by Eric Seibert.Dr Seibert is an Associate Professor at Messiah College. He is very much a pacifist and believes that Jesus Christ is the fullest representation of the moral character of God.
We're all in agreement so far right?
Seibert has difficulty with the God portrayed in the Old Testament; specifically the violent words and actions that come from God.
Think of the world-wide flood, the destruction and plagues of Egypt, the violent conquest of Canaan by Joshua. These portrayals do not reflect the God that Jesus represents according to Seibert.
So how do we resolve this problem?
Seibert proposes that we look at the Old Testament stories as not factual historical documents. He believes that the writers of these stories had an agenda to tell, not historical truth, but stories to apply in their current situation.
For example, he believes the story of David was written during the time when the families of Saul and David were competing for the throne and the author wanted to use history to prove that David was good and Saul was bad.
He touches very briefly on the death of Jesus and if it was all in God's plan for Jesus to come to die. We're talking seriously adjusting the atonement theory here. So I won't touch that in this review.
This is a very controversial book with wild ideas. But that's what makes it such a great read. Seibert writes in a way that is very easy to read. You won't be discouraged by big theological words or ideas.
While I may not agree with everything in this book, I do agree that it is a resource that needs to be read and thought about.
This book was provided for review by Fortress Press.
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