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From: charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: The horrifying Old Testament
Message-ID: <350@cylixd.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Oct-85 12:56:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: cylixd.350
Posted: Tue Oct  8 12:56:29 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 07:32:38 EDT
References: <627@dicomed.UUCP>
Reply-To: charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips)
Organization: RCA Cylix Communications , Memphis, TN
Lines: 41
Summary: 

>.... As I read the Old
>Testament I became more and more horrified. The many violent and
>cruel acts which God demanded of his chosen people seem so
>inconsistent with the gentle God I had been taught to believe in.
>.... How do you other 
>Christians deal with this. 
>.... is 
>the good and loving God that I believe in the same one
>that they talk about in the Old Testament? 
>[Kathleen Cornelson]

I once had a similar problem.  After I became a Christian, I asked
God about the fate of non-Christians.  I didn't believe it was just
or right that he should condemn them for simply being Moslem or
Buddhist or whatever, if they were sincere, particularly if they had
never heard of God.  I took my problem to God.  I argued with Him at
great length, accused Him of being cruel and unfair.  He listened
to my tirades, and at last helped me understand.  I believe God loves
*honest* doubters.  If you have a problem with Him, talk to Him about
it!  

The particular problem you bring up has been explained to me like this:
the most important thing in the world was for the Israelites to preserve
the Truth about God and the coming Messiah.  This was more important
than any person's life or well-being, because it concerned the eternal
life and eternal well-being of all generations that were to come.  To
protect the Truth, God sometimes had to require things that seem quite
harsh to us.  Anything that might distort the Truth had to be
obliterated at any cost, because the Truth was beyond cost.  That is
why He often commanded that conquered peoples be destroyed - so that
the Israelites could not learn of their gods, turn to them, and so
lose the Truth.  Similarly, death sentences were given for many crimes
because the Israelites were a nomadic people living in a harsh 
environment.  The entire people could be put at risk if it had to 
support non-productive criminals (i.e., prisoners), and someone who was
banished could simply come back around and attack the people again.
The death penalty might have been harsh, but given the circumstances,
it was better for the people as a whole than other things might have
been.

		charli