Jews on Tuesday blasted writer
Dacia Maraini for criticising the Old Testament.
Maraini, a bestselling novelist, called the God depicted in
the first book of the Bible "vengeful, misogynist, intolerant,
and war mongering".
She said Jesus "reformed the strict and vengeful religion of
the fathers, introducing for the fist time in monotheistic
culture the concept of forgiveness, respect for women, and a
refusal of slavery and war".
Rome Chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said "any informed
Christian today knows how to avoid the banalities and lies of
this age-old antagonism, which has a precise name, marcionism,
and which had remained in the minds and mouths of lay people who
are more or less believers but almost always ignorant."
Sergio Della Pergola, president of Israel's Italian Jewish
community, said "a writer has on this occasion shown not only
ignorance but also trite prejudices which were superseded by
exegesis a long time ago".
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