Answering Moral Objections to the ScripturesPeter J. Williams

Tyndale House, Cambridge

TALK 1: CAN WE TRUST THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORICALLY?

Biblical claims in 2 Kings 18 (widely found in Bible’s before archaeology began)• There was a Judaean King Hezekiah• All the fortified cities of Judah were captured• Except Jerusalem• This was by Sennacherib king of Assyria• Sennacherib particularly fought against Lachish• Hezekiah was fined 30 gold talents; 300 silver talents• Hezekiah gave all the silver in the king’s house and temple

Sennacherib’s AnnalsAs for Hezekiah, the Judaean, I besieged 46 of his fortified walled cities. … I conquered them and took out 200,150 people … He himself, I locked up within Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage …. Hezekiah was overwhelmed by the splendour of my lordliness and he sent me … 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver …

Timeline700s BC: events of 2 Kings 181100s AD: earliest manuscripts available to King James Version translators1604–1611 King James Version1798–1801 Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign1822–1857 Egyptian, Old Persian, and Babylonian deciphered

TALK 2: WHAT ABOUT ALL THE VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE?

The case against the Bible God commands Israel to destroy nations including non-combatants and children (e.g. Numbers

31:13–17; Deuteronomy 7:1–3; Joshua 6:21; 8:25–26; 1 Samuel 15:3) It is always immoral to kill innocent people This is incompatible with God being a God of love (1 John 4:8) It is just like lots of religious and racial violence we condemn in the world today

But…1. We sometimes accept people who (plan to) take innocent life as heroes

2. God is the giver of life and therefore a due authority to command ending of life

3. God has future knowledge and that changes things

4. There was and is lots of other evidence of God’s benevolence (especially the Cross)

5. These are miraculous narratives and can’t be read without the miracles

6. God did most of the fighting

7. We do not know that Canaanite children were worse off dead

8. The command was given with lots of objective evidence

9. The Canaanites were wicked

10. There may have been no reasonable alternative

11. Israel was God’s judicial representative (unlike any nation today)

12. The Canaanites were warned and able to repent

13. No one is absolutely innocent

14. You couldn’t imitate these stories even if you tried

15. An objection needs to be a statement, not just a question ‘Why did God …?’

Which objection is being made? It was immoral for God to command the destruction of the Canaanites It was immoral for the Israelites to obey such a command if it really was given as the Bible

describes Reading the Bible causes people to be violent The act of writing of the stories was immoral

TALK 3: SLAVERY, POLYGAMY, AND OTHER WEIRD STUFF:CAN WE REALLY TAKE THE BIBLE AS A MORAL GUIDE?

Leviticus 25:44–46 = most difficult text

The problem formally laid out1) Bible translations talk of slaves2) In the OT no objection is made to having slaves3) In the NT Christians are not commanded to free their slaves and slaves are told to submit4) Therefore biblical texts approve of slavery5) We know that slavery is wrong6) Therefore biblical texts approve of something that is wrong

But…Occurrences of ‘Slave’ in Translation

English slave: KJV 2×; NKJV 46×; NIV 130× German Sklave/in: Luther Bibel 1912 0×; Revised Luther Bibel 1984 70× Spanish esclavo or esclava: Reina-Valera 1909 4×; 1960 25×; 1995 65×

The Hebrew word ‘eved Translated both ‘servant’ and ‘slave’; not inherently negative; related to work; subservient Israelite subjects are ‘servants’ of the King

The essence of the OT institution The patriarchal system: work as herdsmen, domestic servants Eliezer of Damascus will inherit (Genesis 15:3), children of Bilhah and Zilpah inherit Trusted to travel with valuables (Genesis 24); with weapons (Genesis 14:14) No approved ‘selling’ of people Look after runaways (Deuteronomy 23:15–16)

Permissive law / regulation: Matthew 19:8 (some things in OT allowed but not approved)

NT doesn’t endorse slavery

Christians could not change the legal system

Slaves who rebelled would be executed

Limits to emancipation of slaves: Lex Fufia Caninia (BC 2): only free 2 of 3; half of 4–10; a third of 11–30; Lex Aelia Sentia (AD 4): slaves under 30 can’t be freed without legal procedure; slave manumitted under 30 could rarely become citizen

Love others as Christ loved us

Brotherhood and kissing; equality (Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1; Philemon 15)

Jesus is Lord

TALK 4: ISN’T THE BIBLE SEXIST AND HOMOPHOBIC?

Women in the Bible >3000 named characters in Bible; <150 named women; <5% of named individuals in Bible Modern equality: denies difference; biblical definition of justice is about establishing identity Tamar vs Judah; Hebrew midwives; Rahab changes sides; Bathsheba vs David; Jehosheba hides

Joash; Esther saves Jews; Mary mother of Jesus; women at tomb vs male disciples

Two different views of men and women Secular materialist view: mere chemicals; value socially relative; different only in reproduction Christian view: equal and infinite value (in God’s image); divinely created variety

Inventing sex Sex = a recently socially constructed category grouping diverse physical actions and separating

these actions from relational and social contexts in order to create a commodity. Once ‘sex’ (activity) is invented you can invent sexual identity Once ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ (identity) are distinguished you can imagine ‘gender identity’ Once ‘sexual identity’ and ‘gender identity’ are imagined you can make others recognize them

Thinking biblically Male + female (+ eunuch, Matthew 19:4, 10–12) Accepting God’s ownership vs contesting God’s ownership Marriage involves giving sub-ownership of yourself to someone else Marriage honourable; singleness/celibacy is a higher calling Activity forbidden by owner ≠ temptation to activity forbidden by owner ≠ attraction to one’s

own sex (the owner’s work) ≠ visual appreciation of one’s own sex (the owner’s work) Attraction and visual appreciation ≠ identity Owner may give identity (man, woman) which it is wrong to change Transgender adjusting of God-owned body to mind’s ideal of body may be cruel (e.g. anorexia)

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