Our family recently streamed a sermon series on Esther. One installment focused on the armed confrontations between Jews and their antagonists at the end of the book, the end result of Haman's plan to eliminate the Jews and Esther's counter-maneuvering on their behalf. The teaching focused on the challenges such passages pose. Is the Bible being prescriptive or merely descriptive in including such violence? Does the fact that God's purpose--the survival of the chosen people--is achieved through bloodshed represent an … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Scientific Anachronism
joshua
Science Corner: The Phylogenetic Trees of Lebanon
The conquest of Canaan has long been a controversial element of the Bible. Did God really command a genocide? If so, can we still describe God as just and loving? Such ethical and theological questions occur to many who read these stories. Then came archeological investigations whose results raised questions about the historical accuracy of the accounts. Was Jericho a major city when the Israelites arrived? Is there evidence it was destroyed? While there is some archeological corroboration for some features of Joshua … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Phylogenetic Trees of Lebanon