Today @ Healingsprings fellowship
The book of Exodus is largely problematic no matter what direction you read it from.
If you read it from the eyes of the Canaanites and the other inhabitants of The Land, you will probably begin to feel the pain and suffering of the enslaved and colonised around the world.
And if you read it from the perspective of the Israelites, there is the admixture of redemption from slavery, perpetrators of genocide, and oppressors of the inhabitants of The Land. Hence the reason why I don’t buy the idea of Christianity being peace loving, whilst Islam is violent. Both faiths are equally violent.
That aside, the writers present us with a people under oppression, who were released by Yahweh, as part of their covenant, and mandated to go and possess a land that was already inhabited. The inhabitants of these land were brutally murdered, displaced and enslaved; and their land taken away from them.
Those familiar with history will recall that something similar happened in America, Africa and Asia. These campaigns were carried out with the full support of the Church, and it found legitimacy in scriptures – especially the Old Testament.
During colonialism the inhabitants were seen as pagans, accursed by God because they did not know Christ. As such they were denied any form of human dignity and basic human rights. Even when they converted to Christianity, they were still seen as lesser beings. In recent times, we saw this ideology sustaining apartheid in South Africa.
This is an example of some of the challenges facing Christianity in modern times.
So, how do we reconcile these Texts with the message of love and kindness taught and preached by Jesus as recorded in the New Testament?
Even if we go with the idea that a transition took place from the Old to the New Testament, how do we then reconcile Jesus’ preaching on forgiveness with the idea of a God who would not forgive humanity, except through the death and blood of his incarnate son?
Join us at 3pm today, From Order to Chaos: a study on Exodus
St John the Evangelist Hall, Church Rd, Sidcup DA14 6BX
Healingsprings fellowship: Human Capital Development
http://www.healingsprings.org.uk
Reachout | Revive | Recover
Healingsprings fellowship 