some of the things I have read in this thread has been well interesting to say the least. One of the worst things I have ever heard my sister said was the old testamesnt is for the jews. However, the old testament cannot be understood without the new testament, and likewise the new testament cannot be understood without the old. And I am not about the prophecies about Jesus, look at the particular institute by Christ such as the Eucharist which sounds pretty familar to the meal Melchizedek, “The King of Salem(peace)” shared with Abram (hint, hint) and so on. Now the butchery and depravity is our depravity whether we are Jews or not. Believe me the other stories from old Babylon and other Empires are far more brutal and depraved. Often times, the Jews of antiquity would intimidate their neighbors literary styles. This is in turn is actually a great tool in Biblical research, for instance Deuteronomy is a near east treaty form that only was common in existence about the middle of the second millenium BC (as opposed to the 7th century BC as the minimalists would like to believe), and actually helps us determine the correct period of a text. Now not everything the ancient Israelites recorded was the act of God when you compare it their neighbors historical record that often mention their gods. We don’t seem to critique their history as much as the Bible though. Now, the question is what is history and what is not, and I guess it is in the purview of the reader and what the archaeological record says (by the way, there is nothing in the Bible from Abraham to the Exile that has been disproven by archaeology, just various interpretations some of which denies an event, but others tend to collobrate with the text, though not in a conventional way). In fact we know positively that the Omrides ruled in the northern kingdom and that in Judah someone who belonged to the House of David was ruling and this was less than a hundred year after David himself, whether are not all the deeds that are ascribed to David are fact or fiction, it shouldn’t deny that there was probably a real King David.
Also, too many read the Bible thinking that the people in it are these great pillars of strength and are perfect, because we are fed a pg version of story then when we read the book we are horrified that God would allow this or use these people looking in our 21th century eyes. The OT is not about God working through perfect people, but God working perfectly through imperfect people. And many times look at the redemptive quality at the story, for instance Jacob was the trickester his whole life, and this life eventually got him in trouble, then he wrestles in God, and the rest of the passage about Jacob indicates that he was pretty much a righteous guy while sons did all their ill deeds to Joseph. Also, it is a good look at us too, how we turn away from God instead of embracing God, we too are children of Israel, and as we speak we embrace false prophets telling us sweet things and graying the skies overhead.
