3.11.2004
Good God - Bad God
I see this come up from time to time on the various lists I'm on - the idea that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are somehow two different Gods or at least two very different portrayals of God. The OT God is supposed to be lean & mean, judgmental and thundering fire & brimstone from on high. The NT God is all sweetness & light, lovey-dovey and cozy warm. Here are my comments that I posted to faithmaps on the topic.
I'm a bit of a stickler (in a good way) about distinguishing what others portray as caricatured versions of the testaments and what the actual content of the writings contain themselves. IOW, actually reading the material helps dispel some of the Christian "urban legends" about the Bible.
Here are some examples -
The entire book of Jonah where the prophet wanted God to rain down judgment on barbarian savages that destroyed his country but noooooooo God had to go and spare the capital of one of the most cruel civilizations ever to populate the Middle East.
The entire book of Hosea where the prophet marries a whore and even redeems her from her pimp after she bears him children who may or may not be his own and abandons him as a lesson for how deeply God loves unworthy Judah and
how she treats her God.
The fact that Pharaoh had TEN (count 'em TEN) chances to let Israel escape slavery and when he either refused or reneged EVERY SINGLE TIME, somehow God ends up with the black eye in this one for killing the Egyptian firstborn? And who was it that ordered Hebrew infanticide? And yet God is the one called cruel in all this? He as much as said "pretty please with sugar on top" before gradually applying steadily increasing means of pressure to express his power. So why is God the bad guy here and not Pharaoh?
It seems like folks all know what the Bible says without going to all the trouble of reading it. And those who do read it, do so selectively with a bias in mind before letting the text speak for itself. They seem to bring a lot of Christian baggage into a book that has absolutely no anticiaption of Christianity as we know it.
I see this come up from time to time on the various lists I'm on - the idea that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are somehow two different Gods or at least two very different portrayals of God. The OT God is supposed to be lean & mean, judgmental and thundering fire & brimstone from on high. The NT God is all sweetness & light, lovey-dovey and cozy warm. Here are my comments that I posted to faithmaps on the topic.
I'm a bit of a stickler (in a good way) about distinguishing what others portray as caricatured versions of the testaments and what the actual content of the writings contain themselves. IOW, actually reading the material helps dispel some of the Christian "urban legends" about the Bible.
Here are some examples -
The entire book of Jonah where the prophet wanted God to rain down judgment on barbarian savages that destroyed his country but noooooooo God had to go and spare the capital of one of the most cruel civilizations ever to populate the Middle East.
The entire book of Hosea where the prophet marries a whore and even redeems her from her pimp after she bears him children who may or may not be his own and abandons him as a lesson for how deeply God loves unworthy Judah and
how she treats her God.
The fact that Pharaoh had TEN (count 'em TEN) chances to let Israel escape slavery and when he either refused or reneged EVERY SINGLE TIME, somehow God ends up with the black eye in this one for killing the Egyptian firstborn? And who was it that ordered Hebrew infanticide? And yet God is the one called cruel in all this? He as much as said "pretty please with sugar on top" before gradually applying steadily increasing means of pressure to express his power. So why is God the bad guy here and not Pharaoh?
It seems like folks all know what the Bible says without going to all the trouble of reading it. And those who do read it, do so selectively with a bias in mind before letting the text speak for itself. They seem to bring a lot of Christian baggage into a book that has absolutely no anticiaption of Christianity as we know it.
