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Riverside Church - Whitstable

Rough Guide To The Bible – Part 3

·37 min·3 clips
Why does the Bible command the total destruction of cities, and how can that be reconciled with Jesus' call to love enemies?
The episode is part three of a series providing a rough guide to the Bible, specifically tackling the Old Testament. Host Steve begins by recapping previous episodes on the Bible's overarching story and its nature as the Word of God with human elements. He outlines three main topics: a simplified timeline of Old Testament events, the moral dilemma of Old Testament violence compared to Jesus' teachings, and the applicability of Old Testament commandments today. Steve presents a timeline slide, noting key events and figures like Abraham and Moses, and highlights the intertestamental period with events like the translation of Hebrew scriptures into Greek. He then delves into the conflict between Old Testament passages commanding destruction, such as in Deuteronomy and Joshua, and Jesus' command to love enemies. Steve critiques common Christian explanations, including ignoring the issue, attributing it to God's inscrutable will, blaming the Canaanites' immorality, Calvinist views like John Piper's, or denying the events happened. He proposes a Jesus-centric approach, introducing progressive revelation—the idea that understanding of God evolved over time, with Jesus as the perfect representation. Steve uses analogies like blurry TV pictures to illustrate how Old Testament views were incomplete. For commandments, he discusses over 600 laws, including obscure ones, and explains that only those restated in the New Testament apply, using examples like love your neighbor versus dietary laws. He also mentions a framework based on loving God and people to evaluate commandments. The episode concludes with Simon reflecting on personal struggles with Old Testament reconciliation and leading a worship prayer, emphasizing Jesus' grace.

As heard by us

A church teaching on reading difficult biblical passages through human context and the lens of Jesus.

Part three of Riverside Church Whitstable's Rough Guide to the Bible considers how scripture is shaped by the human settings in which it was written.

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Why you'd press play

You want a thoughtful way into difficult Bible passages, with Moses, ancient worldviews, and Jesus as your guideposts.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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