Part 1. The great divorce: how wide the divide between the Old and New Testaments?-- Part 2. Lex rex (the law, the king): What makes the law of Moses so special? -- Part 3. Crime and punishment: violations and penalities in Old Testament law -- Part 4. For whom the bell tolls: harsh texts and difficult Old Testament questions -- Part 5. Of human bondage: women and servants in Israelite society -- Part 6. War and peace: warfare and violence in the Old Testament (and the New) -- Part 7. The heart of the matter: the summing up of all things in Christ.
Summary:
Critics outside the church often accuse the Old Testament God of genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, and violence. But a rising tide of critics within the church claim that Moses and other "primitive," violence-prone prophets were mistaken about God's commands and character. Both sets of critics dismiss this allegedly harsh, flawed, "textual" Old Testament God in favor of the kind, compassionate, "actual" God revealed by Jesus. Are they right to do so? Following his popular book Is God a Moral Monster?, noted apologist Paul Copan confronts false, imbalanced teaching that is confusing and misleading many Christians. Copan takes on some of the most difficult Old Testament challenges and places them in their larger historical and theological contexts. He explores the kindness, patience, and compassion of God in the Old Testament and shows how Jesus in the New Testament reveals not only divine kindness but also divine severity. The book includes a detailed Scripture index of difficult and controversial passages and is helpful for anyone interested in understanding the flaws in these emerging claims that are creating a destructive gap between the Testaments.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.