This is email not a theological treatise but my point, whether simplistic or not, seems to have been somewhat overlooked by your hasty defence of the sacred Old Testament.

My point is simply this:

People frequently attack the Christian faith via the offensively brutal and militaristic activities conducted in the name of Yahweh in the Old Testament. I merely remind you that the Old Testement is the history of the Hebrew people, and that what you read in the Old Testament you are reading a mirror image of what happens on a daily basis in the modern militaristic state of Israel.

Where does this lead us?

The Old Testament proclaims militaristic Zionism. It is not the responsibility of the Christian faith to defend the ancient Zionism of the Old Testament anymore than it is the responsibility of the Christian faith to defend the modern Zionism of Israel 2002, anymore than it is the responsibility of the Christian faith to defend militaristic Islam, bearing in mind that the Koran also shares material with the Old Testament.

Theodicy of the Old Testament is doomed to fail. Much of the material is not justifiable in the context of a God of Love.

The Old Testament is valuable in giving us Hebrew context to the New Testament, but it is a real millstone in defending the faith against insinuations of fundamentalist brutality.

Allan has raised a separate matter. That of the issue of Christianity being the true Judaism. Allan, you open a can of worms there, a can I did not wish to open. Jesus saw himself as the reformer of Judaism, early Christianity was known as a sect of Judaism. Jesus’ death and resurrection (and the numerous chronicled exacting prophetic fulfilments associated with Jesus)

confirmed that he was the Messiah. So in fact, one could argue that modern Judaism is an anachronism, and that in fact Christianity is the true Judaism. You might argue this, but you won’t win many friends in Israel or New York by doing so. I don’t think it is helpful to do so either, what is to be gained by antagonising the devout followers of modern Judaism, their struggle for national sovereignty in their “promised land” is impressive. Whether one is a supporter or an opponent of Zionism, one must at least acknowledge the strength of their dedication to their cause and indomitable spirit, even if one does not agree with their stance.