Light on the Dark Passages of Scripture
LIGHT on the Dark Passages of Scripture
Mark Giszczak
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat
Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur
✠ Kevin C. Rhoades
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
August 28, 2015
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright © 1965 and 1966 by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2015 by Mark Giszczak. Published 2015.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440.
ISBN: 978-1-61278-803-6 (Inventory No. T1609)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-371-0
LCCN: 2015949862
Cover design: Tyler Ottinger
Cover art: Shutterstock
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Endorsements
“This is the best book I know that explains—and doesn’t explain away—the truly difficult texts of Scripture. Based on solid scholarship but written in clear, crisp, contemporary language this book will help everyone to understand God’s plan of progressive revelation. I can’t recommend this book enough!”
Ralph Martin, S.T.D.
“We love sacred Scripture, but what about those passages that talk about polygamy, rape, war, hell, judgment, and punishments? In Light on the Dark Passages of Scripture, Mark Giszczak guides us through the museum of ‘dark passages’ and eventually leads us to the display of God’s love in Christ as the answer to the human messiness of redemptive history.”
Taylor Marshall, Ph.D.
Contents
PART I: Confronting a Conundrum
Gut Reactions to the Old Testament God
PART II: The Devil in the Details
Does God Want People to Kill People?
