I thought the OT was not to be taken literally because of stories with talking snakes and wooden boats with two of every species on the planet.
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The entire Old Testament is not to be taken literally because of some of its stories? “Bible” is a collection of books…like a library. No one holds the opinion that because a library contains story books, this means the definitions in its copy of Webster’s Dictionary should not be taken literally.
How do you know the oxen thing is real or just a story?
Who chooses what is literally God’s word and what is just a story?
Mercy over making a name.
Convenience
When you go to the library, can you distinguish the difference between a book on the law and a book of stories?
Even stories contain the word/lessons of God. For example, the story of Noah has many great themes/lessons/realities. Yet all some get from it is, “God is a meanie!” (They apparently base this on their belief that God causes natural disasters. My solution to this is to send them to a science class.) 
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OT provides laws on how to buy and sell slaves, quoting God.
Another masterful dodge
Yes. I consider genocide and mass murder mean.
God is responsible for the natural world he designed. Even if he uses natural processes to make them reality.
If I design a furnace that causes gas leaks, is it not my fault that an explosion happens because the explosion was natural?
I tend to believe if there is a God, that He acts as an absent landlord. He doesn’t intervene in the natural world.
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Right. Such deism I believe contradicts benevolence
