Understand the Old Testament

This weeks meeting really got me thinking about how I view the Bible. Specifically I wondered at the way I understand the Old Testament. Last week I asked the question, “why would God command the Israelites to kill tons of people and why would He create sexist laws? “ I came to the conclusion that sometimes God does things that we do not understand. I also mentioned that because of the fall, man had to rule over himself and in order for this to work God created a hierarchy. In class, Sarah gave another perspective that opened my eyes to a new way for reading the Old Testament. She talked about reading these passages in context. The Old Testament was written hundreds of years after the time that the events tool place by people who were not present at the time. Sarah noted that you have to look at the culture behind the writing. Some were big exaggerators; most were very family oriented with little regard to the self. She told us that the way these different cultures viewed God could have been a determining factor in the way they wrote about historical accounts in the Old Testament. Sarah ended by asserting that she believes scripture is authoritative but that there is a lot more to it than simply reading it at surface value. I really appreciated her understanding and I think it has began to change and shape the way that I think about the law and commands God made in the Old Testament as well as many of the writings of Paul about different laws in the Church.