Befuddling Bible continues...this time, with a passage that is truly bizarre and distressing for a modern-day audience. God asks Abraham to take his only son up to the mountain and sacrifice him (WHAT?) in order to honor God. Before the end, God tells Abraham to spare his son, and provides a ram for the sacrifice. Many preachers have used this story to say that God only asked Abraham to kill his son as a test of his faith (WHAT?!), and that we should be prepared for a similar test to our faith (WHAT?!?), and that God could ask for anything from us, and we have to be prepared to give it (WHAT?!?!?!?). 

We bring on a couple friends to help us sort through...what the actual F*$Y& is going on in this passage? Is this a passage about testing Abraham? Why would God even ask for this from Abraham in the first place? 

The conversation ranges into LOTS of different directions, including the theology in Christian worship music, how our cultural background can impact how we read stories like these, and ultimately, what we do with a passage like this. 

Matt Stone, the pastor at First Church of God in Greenville, returns to the podcast, and he brought along his friend Dr. David Aukerman, pastor at Mt. Haley Church of God. (David is awesome, super insightful, crazy smart, compassionate, kind, and did we say smart?)

Thanks for listening to the podcast!

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Let’s keep this conversation going!

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