The god of the Bible is not moral

There are several things approved or tolerated by the Old Testament which our modern moral sense condemns. Such, for example, are the practices of polygamy, slaveholding, and arbitrary divorce. Here we must distinguish between practices which are wrong in themselves and those which were (or are) permissible under certain conditions, but are normally reprehensible. The latter classes fall under the head of social institutions, which, along with the approving sentiments of the community, are gradually eliminated by the Christianizing and humanizing of society. Of the former we may say that they were wrong from the very beginning, thus it will be generally agreed that it was always wrong to lie, to steal, to cheat, to murder. On the other hand, there was an innocent or beneficent, as well as a noxious and improper, use of the relations once approved, but now condemned. Thus it was always wrong to abuse Of oppress a slave or a wife. Accordingly, the conditions and standards of moral obligations may, in certain important departments of life, be modified by the change or readjustment of social institutions. It is, however, not always an easy or a grateful task to apply the distinction just made. Courses of action arc tolerated and even approved in certain sections of the Old Testament which, though condemned by the spirit of Christinity, are yet encouraged by our Christian society. The chief of these is aggressive warfare with its attendant and consequent evils and horror. The discussion of this moral or immoral subject, while difficult and ungrateful, is in the highest degree wholesome and instructive ; for it helps, not only to a clearer understanding of the Bible, but to the purifying and quickening of the modern Christian conscience. But even more difficult and important than an agreement upon subjective standards or canons of morality are the objective criteria of our moral judgments upon the Old Testament. In other words it is easier to agree upon the question as to what classes of recorded actions or sentiments are wrong or right, than to agree upon the question as to what are the marks by which the Old Testament indicates specific moral character or status. Confusion and misunderstanding upon this point threatens to be endless possibly because the matters at issue have been dealt with in the arena of controversy more often than in the field of inquiry. One may, however, venture to offer tentatively the following working criteria. We may inquire: I. What does the Old Testament directly approve or insist upon ? 2. What are the deeds or characteristics of the Old Testament heroes Or worthies? 3. What attributes are ascribed to the God? What does he enjoin? What does he approve? What does he condemn? A few typical instances from the historical books may now be tested by one or other of the above criteria. In Gen. 11 : 10 it is related of Abram that he went to Egypt, and while there contrived to have his wife Sarai made a member of the Pharaoh's household, under the pretense that she was his sister, and for the purpose of saving his own life and fortunes. In Gen., chap. 20, essentially the same story is told of Abraham and his wife Sarah at Gerar, after their change of name: while in Gen., chap. 26, Isaac, son of Abraham, is alleged to have acted with regard to his wife Rebekah much in the same. These two outstanding instances-the career of Abraham and that of Jacob, as narrated in the book of Genesis-present phenomena of surpassing importance. The moral standpoint of the time period seems, at first sight, incredibly low and false. No respectable pagan, whether in the disguise of a Christian or without it, has ever assumed or defended it. It stands in glaring contrast to that of the higher Old Testament consciousness - for instance, to that of the writer of Ps. 73 In the book of Job, who vex themselves over the apparent contradiction to the divine order of things implied by the prosperity or the sufferings of the righteous. In the stories of Genesis we find ourselves in a strange and perplexing moral and theological region, where the most rudimentary ethical notions are seemingly set at naught or ignored . One might almost fancy that the primeval darkness had not yet been lifted from the moral universe, and that the most favored people of mankind were still in a state of ethical chaos. To condemn the morality of the Old Testament is irrellavent due to the historical culture of the time period in question and considering the entirety of the moral lessons of the bible as a whole.