tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post1294059778388199499..comments2024-03-28T10:44:30.518-06:00Comments on American Creation: How Should We Understand Violence In The Good Book?Brad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-46022611323099781972012-02-19T19:54:13.952-07:002012-02-19T19:54:13.952-07:00.
That's the elephant in the living room, Tom.....<br />That's the elephant in the living room, Tom. <br />.Phil Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06756814849309388483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-47268199861914373942012-02-19T13:25:52.336-07:002012-02-19T13:25:52.336-07:00Here's Jenkins in his own words with his argum...Here's Jenkins in his own words with his argument. A little slimmer and more readable.<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-jenkins/priests-of-phinehas_b_1253395.html<br /><br />He's an eminent scholar, but I'm disappointed with this outing. The Old Testament story of Phinheas is pretty ugly, as is stoning adulterers and gays per Deuteronomy and Leviticus. But there's no record that these things ever became normative practice for the Hebrews.<br /><br />So too, with the violent passages in the Quran, fairness requires we see if they were translated into normative practice in Islam. If not, then it's an unfair criticism and idiotic use of theology/scripture.<br /><br />There's also the matter that Christianity doesn't follow the Mosaic Code nor slaughter Amalekites. These things have meaning in understanding the New Covenant in preference to the Old, but that's the limit of it, and I think Jenkins is off here in terms of how Christianity normatively understands itself theologically.<br /><br />If Phinheas has made a comeback in the past century or so among Israel's Jews, I suppose that's a problem---<i>but only if they're as murderous as he</i>.<br /><br />I think a point that's missed in these things: if God no longer requires the death of those who disobey Biblical Law [and Christianity has never normatively believed it does], that doesn't mean that what was once proscribed is now OK.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com