Common Bible Misinterpretations (Dark & Troubling Passages Edition)

I absolutely hate it when many atheists and other critics of Catholicism and Christianity point to dark and troubling passages in Sacred Scripture to try to debunk my religion. They fixate on those passages while deliberately choosing to ignore the passages about God's goodness and good deeds.

1) Atheist/Critic Claim: The God of the Bible condoned chattel slavery.

He did not. There are different kinds of slavery. The kind of slavery that critics accuse my God of condoning in the Bible was not chattel slavery.

Biblical slavery is basically indentured servitude. It's still not ideal, but the way Father Mike Schmitz explained it is God was meeting the Israelites where they were at spiritually and slowly worked on raising them to the highest level of goodness and holiness achievable for humanity. He regulated what the Israelites could do to their indentured servants.

2) Atheist/Critic Claim: The God of the Bible condoned/commanded/carried out genocide

I hate it when critics say He commanded, condoned, or carried out genocide. Many of the stories in which "genocide" was committed or condone are meant to be interpreted as allegories, not literal, historical accounts of things that actually happened.

As for Sodom and Gomorrah, the people in those two cities were committing a bunch of serious sins, not just homosexual acts/attempted homosexual gang rape. They knew it was wrong, they showed no repentance, and so God carried out His justice by razing both cities to the ground but not before getting Lot and his family out of Sodom. Lot and his family (except for Lot's wife who turned to look back at Sodom and got turned into a salt statue) were spared because Lot and his family were good and righteous in the eyes of God.

The flood in Genesis is a very similar story to the people in the Sodom and Gomorrah. People were sinning without any sign of repentance so God caused the flood to destroy humanity but He spared Noah, his family, and two of every kind of animal (a male and a female of every kind of animal). Noah and his family were spared because they were good and righteous in God's eyes.

3) Atheist/Critic Claim: The God of the Bible condoned rape

He did not condone rape, but I understand why people think He did. The Book of Exodus contains a passage where a man who has sexual relations with a single woman must pay a bride price and marry her, but people tend to miss or forget the fact that the Mosaic law said a rapist was to be put to death. Also, that particular passage of the text is talking about a man who has consensual sex with a single woman and they are discovered in the act of fornication. The passage is not talking about rape.