Tag Archives: “Leap of Faith” (Not)

Difficult Text, Quick Answer: The Sacrifice of Isaac

Q: How could a good God command Abraham to sacrifice his only son? 

A: As always, it’s important to read the whole text and not to take it out of context. Any Israelite encountering this story for the first time would have been genuinely horrified when they heard  God’s command.

Read more
Posted in Quick Questions, Good Answers, Quick Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Difficult Text, Quick Answer: The Sacrifice of Isaac

Around the Web: Weird Laws and Genocidal Tribes

The Old Testament creates a number of puzzles. For example, what should we make of the strange laws in the Torah? Christopher JH Wright gives an insightful answer in this article, explaining how we can learn to love Leviticus. Richard Hess illuminates the world of the Old Testament in these articles, which defend the historicity of the Old Testament texts and deal with the difficult issue of Israel’s war with the Canaanites.

Read more
Posted in Around the Web, Quick Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Around the Web: Weird Laws and Genocidal Tribes