Very recently, Bill Mahrer and the conservative Orthodox Jewish pundit Ben Shapiro had a dialogue. Shapiro was arguing for faith in the God of the Bible and the Torah, and Mahrer was arguing for atheism, claiming that much in the Bible was backward and immoral. Shapiro argued like atheist historian Tom Holland in the U. K. that Mahers basis for judgment was from the Bible itself and the Judeo-Christian influence on the worth of persons and human rights. Yet, without God, these values would not last but would be a cut flower.
The Small Percent of Troubling Passages
I have noticed that debunking the Bible as if it were inhumane is based on a small percentage of the content of the Bible. In my view, it is troubling that less than 10% of the Bible. Such passages, such as annihilating the Canaanites, men, women, and children, and sometimes even the animals, seem to be genocide. Then there are the prayers called imprecatory psalms that call down harsh judgment on enemies. The psalmist says that the people will be happy who smash the Babylonian babies to death. How about God killing 70,000 Israelites because David numbered the people? There are some great books that explain such passages, and I won’t go into those explanations here. Do note one great book on this. Walter Kaiser, Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce and Manfred T. Brauch, Hard Sayings of the Bible.
The Bible’s 90% Message
However, what of the 90%? The Bible’s message is very clear. God is a God of compassionate love and justice. (Exodus 34). This is the argument of the famous Israeli Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (Judaism, A Love Story). He calls upon all people to repent and pledge their allegiance to Him. If they do so, He will empower them to obedience. Those who make that decision are assured fruitfulness and purpose in this life and a good destiny in the Age to Come. Those who refuse God and his ways will be lost. Of course, the message of the New Covenant Scriptures is that this decision is made possible by the Holy Spirit and that the power to obey comes through Yeshua. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we can obey.
In this context, we read all of the amazing texts on God’s call for justice in the courts, honesty in business, and care for the widow, the orphan, and the poor. The Torah is summarized in the ten commandments, or better named, The Covenant of the Ten Words. We are to love God with our all and our neighbor as ourselves (Deut. 6:4 and Lev. 19:18).
Yes, we can provide rationales for the 10% but really, the 90% is where we need to stand in our defense of the Bible.