How Not to Read the Bible

Judging from the number of letters it provoked, my previous columna obviously struck a nerve with many people. A representative sample appears in the Readers Reply section, together with my responses. The letters of Joanna Saidel and Donald Wold, however, require a longer response, and I will devote this column to answering them at some length. Ms. Saidel makes three points: 1. Though Sodomites were non-Israelites, they were destroyed for their homosexuality; 2. Subsequent “Sodomites” were purged by King Asa and his son Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 15:12; 22:47); 3. Non-Israelite nations residing in the Land of Israel were expelled […]