Raising the question of God’s morality may be irreverent. But how can we avoid responding to the many challenges arising today, whether in bellicose form or cast in Christian terms?
The charge is usually trotted out against the Old Testament in response to the supposed moral atrocities God condones and even commends. The Israelite conquest—God’s command to wipe out the Canaanites from the promised land—is a classic example.
In this new roundtable video, Bryan Chapell, J. D. Greear, and Mike McKinley consider street-level objections to the moral character of God. “Any kind of pat, simplistic answer is going to be unhelpful,” McKinley admits, since, well, there are none. Nevertheless, orthodox Christians have invariably believed that the Judge of all the earth will always do what’s right. Always.
It’s vital to “begin with the righteousness of God, with the fact that he’s revealed his ultimate character at the cross,” Chapell says. Even if this God-centered view of the universe doesn’t answer all our questions, Greear observes, it does adjust our perspective. Besides, if preachers skip these sections of Scripture, people will notice.
Watch the full eight-minute video to hear these three pastors discuss the importance of humility, chattel slavery, moral capital, and more.
