Abrahamic Covenant of Grace

COVENANT OF GRACE

The New Testament portion of the Bible is widely accepted as the book of hope, grace, love and forgiveness. However, the Old Testament also provides evidence of God’s grace and love for his people. Richard Dawkins opposes this view of the Old Testament God .Richard Dawkins in his book, The God of Delusion states that the God of the Old Testament is a God who is unjust, unforgiving, and vindictive amongst many other negative human nature attributes. Richard Dawkins view of God in the Old Testament is far from a God of grace and love. The God of the Old Testament is a God who desires to have a relationship with his people .God created covenant relationships throughout the Old Testament, starting with Adam and Eve, then through Noah, Moses, Abraham and David. According to Eugene Merrill “a covenant is a written agreement or a promise usually under seal between two or more parties”. The Hebrew word for covenant appears in the Old Testament 285 times. The Israelites throughout the Old Testament would consistently fall short of the agreed covenant regulations with God, and God would continue to provide ways to reconcile with Israel. The examples of this are abundant and can be found in each book of the Old Testament. According to Richard Dawkins the God of the Old Testament is unforgiving, unjust, and vindictive. However the scripture can prove that through Gods covenant agreements, God was a God of grace, love and a God who has an unsurpassable capacity for forgiveness.

God’s graciousness can be shown through Gods establishment of the covenant agreements between God and Israel. In the Septuagint, five different covenants can be distinguished, however this narrative will focus on the relationship between the Abrah...

... middle of paper ...

...essed February 18, 2014). ALTA Religion Index: Title suggests relevance
Deffinbaugh, Bob. The Call of Abram. Febuary 2nd, 2009. https://bible.org/seriespage/call-abram-genesis-1131-199 (accessed Febuary 18, 2014). Old Testament Gateway: Title suggests relevence
Essex, Keith H. "The Abrahamic Covenant." Master's Seminary Journal 10, no. 2 (September 1, 1999): 191-212. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 18, 2014). ALTA Religion Index: Title suggests relevance
Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D. The Family of Abraham. Febuary 12, 2012. http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/History-Abraham.htm (accessed Febuary 18, 2014). Found on Old Testament Gateway: Subject is relevant to topic
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants. Crossway, 2012. Google Scholar: Subject relevance