Q. In your last main chapter, you focus on the fact that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not in the main about homosexuality but rather about violations of hospitality. And yet Jude surely suggests that sexual perversion was at least part of the issue. Right? A. Yes, he does and I think I mention Jude briefly (or should have!). But then the question is what is the nature of the perversion. After all there is a whole list... Read more

Q. Klaus Koch in his two volumes on the Prophets talks about God’s redemptive-judgment (he judges Pharaoh and by the same act redeems or frees the Hebrews). Following Steck, he also points out the prophetic pattern that the redemption of God’s people comes after the judgment on their sins— redemption after judgment (and perhaps after repentance for sin). I am wondering what you think of these lines of reasoning vis a vis the issue of how and in what what... Read more

Q. I agree with you that the NT does insist that Gospel should not be advanced by violence (it does not justify Crusades for example). The question is why? Why was God in his Son prepared to suffer violence on the cross rather than to accomplish his purposes using violence when it comes to the new covenant? Why should an apparent difference with the means by which God accomplishes his purposes in the OT? I would put some of this... Read more

Q. One question worth pondering is ‘exactly how does God fight’? It seems to me that in the vast majority of cases he simply uses natural means, rather than acting directly. He uses human beings, whether a single individual like David vs. Goliath (who is killed by a sling shot by David), or he uses an Israelite force, like Gideon’s, or he uses nature, like the sea swallowing up Pharaoh’s chariots, or he uses plagues etc. Even in the famous... Read more

Q. Let’s start with some basic assumptions: 1) in the OT God is not expecting fallen people, including his own people to behave like Jesus later expects of his disciples, particularly after Pentecost. Not only hardness of heart, but a lack of the ongoing presence of the Spirit in the lives of God’s people in the OT has to be taken into account; 2) commandments like ‘an eye for an eye’ etc. are meant to limit violence and revenge taking... Read more

As by now, most of you know, Captain Marvel is the latest hero injected into the Marvel Universe. What you may not know is that before the movie Captain Marvel was even made, the star, Brie Larson (real name Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers) was already in the plot of and filming for Avengers Endgame. She revealed to Stephen Colbert that this was more than a little confusing, as she was not fully sure what she was supposed to be like, since... Read more

Q. On pp. 153-54 you rightly invoke the concept of progressive revelation, and I agree with your view that what the divine ‘warrior’ passages in the Bible are ultimately about is God’s victory over evil, not over humanity in general. The NT would say that it involves a victory over the powers and principalities, or as we would say over the Devil and his minions. It is not about God having a victory over a particular group of human beings... Read more

Q. On pp. 151-52 surprisingly you use Jesus’ action in the temple to suggest that Jesus was not opposed to violence. The problem with that example is that it does not involve violence against human beings nor does it appear any animals were harmed in the process either! Indeed, some were liberated. There is a difference between using force to some end, and doing violence against other human beings, something Jesus does prohibit his disciples from doing. [BTW, Heiser has... Read more

Q. On pp. 150-51 you make the surprising comment that you don’t think that polygamy, at least in OT times was immoral, and you go further to suggest that if a polygamous person today becomes a Christian they should not divorce one of their spouses. This is said at the same time you say that monogamy is the standard held up by Genesis and the NT. I must say I find this surprising, to say the least. Polygamy, like patriarchy... Read more

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