>But I think many of the
>comments on this thread have missed the problem which initiated it - the
>fact that some people are turned away from the faith because of the
>places in the OT where God is pictured as vindictive & especially
>genocidal - the commands to exterminate populations &c.
> The apologetic task in that regard is not to rationalize these
>accounts, say "they had it coming" &c. It is necessary to interpret
>such things in the light of the NT. What does Samuel hacking Agag to
>pieces before the Lord in Gilgal have to do with Christ?
>
That is precisely the question - how does one reconcile a God who loved the
world enough to send his son as the redeemer - and not just to the Jews,
but to all mankind - with the OT God who orders the extermination of entire
populations?
Janet Rice
rice@mcc.com
512-338-3266