Do you not believe God is a punishing God because you do not believe the literal parts of the Bible? You say, "neither do I believe we have to take the Bible literally to be a Christian." Well, what parts? There are some symbolic parts, yes, some metaphorical parts, yes. However, do you not believe in a literal death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Do you not believe in a literal heaven, or a literal hell? Do you not believe in a literal payment for sins, or a literal justification of life?
What can you say is literal, and what can you say is not? If God doesn't punish, then how did he punish his Son Jesus upon the cross for the sins of the world? Jesus satisfied the wrath of God by being beaten, tortured, and dying an agonizing death, even suffering three days and nights in the heart of the earth, and you say that God is not a God of punishment?
Friend, he butchered his own Son, the only one who never deserved anything evil done to him. That tells me that God is indeed a God of punishment.
***
John 10 - Jesus speaking
17 The reason the Father loves Me is that
I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
Jesus didn't look at His suffering and earthly death as punishment, He looked at it as Love.
Gods law defines what sin is ... and sin (breaking it) has consequences. Ultimately without Jesus, one will not receive eternal life.
Romans 7:7 What shall we say, then? Is the law (Gods eternal Law - 10 commandments)
sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
If .... IF ... mankind was capable of living according to the law .... there would not be sin. And one day, in the very very end ... we will be in complete harmony with those laws (laws of love) and it will not take any effort to abide by them. It will be our natural way of life, living with God completely sinless in love.
Jesus was completely sinless ... He took upon Himself the punishment and/or consequences
that all of mankind deserves.
He paid all of mankind's "sin debt" by willingly giving up His life ... that is how much Jesus loves us.
So, God did not "slaughter His son", His son
Jesus willingly laid down His life out of Love (for mankind providing the way) knowing what the consequences (earthly suffering & crucifixion etc.) would be ... and that through Him would be the only way to reconcile mankind with God Almighty by accepting Jesus great suffering and sacrifice
He did so willingly.
Thank you Jesus for loving us so much. Amen