Hi guys,
I hope you don't mind me weighing in to this. I am at best an agnostic, and have no faith which would be recognised as such by a Christian, and I hope that that doesn't make me too presumptuous.
What I find difficult is that because DB sees the Bible as the inerrant word of God, (s)he views faith in God and faith in the Bible as one and the same thing - a single Faith, with a capital F. Consequently, when a Christian with faith in God questions the literal (or indeed the non-literal) accuracy of elements of the Bible, they are told that they have no Faith.
Quite clearly this must be a provocative statement to any Christian, and I think that it moves the debate away from a robust and healthy discussion, into something much more personal and perhaps wounding.
What GDR has been asking you to state, for some time DB, is whether you acknowledge and agree that your Faith is in a God who, whilst He is loving, gentle and kind, is also one who commits and orders genocide, and orders someone stoned to death for picking up wood on a Sunday ? Is that your Faith ?
(Please note - I don't object if that is your Faith, but I would like to know if it is).