God is love, right? And doesn’t he command us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to honor our parents? So when he says, “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13, quoting Malachi 1:2-3) or “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother. . . such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26), it makes us uncomfortable.

Biblically illiterate people (who, alas, include preachers and the seminary professors who mistaught them) will claim that Jesus said no such thing and that the Old Testament misrepresents God. Let us not forget some important facts: