Before we who desire to be biblical Christians can quote or
critique the violent passages of the Quran, we need to read, wrestle and come
to terms with the imprecatory Psalms: 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 17, 35, 37, 40, 52, 59,
56, 58, 59, 69, 70, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, 139, 140, 143. And the commanded
destruction of the people and culture of Canaan in Deuteronomy 7; 12:2-4; Joshua
5-13; Judges; and Elijah’s slaughter of the priests of Baal in 1 Kings 18:16-40.
Lest we dismiss this as Old Testament only, also see Revelation 16-18. I am not
at all suggesting that the Bible and the Quran are interchangeable or
equivalent. Nor am I equating today’s Islamist terrorism with this Hebrew
history. But I do believe that if we are to be honest and have any integrity in
communication with Muslim folk and Islam of all varieties, we must not flinch
in facing the things in the Bible we ignore or explain away because they are
uncomfortable and even offensive to our sensibilities. I’m not interested in
debating my assertion here, but I welcome conversation about how to honestly
address this biblical material.
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