Thursday, November 15, 2012

What’s with the Old Testament God?


          People go to the Old Testament and find polygamy, misogyny, abuse and other barbaric forms of hypocrisy, along with kooky restrictions (e.g. dietary) that modern Christians strangely don’t follow. Taking verses out of context and/or assuming that Old Testament Law is 1) God’s timeless and universal formula for political utopia and cultural flourishing or 2) a bunch of laws that were abolished with the New Testament, a deeper explanation of biblical living isn’t obvious, and therefore isn’t believed. In this debate, it’s been said that the Bible is an inconsistent and barbaric book, misunderstood and abused by Christians to justify hatred, bigotry, war, sexism, etc.
          This has been elevated in the past few months during the political election season. Cynics wonder why Christians that base their political stances (“anti-abortion,” “anti-gay,” “anti-women,” etc.) as well as their entire lifestyle on such a strange and maybe even dangerous book, and some Christians don’t know how to respond to such allegations against the Old Testament God.
          I thought I’d list a few sources for those curious and interested in conversation. These books still leave room for debate between Christians over how biblical values are to be applied in the political arena, but it does well to establish and defend said biblical values that affirm the dignity of all men and women, the sacredness of the biblical definition of marriage, the sanctity of human life, etc.

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