\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been doing some writing lately, and a nagging topic keeps coming up in one way or another and won\u2019t leave me alone.<\/p>\n
Last year, I put up a few posts on divine violence against Canaanites in the Old Testament (here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and more recently here<\/a>), which is enough of a topic to keep you busy.<\/p>\n But what about God\u2019s retributive<\/em> violence\u2013where God exacts swift judgment in the form of physical brutality against his own people for disobeying<\/strong>? Some of the better-known incidents are:<\/p>\n The question that is as old as the Christian faith is: \u201cHow does all this square with how Jesus speaks of God?\u201d The keyword here is forgiveness<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The issue is not simply that Jesus says we should forgive each other.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n Of course, for both the Old and New Testaments, there are other examples we could look at. But the point remains: If Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30), how can we hold all this together?<\/strong> How can these two views of God be reconciled? Are they even supposed to be reconciled?<\/p>\n One answer will not do, and we need to nip it in the bud: \u201cGod can do whatever he wants to, and that includes mercilessly punishing sinners among his own people by killing them.\u201d That misses the entire point. The issue here is how God himself is portrayed differently\u00a0<\/em>in the Old Testament and then in the New.<\/strong><\/p>\n The larger question here is: \u201cWhat is the relationship between how God is portrayed in Israel\u2019s story vis-a-vis the Gospel?\u201d God\u2019s retributive violent judgment on his own people is simply one window into exploring the larger question.<\/p>\n And a very practical dimension of all this: Which of these portraits of God are we most drawn to<\/strong> and how is that worked out in our daily interactions with others? How do our actions toward others reflect our theology? \u00a0Do we want to get even? Is tit-for-tat our rule to live by, or turn the other cheek?<\/p>\n\n
Rather, by forgiving each other we reflect\u00a0the heart of God<\/em>.<\/h2>\n
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