If we take Jesus seriously then we have to take seriously the apostles whom Jesus commissioned to teach on his behalf. That’s why Christianity endorses the apostolic writings as its New Testament. Because Jesus affirmed the Hebrew Scriptures as foretelling himself, Christianity endorses the Hebrew Scriptures as its Old Testament. The combination of the Old and New Testaments creates the Christian Bible.

However if God is as he appears in Jesus then a face-value reading of the Old Testament becomes impossible. In various parts of the Old Testament – eg Genesis, Judges and Joshua and I & II Kings God appears to behave in ways that are difficult if not impossible to square with the revelation of God in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking and training in righteousness…” So how should we handle it? And how has Christian orthodoxy tackled this thorny question through the ages. Listen in for somewhere to start with this intriguing question…