In my last post I presented the idea of God as a gradualist. He works on social reforms incrementally — at the speed of humanity rather than the speed of divinity. The incarnation is the ultimate example of God “walking at our pace.” This post is about God’s work on the problem of slavery. Main Point: The Bible shows forward progress …
Notepad Apologetics, Short Lesson #5 (part 2): God the Gradualist
In my prior post I mentioned that God is generally a gradualist, aside from a few big-ticket items such as performing instantaneous miracles. What do I mean by “gradualist”? Just this: God works on major human problems and institutions a little at a time. He doesn’t simply snap his fingers or wave his wand to make everything okay. God could …
Notepad Apologetics, Short Lesson #5 (part 1): What about Slavery and Polygamy?
Recently at the University of Michigan, a grad student in a Stump the Chump* session asked me why the Bible condones practices we no longer consider ethical, such as slavery and polygamy. My answer to this and similar questions about aberrant practices in the Bible (divorce, rape, looting, concubinage, etc.) usually boils down to this: God is not in the …