15May 2024 by Post

Does the Bible Support Sexual Slavery? An Analysis of Numbers 31:15-18

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, biblical ethics, Christianity, Gospel, Immoral God, Jonathan McLatchie, Numbers 31:15-18, Sex Slavery, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Tough Passages
More than two years ago, I participated in a debate in Oxford, England, with atheist YouTuber Alex O’Connor (who goes by the online alias Cosmic Skeptic). The subject was “Why I Am / Am Not a Christian,” which was quite broad. Given the short time constraints of the debate and the breadth of the topic, we were regrettably unable to pursue an explication of our differences with the depth that I would prefer. Nonetheless, I very much appreciated my interaction that evening with O’Connor, including the dinner we enjoyed together before the event. I have long viewed O’Connor as one of the more philosophically nuanced atheist thinkers, and I have valued our ongoing private discussions subsequent to our initial public dialogue. My positive argument in the debate concerned the evidence for Jesus’s resurrection,…
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12Feb 2024 by Post

Why Did God Allow Stoning?

Apologetics, biblical ethics, Bobby Conway, Capital Punishment, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, difficult passages, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Old Testament, Stoning, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
When it comes to Bible reading, some passages are more challenging than others. Such is the case with the stoning passages (see Leviticus 20:27; 24:16; Numbers 15:32-36; Deuteronomy 13:6-11; 21:18-21). These aren’t our go-to passages for morning devotionals. Personally, I can understand capital punishment, but stoning as a means to achieving it just seems so barbaric, cruel, and harsh, especially when the commandment is issued to parents to indict rebellious sons, as seen in Scripture: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city…
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