The Bible has become a happy hunting ground for many who want to undermine faith in the God of the Bible.
After all, there are a lot of disturbing tales to be found there. Dwelling on stories like these, along with aspects of the legal code dealing with slavery, capital punishment and warfare, vocal critics argue that the God of the Bible is a monster. Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion describes the God he doesn’t believe in as a ‘control freak’, an ‘ethnic cleanser’ and a ‘malevolent bully’. Leslie Scrase in The Unbeliever’s Guide to the Bible describes the God of the Old Testament as ‘dishonest, capricious, cruel, jealous and violent.’ Christopher Hitchens in his provocatively titled God is not Good claims that the Old Testament warrants slavery and ethnic cleansing.
The fact is that there are very difficult moral issues raised by what we read in the Old Testament. All sensitive Christians find problem passages. Critics catalogue a bewildering array of moral problems in the Old Testament. Stories of polygamy, genocide and slavery are highlighted in order to paint a picture of God as malevolent. What can we say in response? I think four points need to be clarified.
