By Archimandrite Vassilios Bakoyiannis
Some non-Christians resort to the Old Testament to prove that the Christian God is harsh. This view, however, is only half the truth. The whole truth is that God was equally merciful in the Old Testament as well. Here is an overview.
God in the Old Testament had to deal with a fallen world unlike any before, a world with its own psychology and nature. Accordingly, it required a special approach, one that aligned with this reality.
Its defining trait was hardness of heart. Parents burned their children alive, offering them as sacrifices to their gods (2 Kings 23:10).
In such a world, murder was an easy matter. With what ease Cain killed Abel; with what ease the meek Moses slew an Egyptian who was mistreating a fellow Israelite (Exodus 2:12).
