RE: Ten Reasons I'm Not a Christian
January 31, 2012 at 3:20 am
(This post was last modified: January 31, 2012 at 3:26 am by Undeceived.)
I see this topic of the God of the Old Testament coming up a lot here. Why does He seem so cruel? Well first we need to examine our definition of cruelty. Cruelty is “willfully or knowingly causing pain to others” or “enjoying the distress of others.” Both of these are accompanied by malice toward the victims. Malice is not part of God’s nature. He has no reason to be angry at His creation, because He created it knowing how it would turn out—a perfect world ruined by our free will. Prior to sending the Flood, Genesis 6:6 says, “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” This was in response to our evil hearts. He was disappointed, though not surprised, that we chose sin over Him. Later, Jesus is seen weeping after the death of Lazarus (John 11:35)—not because he was sad Lazarus had left earth for heaven, but because he felt Mary’s and Martha’s hurt.
Given this evidence, God is good at least in some contexts. If He’s God why would He have mood changes and be ‘bad’ other times? Living apart from time and space, His mind is constant. And because of that mind He sees things more clearly. Why did He order parts of Canaan to be destroyed by the Israelites? We ask this question because we demand justice. Well, those who died deserved death. We all deserve death. God is perfectly good, but He is also perfectly just, meaning someone (Jesus) had to die for our sins if God were to keep His nature. If Jews fabricated the Bible, why would they include the portions you take offense to? Why would they risk deterring you when they could create a fairy tale God who answers our every need? Rather, God seems to contradict Himself because our human minds are not large enough to understand His greater purpose. The Creator is always more complex than the created.
For instance, God views death differently than we do. To Him there is no time. We die when our purpose is finished, be it in infancy or after a hundred years. When God oversaw deaths in Old Testament times, He did not maliciously murder individuals. He was only giving them their due, as a judge condemns a criminal. We look at murder like it is the worst thing in the world. But it is not when your Creator is terminating the life He Himself gave you. God is not bound by our laws or predispositions. In the case of the OT, He was showing us in literal terms what happens to unbelievers after life. God was paving the way for the success of His people. The purpose that mattered most was the coming of Jesus out of Israel. And that included His sacrifice for the life of our souls for eternity. Which is more important?
Carm.org found a pattern in God's OT judgments:
1. God declares an annihilation form of judgment to stamp out a cancer
2. The judgments are for public recognition of extreme sin
3. Judgment is preceded by warning and/or long periods of exposure to the truth and time to repent
4. Any and all ‘innocent’ adults are given a way of escape with their families; sometimes all given a way to avoid judgment via repentance or leaving a particular region. It should also be noted that expulsion from a land was the most common judgment, not extermination.
5. Someone is almost always saved (redeemed) from the evil culture
6. The judgment of God falls
Most everything God did in the Old Testament was to lead us to Jesus, from Passover sacrifices (symbolized in the lamb) to the rule of David (called the Son of David). The Old Testament is a record of our failures, and a visual demonstration of the usually spiritual judgment carried out against us. It shows us how little we can do on our own. We need a gift—someone to pay the price of our crimes. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God, being just, sends His son Jesus to die in our place. All we have to do is say we’re sorry, make a commitment to loving God instead of ourselves, and accept His gift.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Given this evidence, God is good at least in some contexts. If He’s God why would He have mood changes and be ‘bad’ other times? Living apart from time and space, His mind is constant. And because of that mind He sees things more clearly. Why did He order parts of Canaan to be destroyed by the Israelites? We ask this question because we demand justice. Well, those who died deserved death. We all deserve death. God is perfectly good, but He is also perfectly just, meaning someone (Jesus) had to die for our sins if God were to keep His nature. If Jews fabricated the Bible, why would they include the portions you take offense to? Why would they risk deterring you when they could create a fairy tale God who answers our every need? Rather, God seems to contradict Himself because our human minds are not large enough to understand His greater purpose. The Creator is always more complex than the created.
For instance, God views death differently than we do. To Him there is no time. We die when our purpose is finished, be it in infancy or after a hundred years. When God oversaw deaths in Old Testament times, He did not maliciously murder individuals. He was only giving them their due, as a judge condemns a criminal. We look at murder like it is the worst thing in the world. But it is not when your Creator is terminating the life He Himself gave you. God is not bound by our laws or predispositions. In the case of the OT, He was showing us in literal terms what happens to unbelievers after life. God was paving the way for the success of His people. The purpose that mattered most was the coming of Jesus out of Israel. And that included His sacrifice for the life of our souls for eternity. Which is more important?
Carm.org found a pattern in God's OT judgments:
1. God declares an annihilation form of judgment to stamp out a cancer
2. The judgments are for public recognition of extreme sin
3. Judgment is preceded by warning and/or long periods of exposure to the truth and time to repent
4. Any and all ‘innocent’ adults are given a way of escape with their families; sometimes all given a way to avoid judgment via repentance or leaving a particular region. It should also be noted that expulsion from a land was the most common judgment, not extermination.
5. Someone is almost always saved (redeemed) from the evil culture
6. The judgment of God falls
Most everything God did in the Old Testament was to lead us to Jesus, from Passover sacrifices (symbolized in the lamb) to the rule of David (called the Son of David). The Old Testament is a record of our failures, and a visual demonstration of the usually spiritual judgment carried out against us. It shows us how little we can do on our own. We need a gift—someone to pay the price of our crimes. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God, being just, sends His son Jesus to die in our place. All we have to do is say we’re sorry, make a commitment to loving God instead of ourselves, and accept His gift.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
