Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
Usually people rightly object: “How come that God, who is so merciful, kills people in the bible?”
If one carefully reads the thorny texts of, for instance, the Flood (Gn 6); the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 19); the death of the firstborn in Egypt, the complete destruction of Egypt’s army (Ex 7-13); the command to kill full armies and cities during the conquest (Nm 21:1-13; Jos 6:21; 8:22-25; 1 Sm 15:3); as well as human sacrifices (Lv 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 16: 3; 21:6) one naturally gets the impression that these texts seem to portray a God who is behaving against his own nature by executing men, women, and children, and directing others to do likewise. Continue reading “Can the Biblical God be violent?”