Summary: Scott Scruggs on 2009-11-28 : The Elephant in the Church / What About God-Sanctioned Cruelty in the Bible? Thomas Paine once suggested the God of the Old Testament looks more like a demon than a God of love. And there are a number of graphic and unsettling stories in the Bible that seem to reinforce just that. So what are we to make of what appears to be God-sanctioned cruelty in the Old Testament? Is God's response to sin redemptive or vindictive? And what are to make of the life and teaching of Jesus in light of these troublesome passages in the Old Testament?
