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Before we can look at specific Bible passages regarding the violence of God in Scripture, it is important to develop a framework which helps us understand what is going on within and behind these violent texts. I have six points of this framework, which I call “Choas Theory.”

The first point of this Chaos Theory is this:

God’s Policy of Non-Intervention

The first principle to recognize about the violent events that happen in this world, whether they are naturally occurring events such as earthquakes and tsunamis or man-caused events like war and terrorism, is that none of these are caused by God. God does not orchestrate suffering, cause death, send storms, destroy lives, or bring about death. He allows these things, He even uses these things toward His good ends, but He does not cause them.

In the Beginning…

In the beginning, God set up a universe with genuinely free creatures, which can truly impact their surroundings—for good or for evil. The reason God did this is because if God wanted real relationship with His creatures, ones He could love and who could love Him in return, there was no other way to do it. Relational love, if it is to be real love, must be free love. Love that is forced is not love; but something closer to psychological rape. Real love cannot force itself on others; nor can it force others to love in return.

Since God wanted true and genuine love with us, He gave us true and genuine freedom. God knew the risks of such a gift. In fact, based on His divine foreknowledge and His experience with the rebellion of the angels, God knew that His gift of freedom to humanity would likely result in our rebellion as well. And it did. But when Adam and Eve sinned, God did not step in to stop them. To do so would have been to deny their genuine freedom. Freedom isn’t freedom if God stepped in to stop things when freedom is used in wrong ways.

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When is Enough Enough?

By Jeremy Myers

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Due to my recent call for blogs from readers of this blog, I recently started reading A Quest for a New Perspective, and I am loving what Gene is writing there.

In a recent post called “When is Enough Enough?” he said this:

When is enough enough?

I have a hard time answering that question. Do you?

We have a perfectly good smartphone but we “need” the latest edition because it provides a few more features that make it a little bit better than the one we have.

We have dozens of shoes boxed in our closets but we “need” another pair.

We have plenty of clothes hanging above our shoe boxes but we “need” more.

We have a 50″ TV but we “need” a 60″.

I deal with these thoughts and temptations everyday. I’ll bet you do too. It’s the society we live in. We always seem to want more whether we really need it or not.

Head on over to A Quest for a New Perspective to see how Gene finishes this post.

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God is Guilty

By Jeremy Myers

12 Comments

I am beginning a short series of posts on how to understand the Old Testament passages where God commands Israel to slaughter people. I have an idea “in the works” for how to deal with these troubling texts.

By way of full disclosure, I have not read this idea anywhere else, which means it is probably wrong and may get condemned by some as “heresy.”

So far, the only person in the world I have talked about this with is my wife. She lovingly stayed up until almost 2 AM the other night discussing this idea with me, and in typical Wendy fashion, punched numerous holes in it. That is one of the many reasons I love her! She may not consider herself a theologian, but she has what I call “intuitive theology.” She knows the heart of God more than anyone else I know, and so while she may not know all the logical arguments or Scripture passages for various theological views, she senses rightness and wrongness in various theological positions.

All this is to say that Wendy is not yet convinced of my view, but wants me to incorporate an alternative view (which I shared with her a few months ago but have not ever read anywhere else) into this new view. I told her that I am not sure it is possible to do, but I would try.

That is what these posts are about. I have these two competing and alternative views on how to understand the difficult texts in the Old Testament, and both have major strengths and weaknesses (just like all theological views). The greatest weakness of both views, however, is that I know of no other theologian who holds them. So I feel like I am tilling rocky soil… it is slow going.

But I always think best when I write, and I always appreciate the interaction from other thinkers and writers (that’s YOU), and so am going to write this series of posts and see where they lead. I may end up painting myself into a corner, in which case I will have to scrap the whole project. OR, maybe as a result of tilling this rocky soil, we will find fruitful ground in which to sow our theological seeds by reading the Old Testament in a whole new light.

So, are you ready for the ride?

Let’s begin with this:

If God went to Trial, God Would Get Condemned

I watched a fascinating movie several years ago called “God on Trial.” It takes place in Auschwitz when several of the Jewish prisoners there decide to put God on Trial for the crimes He has allegedly committed through the centuries. Spoiler alert: There is a compelling section of the movie where they ultimately decide that God is guilty. Yes, they hand God a “Guilty” verdict.

I just searched online, and found the clip on YouTube:

As a result of this clip, I watched the whole movie. The movie is based on a book by Elie Weisel, The Trial of God. The thing I like about this movie is that the script struggles with the hard questions. The Jewish prisoners are honest with the text of Scripture. They take it at face value and do not try to sugar coat what it says or explain it away. They do not retreat to some of the typical answers such as “The Bible is wrong” or “God was accommodating Himself to a fallen world.” No, they recognize that what the Old Testament says really happened, and that since God takes credit for it, God is guilty.

If we are going to properly deal with the pain and suffering that is all around us in the world, there is no other way of dealing with the pain and suffering in the Old Testament. We must face it directly. We must deal with it head-on.

Along with these Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz, we must pronounce God guilty (No, that is not the idea I will develop, but it gives a hint at the direction we are going).

Exhibit 1

I can already hear the objections from the defense attorney (the church). “Oh no! You have misunderstood the text! You are taking it out of context! You are misreading it! You are maligning God!”

No, we are not maligning God. God has already maligned Himself by inspiring biblical writers to record horrendous acts against people, many of which appear to be on the same level as those crimes committed by men like Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam Hussein.

In numerous places in the Bible, God seems hell-bent on slaughtering people, including women and children. One of the most gruesome texts in all the Bible (maybe in all of history) is found in Psalm 137:8-9:

Oh daughter of Babylon,
who are to be destroyed,
Happy the one who repays you
as you have served us!
Happy the one who takes and dashes
Your little ones against the rock!

Yeah. Can you imagine singing this Psalm in church?

But it is in our inspired, inerrant, authoritative Bible, along with many other passages like it.

Passages where God tells the Israelites to kill every living thing, men, women, children, and even animals (Deut 2:34; 20:16-17). Passages where God says “Show them no mercy” (Deut 7:2). Passages which depict bloodbaths which rival the most gory Hollywood productions of our day (Josh 10:30, 32; 11:11, 14; 2 Sam 4:12; Num 31:7-12).

If you haven’t struggled with these depictions in Scripture, either you are not reading your Bible or you are not hanging out with non-Christian people (This is the most common criticism of the Bible from non-Christians).

Since I believe in the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God, I must take these texts for what they say, and compare them with other texts which condemn murder and the slaughter of other people and say, along with the Jewish prisoners in the movie above, and along with atheists and agnostics of our day, that God is guilty.

If we allow the Bible to say what it says, we must conclude that when it comes to the charge of mass genocide, God is guilty.

If God is Guilty, Why Worship Him?

The question then is “Why do I still believe? Why do I still love? Why do I still worship?”

Ah, well, that is where my idea comes in, and which we will begin to unfold tomorrow.

I have been struggling with this question for several years now, and while I am not ready to claim I have a “solution” (nothing but pride would make such a claim), I do have a theological hypothesis which will be tested against Scripture. I do not have a perfect answer to this dilemma, but I am constantly working toward a solution. It is a hypothesis that will probably get me condemned as a heretic by some… but that’s nothing new.

The hypothesis is going to take several posts to unfold, and since it is little more than a hypothesis at this point, I doubt that I can answer all questions or make this hypothesis fit nicely into all texts. But I am laying it out here on this blog because I value the input from all of you.

So please, disagree if you want to, but also be gracious. I am learning along with you.

How can a God who says "Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44) be the same God who instructs His people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?

These are the sorts of questions we discuss and (try to) answer in my online discipleship group. Members of the group can also take ALL of my online courses (Valued at over $1000) at no charge. Learn more here: Join the RedeemingGod.com Discipleship Group I can't wait to hear what you have to say, and how we can help you better understand God and learn to live like Him in this world!

Blogging: A Spiritual Discipline

By Jeremy Myers

Humility of Blogging

When you first start, blogging is an exercise in humility. You think that you will instantly get thousands of readers and hundreds of comments. But you write for months, and nobody but your wife reads it.

Perseverance in Blogging

As the months go by, it becomes an exercise in perseverance. It becomes a discipline to write, even if nobody is reading.
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Tim Tebow vs. First Baptist Church of Dallas

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

I imagine that First Baptist Church in Dallas is peeved that Tim Tebow backed out of speaking at their “Grand Opening” month-long celebration for their new $130 million state-of-the-art, accessory-filled sanctuary.

Though Tebow previously had agreed to speak during their celebration — along with David Jeremiah, Charles Billingsley, Jim Cymbala, Phil Wickham, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers, and Dr. James Dobson — he backed out the other day after a reporter for CBS sports gave Tebow an online shellacking for the decision to align himself with a pastor who condemns gays, Mormons, and Muslims to hell, and who associated President Obama with the Antichrist.

So it got me wondering…

What would Jesus do?

I know, I know. That question usually makes be gag too. It is usually asked by people who would rather wear WWJD wristbands and t-shirts than go out and actually do what Jesus would do, but in this case, I am going to ask it anyway:

If Jesus were a Heisman-trophy winning all-star celebrity multi-millionaire quarterback, what would he do?

…On second thought, that question doesn’t make sense…. which just goes to show you another reason why I don’t like the question.

So let me rephrase the question.

If Jesus were ministering today, would he go speak at the First Baptist Church Grand Opening Month-long Celebration?

Maybe a video would help you decide. Here is a construction video from First Baptist Church in Dallas:

http://vimeo.com/58754562

All I can really say to this video is “Wow.” …and not in a good way. I laughed out loud at the end with that Las Vegas style fountain around the cross of Jesus…

I agree with Alan Cross at Downshore Drift who wrote this:

…one must ask what kind of bells and whistles are involved in a $130 million price tag for a 3,000 seat sanctuary. One must ask if spending $130 million on a 3,000 seat sanctuary with fountains and glass and other luxuries is even the religion that Jesus had in mind when he died on the cross alone and rejected. First Baptist will celebrate over the next month. The world wonders what they are celebrating.

I am not a fan of churches spending obscene amounts of money on fancy buildings, and have proposed elsewhere that if we siphoned off just some of the money we spend on church buildings, we could solve the world’s water crisis.

But at the same time, I always remember what I learned in Kindergarten, that whenever I point the finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at me. Where am I wasting money that could be spent elsewhere? How am I “splurging” on unnecessary accessories?

I guess maybe part of the difference, however, is that I am not spending this money “in the name of Jesus.” But is that even a valid distinction, or is it a pitiful attempt at self-justification?

But I am getting off track…

Would Jesus speak at the Grand Opening of First Baptist Church in Dallas?

I suspect Jesus would speak at First Baptist Church in Dallas…if they were dumb enough to ask Him. He would get up there and tell a parable… probably something along these lines:

There was a man who had great wealth. And he wanted to use his wealth to help the poor, the homeless, and the hungry in his city. He saw their desperate need, and wanted to do all he could to help them.

So the first thing he did was move into the midst of the poor and the naked. He knew that to minister to the hungry, he needed to live among them. He bought a small and humble home, and began to feed and clothe whoever had need.

One day a man walked into his humble abode, dressed in fine clothes and carrying a leather briefcase. He looked at the work the rich man was doing, and said, “This is wonderful! You are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and providing lodging for the homeless! But your space is so limited. You can only feed and clothe a few. Imagine what could happen in this city if you expanded your operation so that rather than feeding and clothing dozens, you fed and clothed thousands! Imagine the change that would come upon this city! Imagine the good you could accomplish! If that is what you want, I can show you how.”

The rich man looked around his small house. He did feel rather guilty that despite all his wealth, he could only feed a clothe a few. Every day he had to turn away people who needed food and lodging, simply because he didn’t have enough room. So he looked at the man in the fancy suit and said, “Let’s do it! The more people I can reach, the better! What do I need to do?”

So they began to plan.

First, they had to tell the poor and the homeless that for a short while, they could not come to get food and clothing any longer. The rich man had to explain to them that this was only temporary while he could build a larger structure to accommodate more people. They seemed to understand, but he saw doubt and fear in their eyes and tried to encourage and convince them that this was for the best. But many of them did not seem to understand as they shuffled off into the night.

It was painful to watch, but the rich man knew it had to be done.

So he and the man in the fancy suit got to work. They planned. They prepared. They started small and modest, but the more they dreamed, the grander their vision became. Nothing was too good for the poor and the homeless. When they entered those front doors, they needed to be treated like kings and queens! They needed to be greeted with a vision and foretaste of the pearly gates!

Very quickly, however, the rich man realized that despite his great wealth, he would not have enough money to construct his great dream. He just about gave it all up, when the man in the fancy suit offered the logical solution.

“You need people to come along side you to support you in this great vision for helping the poor and homeless. If you want to transform this city and help the people feed the hungry and clothe the naked, you cannot–you should not–do it all on your own. In fact, it is selfish to want all the glory of this ministry for yourself. You need to share the vision and let others share in the work.

So they started to invite other rich and wealthy people to participate. To give. To donate. And people eagerly responded. One man gave $10,000 and offered to give $100,000 if he could have a place on the board of this new ministry. Another man offered to give $1 million if they would name the gymnasium after him.

And this is how it went for the next six years. Thousands of people joined in the work. Donations poured in. Decisions were made. Budget committees formed to make sure the money was all accounted for. Ministry committees multiplied to plan and prepare for the eventual day when they would start taking care of the poor and needy in the community. Television specials and interviews aired on the local news stations about the grand work that was being done to beautify this once-decrepit downtown block of the city.

The rich man became popular among the popular and the rich. He was asked to write books and speak at conferences.

And one of these days, if he can find the time, he hopes to once again give a coat to a poor man and a meal to a hungry child. Until then, well, he is “raising funds” and “raising awareness” which will be more help in the long run. At least, that is what the man in the fancy suit says…

Then Jesus would sit down, and everybody in the grand auditorium would glance nervously around at each other, thinking to themselves, “Was he talking about us?” But they would forget all about it when the next speaker bounded up on stage and started off with a witty joke about falling asleep in the padded pews during long, meandering, pointless stories from untrained preachers.

That would perk everybody up, and nobody would notice as Jesus slipped out the back of the building to go hang out with the homeless under the bridge a few blocks away.

God’s Policy of Non-Intervention

God’s Policy of Non-Intervention

In the Beginning…

When is Enough Enough?

God is Guilty

If God went to Trial, God Would Get Condemned

Exhibit 1

If God is Guilty, Why Worship Him?

Blogging: A Spiritual Discipline

Humility of Blogging

Perseverance in Blogging

Tim Tebow vs. First Baptist Church of Dallas

What would Jesus do?

Would Jesus speak at the Grand Opening of First Baptist Church in Dallas?

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