mauled all 42 boys to death.

Marshall: 42 little boys... And this is from the Bible. Yikes! And I thought God didn't allow His followers to curse others in His name.

Chuong: Levon, can you clarify this specific verse to me on this matter? I thought the boys were punished for making fun of Elisha as the main topic.

Juno: And people say Japan's history is messed up. The Bible wasn't always better.

Levon: Sure. 2 Kings 2:23-25 says the following:

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23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”

24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

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Levon: The Old Testament is full of stories like that, but the reason for it is that Jesus had not yet come. When He did, He overruled many things that were once the norm, such as sacrificing lambs to atone for your sins because He was the ultimate sacrifice when He died.

Chuong: So when Jesus came, He ended all these barbaric things.

Zax: Remember, Old Testament was life before Jesus. This is why the Bible has the Old Testament and why Christians worship Jesus. Jewish traditions and practices are in the Old Testament because Jesus did not ask His followers to be like the Jews despite being of Jewish background Himself.

Shadow Lord Coy: So it was Jesus who helped lay out the moral foundations of the modern world.

Zax: You could say that.

Levon: That is exactly the case. The Old Testament is there for a reason; the Bible is also a history book, and a book full of wise principles and good advice.