Well, hey there, friend. I'm Julie Slattery and you're listening to Java with Julie.

This podcast is a production of authentic intimacy, a ministry dedicated to reclaiming God's design for sexuality.

In today's conversation, I'm talking with Joe Vitale, who's an apologist with Ravi Zach Rice's international ministry.

RZIM is a great organization that does a fantastic job of speaking to our culture by answering

hard questions about life, God, and the credibility of the gospel.

I love my conversation today with Joe because she likes to dig deep into questions surrounding

sexism and the Bible. She loves to talk about how

female beauty is depicted in the Old Testament. Now wait a minute, Julie, you might be thinking,

did you say the Old Testament? Isn't that the part of the Bible that's notorious for narratives and

laws that treat women like property instead of like people?

What could be beautiful about that?

Well, that's what we're going to dig into today.

There are verses in the scripture that when you first read them, they're really hard to understand and accept.

And today we'll unpack one of those verses and talk about how issues like sexuality

and gender have challenged

the way people struggle with following Jesus. We'll ask the question, is God misogynistic?

Does he value women as much as he values men? And if so, then how do we make sense of the way

women were treated in the Old Testament? Joe and her husband Vince are also going to be my

webinar guest this month on Tuesday, May 19th at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. We're going to talk about

where we see God's goodness in the world and tackle the difficult questions people are asking

that sometimes keep them from believing in a good God. Questions like, why would I believe God is good if he's allowed me to be sexually abused?

How could God be good if he's asking me to stay in a difficult marriage?

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