Moral problems in Bible

An ancient objection, of ten raised, concerns the morality— or rather immorality! — of some parts of the Bible, usually certain Old Testament stories. Are they not vicious and ethically primitive? Things to bear in mind when looking at this question are as follows:

The Old Testament is remarkably frank and honest. It portrays life as it is, and shows the failings even of men of God. The great king David commits adultery and murder. Samson, the deliverer of Israel, is a womanizing opportunist. The Bible faithfully describes all this, but it does not thereby condone.

Many of the things in the Old Testament that are found objectionable when related to God — earthquakes, famines and so on — are also present in the world around us. If these were removed from the Bible, it would not help our faith. They would still confront us in life. We are more likely to come to some understanding, however partial, in this difficult area, if we try to come to grips with the Bible’s teaching about it.

Bible Stories

We always do well to pay particular attention to those passages which do not fit in with our preconceived ideas. Otherwise we can all too easily use the Bible to confirm our prejudices, rather than to correct and enlarge our understanding. Often it will be precisely the problem passage that will teach the most.

The attitude of Jesus to the Old Testament must be decisive for the Christian. It is clear that Jesus accepted it as a true and faithful revelation of God. The idea that the Old Testament shows a harsh God, different from the loving God of the New Testament, is denied by Jesus. We cannot reject his attitude here without undermining his whole moral and spiritual authority.

In fact all the New Testament writers presuppose the validity of the moral and spiritual teaching of the Old. When the apostle John says that God is love, it is the God known from the Old Testament he is talking about. One of the major difficulties many modern readers of the New Testament have is that they are unfamiliar with the Old. The more we see how the New Testament builds on the foundation of the Old, the better we will understand what the Bible is saying.

Fact and challenge

There will always be problems in understanding and applying the Bible. But it is a mistake to think that every problem must be resolved before we can believe the Bible and accept its authority. That would be to deny the reality of God’s revelation — a revelation which gives good reasons for faith, but also calls for personal commitment and trust.

The Bible presents both fact and challenge, and confidence about the facts will grow as we respond to the challenges. The truth of the Bible does not depend on our response to it. Good, objective reasons can be given why we should accept it. But it is only as we do in fact respond in trust and commitment to Jesus Christ, and put the Bible to work in everyday life, that we will finally be convinced that here is the true and trustworthy revelation of God—his word to us.

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Moral problems in Bible

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