The Old Testament isn't just filled with stories told by a Bronze Age people. It also has the laws that those people believed were created by an omnipotent, omniscient god. Some people believe that god was also omnibenevolent.
There are laws in the bible that supposedly came directly from god.
Deuteronomy 20:10-14
If this is an allegory then what does it teach us? If god is all powerful then why did he focus laws on not mixing fibers in clothes instead of not killing children or raping women? Remember the mercy being extended to these towns people is forced enslavement. If god wasn't involved it would be an account of the brutality of ancient cultures.
I think that good people naturally gravitate toward the verses about loving others and showing kindness. Other, less kind people, seek out the verses that are about revenge. It seems like each type of person reads a different book but it is all the same bible.
There are laws in the bible that supposedly came directly from god.
Deuteronomy 20:10-14
Quote:As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.
If this is an allegory then what does it teach us? If god is all powerful then why did he focus laws on not mixing fibers in clothes instead of not killing children or raping women? Remember the mercy being extended to these towns people is forced enslavement. If god wasn't involved it would be an account of the brutality of ancient cultures.
I think that good people naturally gravitate toward the verses about loving others and showing kindness. Other, less kind people, seek out the verses that are about revenge. It seems like each type of person reads a different book but it is all the same bible.
