Monster vs. Messiah

Reconciling Old Testament violence with the character of God revealed in Jesus

I used to avoid the violent parts of the Old Testament like potholes.

Anyway, you know the stories… God commanding total annihilation, cities wiped out "by the sword," people celebrating divine vengeance as if it were a national holiday. And for a long time, I just avoided looking too closely. Because honestly, what was I supposed to do with a God who tells us to love our enemies on one page, but seems to slaughter them on another? Eventually, I had to face the question: Which God are we talking about here? The one who says "Thou shalt not kill"? Or the one who says, "Now go kill every man, woman, and child"? The one who tells Peter to put down the sword? Or the one who told Joshua to pick it up? At some point, these questions stopped being just interesting theological questions for me. They became the things that literally kept me awake staring at the ceiling at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Enter Brian Zahnd

It was pastor and author Brian Zahnd who finally helped me find my footing. For ye…