How do Christians deal with the violence in the Bible?

Isaiah 1:11-18 writes: "11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the L-rd; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts?13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the L-rd; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. "

Deuteronemy 2:21-22 writes:2:21 A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead2:22 As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:

Deuteronomy 28:32-34 writes:28:32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.28:33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:28:34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

Sammuel 6:19 writes:And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

Jeremiah 2:30 writes:In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Genesis 6:13 writes: And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Rahvin, sorry if any offence caused. We are indeed not here to talk about whose Christian and whose not. Folk can indeed have all kinds of conflicting views and be Christian no the less. And that includes my view and your view. If God only picked for who got the picture 100% right then there's be no need for God eh?

Matthew 5:38-39 writes:5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:43-45 writes:5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Jewish way of looking at the Tankah is that it is the story of man's search for god, with all of man's faults and all. One interpretation is that the understanding of God changed.. not that god changed.As the ancient Hebrew culture matured, their understanding of who god is, and what god wanted of them matured.That seems much more reasonsable than thinking of a god that is cruel.

He's not saying God matured but that their understanding of what God wanted had matured.

iano writes:Rahvin, sorry if any offence caused. We are indeed not here to talk about whose Christian and whose not. Folk can indeed have all kinds of conflicting views and be Christian no the less. And that includes my view and your view. If God only picked for who got the picture 100% right then there's be no need for God eh?

Rahvin writes:That's my position, except the part about "what God wanted of them matured." I don't think God changes, or that His standards of good and evil change.