"I think that my own crisis of faith came years ago when I could not develop an appropriate response for why the Old Testament was filled with so much bloodshed (i.e. why did God order Israel to annex so many pieces of property and kill everyone while doing it?). When I placed those passages within my trusted Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, reason, tradition, & personal experience), I couldn’t make sense of it. The only answer that satisfied me then and now is that what the OT records is not a whole lot different than what we now see going on in those same lands. People then and now fight over land and kill one another in the name of God. But that just doesn’t jive with loving your neighbour. But to dismiss these passages, along with many others that caused me more questions than answers, was to reject the Bible as being a word-for-word message from God. That was hard at first. But in order to salvage what was left of my virgin faith, it was necessary."Personally, I have always struggled with the notion that the Old Testament -- and even much of the New Testament -- should be read literally. The God of the Old Testament is capricious and hateful and certainly not deserving of adoration, respect, or worship. The God of the New Testament is starkly different -- loving, compassionate, merciful -- but it appears that a number of his teachings, miracles, and attributes have been lifted from other faith traditions. Thus, the conundrum.
"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."
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