Category: Bible

Callous christians?

The apparent commands of God in the Old Testament to commit genocide have long troubled me, as they should trouble any thoughtful and compassionate person. (I hope I am both!) How could a God of love command such atrocities? I think this problem can be resolved with God’s good name intact, if we understand the […]

Reading the Old Testament

My journey, and maybe your journey too, in understanding the Old Testament and learning to appreciate it and understand the obvious problems.

Making sense of the Exodus

A review of “The Exodus” by Richard Elliott Friedman and “Exodus for Normal People” by Peter Enns. Two books shine light on the truth (and legends) of the exodus of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt. Well worth reading.

Book review: coming to terms with the Old Testament

A review of “Has Archaeology Buried the Bible?” by William Dever, and an assessment of how this informs a christian understanding of the Old Testament.

Worrying you can’t believe in the Old Testament any more

A conversation about how it feels to question the Old Testament while continuing to believe in Jesus.

Getting to know Nazareth

Archaeology continues to reveal new insights into Jesus’ boyhood town and the culture of its inhabitants.

Book review: Beyond the Texts

You can find a lot of different views on the internet about the accuracy of Old Testament history and how archaeology does, or doesn’t, support the Old Testament accounts. Minimalist historians, and internet sceptics, will tell you it’s almost all invented myth, while maximalist historians and christian apologists will tell you that archaeology supports the […]

Letting the Bible be what it is, not what we would like it to be

Believing the Bible is what it appears to be rather than what we may want it to be solves a lot of problems.

Book review: Disarming Scripture

Disarming Scripture by Derek Flood The Old Testament world was a violent place. For a christian, the most troubling violence is surely that said to be commanded by God, whether it be Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his son and heir Isaac, Joshua commanded to exterminate Canaanites who are unfortunate enough to be living in […]

Did the exodus really happen?

The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their travel to the Promised Land is one of the key events in Jewish religious history, and, therefore, in christian belief as well. But did it actually happen? Did something like 2 million people cross the Red Sea and through the Sinai, aided and guided by miraculous […]