Dr Paul Allen

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Though orthodox Christians and Jews alike argue that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament , some people deny his authorship of the fifth book, Deuteronomy. They do this partly on the grounds that chapter 34 contains the account of Moses’ death .  Since no one can write an account of his own death, they argue, doesn’t this mean the Book of Deuteronomy had to have been written later than the time of Moses? Probably some orthodox Christians and Jews would attempt to argue that all of chapter 34 in Deuteronomy was written by Moses, although it is possible that the chapter was prophetic. A more plausible explanation is to assume that it was written after the death of Moses, by Joshua . This does not force one to attribute the rest of Deuteronomy to someone besides Moses.  It is quite common that an obituary is placed at the end of a final work by a g...

Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the  Lord  your God , the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.   All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again.  ( Deuteronomy 13:10-11 ) In context, this “wickedness or evil” was the crime of rejecting and influencing others to reject the Lord. While this is not a capital crime in a Christian context, this passage does show how God feels about the sin of unbelief—especially trying to persuade others into unbelief—in the infinite love and sacrifice of Christ who suffered and died for their sins . “He that despised Moses ’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God , and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Sp...

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From early in Israel ’s history God was regarded as a father (cf. personal names such as Eliab , Joab “God is [my] father”; Abijah , Abiel “my father is God”). Yahweh was recognized as the father of Israel (e.g., Isa. 63:16 ; Jer. 3:4 ; Mal. 1:6 ), both as suzerain in the covenant relationship (e.g., Deut. 7:14 ) and as creator of the world (e.g., 32:6 ; Mal. 2:10 ). Just as the human father, God possesses ultimate authority ( Mal. 1:6 ; Matt. 7:21–23 ). Similarly, he demonstrates his love and care for his children ( Exod. 4:22–23 ; Deut. 1:31 ; Jer. 31:9 , 20 ; Matt. 6:26–34 ; 18:14 ). The Gospels frequently distinguish between the relationship of God to his son Jesus (“my father”) and to the disciples (“your father”; cf. John 20:17 ). Because of Jesus’ particular natur...