Biblical Reflections from Fr. Maletta

I hardly read the next installment of the Read Through the Bible (RTB) before I was once again stopped in my tracks.

The story of Lot and the angels in Sodom and Lot’s offer to exchange his daughters for his two guests. Then a few verses further on, the incest between Lot and his daughters. YUCK!

This whole installment is like increasing layers of disgust.

Studying the Bible is not just reading and knowing the stories but trying to make sense in our own hearts of what the stories are about. Often it requires some reconciling of historic accounts with our own morals and values. I don’t know about you but Lot’s actions offend me, yet, St. Peter describes him a “righteous man” (2Pt 2:7-8) how is this possible?

Well, first we need to remember that our whole lives have taken place in the context of 2,000 years of developing Christian morality. I don’t think we can remind ourselves of this fact too often when reading the Old Testament.

We are not reading a newspaper account of something that happened in a different culture in our time – we are reading about a primitive people whose culture is so vastly different and whose self-awareness as child of God is in its embryonic stage. In other words, we must do our best not to judge characters like Lot too harshly and look past what bothers our sensitivities and search out the lesson God has placed for all peoples of all times and places. In my next blog I will get into the story and try to break it down.