Dear Ozair,

My name is Dr. Peter Payne. More than three years ago Scott Cherry passed along to me your paper on rape and pedophilia in the Bible. At that time I wrote this letter for you which I asked him to share with you. ...Did he? Either way, he has only now decided to post it here. In two or three parts I will respond to what you have said. What I had to say about point #1 below turned out to be long enough that I decided to send it by itself and send you my responses to the rest of your paper in a couple of subsequent emails. Since your paper focuses on the question of whether the Old Testament condones rape and pedophilia, I won’t respond here to why a good God would at times command the killing of everyone found in a town, and at times command command what initially may seem like genocide. (I could address that topic at another time.) Since early in your paper you raise the question of the character of God in the Old Testament, that is what I will address in this email. In a subsequent piece I will address texts you cite in support of your claim that the OT God condones rape and pedophilia. *All biblical quotations will be from the English Standard Version translation.

Dear Ozair,

My name is Claudine. A long time ago (3½ years!) Scott Cherry shared with me some of his fascinating correspondence with you about a few passages in the Old Testament books of Moses (and the Qur'an) that were stimulating intense discussion. Well, way back then I wrote this letter for you but Scott chose not to post it until now, especially focused on Deuteronomy 22:28-29.[1]

I understand your difficulty with those bible passages because like many, I share in some of your thoughts. I thought that you may like to hear from a Christian woman on the issue of what seemed to you as rape and pedophilia in the Old Testament.

Nothing can be understood if we don’t understand the beginning: In the beginning...God’s creation was perfect, but a big problem happened: Man disobeyed God. Man decided to listen and trust another voice than that of his creator even though God had warned him it would lead to death. Every other problem humanity has ever experienced stems from that.

Exodus 20:1-21

The thunder and lightning, sound of the trumpet, smoke and earthquake on the mountain was God’s way of presenting himself to Israel. If there ever was a theophany, this was it! God has shown up and manifested himself to human beings.

Exodus 19:16-25   

The storm was predicted three days in advance. The early springlike weather made me skeptical that any big deal would materialize. Then it happened. A lightning bolt pierced the darkness of the night. It was followed by the loudest crash of thunder I had ever heard. In fact, it was so powerful that the neighbor’s car alarm went off. Then my security alarm went off. Sounds intensified from the car and the house. Lights flashed orange on the inside security panel. The security company sent a text message and a follow up phone call. Are you okay? When I managed to remember the passcode that was to signal that I was safe from all harm, the caller told me to have a good night and stay safe. (Total transparency: my wife was the brave one who went downstairs to make sure that no burglar had broken in and to shut off that loud, flashing warning system! We would live without that alarm system until the storm passed!)

Exodus 19:9-15

From time to time, I have had the privilege of participating in an installation service for a new pastor in a church.  It is a joyous but also a solemn occasion. In it, a charge is given to the pastor and another to the congregation. A biblically based message is given and then a prayer is offered in which the elders place hands on the new minister and pray over him.  At the end of the service, the new pastor gives a blessing to the people he will lead.