Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God

Rather than thinking of the crucifixion as the absence of God—with the darkening skies and the cry of dereliction (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”)— this is actually the moment when God’s presence is most evident. God shows himself in the crucifixion through a palpable darkness, an earthquake, and the tearing of the temple curtain in tw

In the eyes of pagan, Roman, emperor-worshiping polytheists (i.e., worshipers of many gods), Christians were persecuted as atheists: belief in one God was close enough. Ironically, monotheistic Christians were singled out for attack by the diversity-affirming religionists in the Mediterranean world!

The Theme of the Pentateuch: Abraham’s Faith and Moses’s Unbelief

some of the presumed assets of money, good looks, or intelligence can actually be spiritual hindrances and sources of pride and self-sufficiency.

As we move from Old Testament to New Testament, from national Israel to an interethnic Israel (the church), we see a shift from a covenant designed for a nation—with its own civil laws and judicial system—to a new arrangement for God’s people scattered throughout the nations of the world and whose citizenship is a heavenly one.

Yet he reminds his people that he suffers with them and doesn’t forsake them (Matt. 25:40; Acts 9:4).

Sincerity isn’t necessarily an indication of proper function.

Scottish theologian Thomas Torrance was willing to go so far as to say that “God loves us more than he loves himself.”

The call to worship means inclusion in the life of God.