I
guess in my Christian studies as a child I missed all of the
brutal violence in the Old Testament. God tells the Israelites
to kill every man, woman and child at one point. This makes
me very angry. The God of Christ does not seem to fit with the
God of Israel. I love Christ and want to be a Christian and
follow the teaching of the New Testament, but every time I read
the Old Testament, I get really angry. Please help me make sense
out of all of this.
Both
the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and New Testament contain many
voices. Joshua sounds different from Ruth; Amos sounds different
from the Song of Solomon. Similarly, the Gospel of John sounds
different from Matthew, and Hebrews sounds different from Romans.
The reason is that each was written by a different person, at
a different time, for a different audience and using a different
literary style. They speak of the same God, but don't sound
alike.
During
the settling of Canaan, the Hebrews were in a constant struggle
for survival. They saw God as their champion and asked God to
smite their enemies. At a later time, Amos wasn't concerned
about Israel's survival, but about their transgressions, and
he demanded that they change their ways. The New Testament has
its own violent language—read the Revelation to John—but
on the whole, the message is more about Jesus than about establishing
a nation and waging wars of conquest.
When
you look at the Bible as a whole, you will see the full range
of human experience, from giving birth to falling in love to
earning a living to defending one's homeland to facing death.
Every phase of life calls forth different voices from within
us and, therefore, tends to yield different perceptions of God.
As
you read the Bible, I encourage you to consider the unique voice
of each book and to ask where, in your own life, that voice
can be heard. You see, God speaks to you at every stage on your
journey.
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The
Bible tells us that God will not test us beyond our means but
will provide a way out for us, but experience and many, many
instances in the Bible have shown that many Christians fail
their test and forsake their faith. I am going through very
trying times and holding on to that promise. I have thought
that the purpose of trials was to drive a person closer to God,
but God just loads on even more trials after that. Is that a
loving God?
I
encourage you to go back to Scripture and to understand, as
the Psalmist says, that God is our help in time of trouble,
not the cause of our troubles. People get sick, people have
accidents, people suffer in warfare, people die—all this
and more happens because life is difficult, not because God
is loading trials onto our backs.
Rather
than hold on to an idea that God won't “give you any more
than you can handle,” as the saying goes, I encourage
you to lift up your pain and confusion to God. I don't think
it helps you, or is true to God, for you to be looking over
your shoulder, waiting to see what agony God will cause next.
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Do
you think there is a danger in presenting the Bible to children
using pretend characters, such as talking animals? When they
learn that these aren’t real, will they think that Jesus
was made up as well?
As
I understand child psychology, children have vivid imaginations
in their early years. Through imagining monsters and “things
that go bump in the night,” they are able to deal with
the normal fears of childhood. Maurice Sendak's books (e.g.
Where the Wild Things Are) are a good example of this.
As time goes on, children become extraordinarily literalist,
wanting no more of make-believe. Then they become idealists
and dreamers.
As
each stage proceeds, children seem able to differentiate between
real and phony. In fact, children probably have a better nose
for sniffing out phoniness than adults do! I personally doubt
that a child gets waylaid when a rabbit is shown wearing overalls
and talking, or “Billy Goats Gruff” prowl beside
bridges, or characters in a Bible story seem cartoon-like.
Besides,
the Bible is filled with metaphorical language and exotic images.
It's called “limit language,” that is, language
that tries to talk about something (in this case God) that is
beyond the limits of language. Thus, God is referred to as “rock”
and Jesus as a “lamb.” Those images help us to understand
who God is.
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Where
does it say we shouldn't eat pork?
The
prohibition against eating pork can be found in Leviticus 11:7.
Many Jews still observe this prohibition, but generally Christians
do not.
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Am
I too young to serve God (I am 14)? Any Scriptures to help me?
God
uses servants of every age, young and old. Jesus taught in the
temple around age 12. When his disciples told children to stay
away from him, Jesus said, No, let the little children come
closer.
I
hope you will ask this question also of your pastor. I imagine
he or she will be delighted to learn of a young person who wants
to serve.
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Does God not send calamity to some population as judgment on
their "sin," as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah,
and in the case of Nineveh in the book of Jonah?
Ancient
peoples, including the Hebrews, believed that God caused all
things to happen, especially storms, famines, earthquakes, floods
and other disasters. They had no other way of understanding
these events. They, in turn, felt their role was to appease
the gods.
Three
thousand years later, we know a lot more about how things work,
and we don't need to blame God for natural phenomena or for
the accidents of life.
We also know from the prophets and from Jesus that God's fundamental
nature isn't judgment or punishment or vengeance, but mercy,
compassion and forgiveness. We don't need to look at natural
phenomena and ask what the victims did to offend God. Better
for us to ask what we can do to help them.
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Why is it important to be “in communion” with the Anglican Community and a part of the See of Canterbury ?
Good question, and one on which you will hear different opinions. While the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury as center of the Church of England has a long history, the Anglican Communion is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was created in the 19 th Century by several national churches that were offshoots of English settlements. Among them was the American Episcopal Church. The aim was to seek a certain unity in belief and practice, to provide for mutual respect of ordinations, and, more recently, to provide missionary support from First World to Third World—all without allowing Canterbury or the Communion to have any legislative or ecclesiastical authority over the 38 provinces. Thus, it is an advisory council, not a seat of power. The Archbishop of Canterbury has no authority over the affairs of any province other than his own.
One constant during its existence has been conflict, both among the constituent provinces and, as we see now in the Episcopal Church, within provinces. In those conflicts, one side or another sometimes sees a tactical advantage to be gained by appealing to the Archbishop of Canterbury for a ruling (which he generally refuses to give) or by holding up being in harmony with the entire communion as a primary and determinative value. The other side, of course, seeks no such rulings and sees no unique value in being in communion with national churches that have little in common with it.
The Anglican Communion today is dominated by provinces in Africa , which are growing dramatically. Those national churches, such as Nigeria and Uganda , are quite conservative in their moral theology. Conservatives in the American church look to them as philosophical allies and want American Episcopal practice in alignment with African conservatism. They regard the newly elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as an obstacle to such conformity, because she is female. Others say Anglicans outside the US have no say in Episcopal Church affairs.
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I am a believer in God and love Him dearly. I have had several preachers tell me that the disease I was diagnosed with several years ago does not require medication, although I have been taking the meds for ten years. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder or manic depressive illness. Could you possibly give me any insight into this, as I have found no scriptures telling me that it is a sin to take medication for an illness such as this. Maybe there are.
Except in a few denominations, medicine is considered a necessary contributor to health. One turns to doctors for medical advice and treatment, and to preachers for spiritual guidance and pastoral care. Medication can be abused, of course, but, as I see it, under expert medical care, medication presents an opportunity for health and doesn't conflict with God's desires. After all, Jesus healed the sick, and the Christian community was the first builder of hospitals.
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I was wondering what the connection is between the Episcopal Church and Universalism, if any. Is this church friendly and open to the teaching?
Major Christian denominations have tended to look askance at Universalism because of its belief that all humans will be saved, not just those who profess certain beliefs. Some consider it a heresy and argue strongly against it, even though Universalism is considered Christian.
The Episcopal Church has two teachings that seem relevant here. As expressed in the Catechism, found in the Book of Common Prayer, one says that “Our assurance as Christians is that nothing, not even death, shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This suggests a broad umbrella of grace, much broader than that professed by some other denominations, close to the universalist view of every soul returning to God.
The other teaching is that sinners can be reconciled, through confession, and will receive the “assurance of pardon.” This belief is far from the teaching of other denominations that sin leads to death and eternal damnation.
At ground level, Universalism (and its merged state as part of Unitarian Universalism) tends to get along well with local Episcopal congregations, because they both tend to be concerned about justice and community service.
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