Why did God get such a makeover in the New Testament?

[Hi600]

In the Old Testament, God is mean and kills everybody. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, bone for bone.

But in the New Testament, God is suddenly nice and tells us to be nice to everybody. Jesus is basically nice to the point of wimpiness, telling us to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes one of our cheeks. In fact, the only time where Jesus ever becomes mean is John 8:44, where  Jesus attacks the Old Testament God. (Jesus' infamous anti-Semitic rant where he claims that the Old Testament God is actually Satan and the Jews are actually Satan worshippers.)

So why did God have such a makeover in the New Testament?

[Fake Messiah]

New Testament God is infinitely worse than the Old. In the Old there is no threat of eternal pain. Jehovah had no eternal prison, no everlasting fire. His hatred ended at the grave. His revenge was satisfied when his enemy was dead.

In the New Testament, death is not the end, but the beginning of punishment that has no end. In the New Testament the malice of God is infinite and the hunger of his revenge eternal.

[Foxaèr]

I'd state the reasoning is open to interpretation. Choose whichever version connects with you.

[Belacqua]

In the Old Testament, God is mean and kills everybody. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, bone for bone.

But in the New Testament, God is suddenly nice and tells us to be nice to everybody. Jesus is basically nice to the point of wimpiness, telling us to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes one of our cheeks. In fact, the only time where Jesus ever becomes mean is John 8:44, where  Jesus attacks the Old Testament God. (Jesus' infamous anti-Semitic rant where he claims that the Old Testament God is actually Satan and the Jews are actually Satan worshippers.)

So why did God have such a makeover in the New Testament?

There are a number of different ways that Christians answer this question. 

One way I've heard is, granted, not fair to the Jews, but it is compatible with what gets said in the NT. 

The 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the OT are detailed prescriptions for how to handle detailed legal issues. For example, what happens if your neighbor's cow eats your grapes. Despite the large number of rules, however, no specific set of laws can cover every possible moral issue in the world. It also leaves the follower open to the criticism of legalism -- that one merely has to follow the letter of the law and not its spirit, so that there will always be loopholes and ways to do what you want that don't seem very ethical, because none of the 613 addresses exactly the situation you're in. 

(The Jews, of course, deny these criticisms -- they'll point out for example that the commandment not to work on the Sabbath is not absolute -- if someone is sick then the ambulance driver ought to go to work. People's well-being may overrule the mitzvot. So the accusation of legalism is, to them, unfair.)

What happens in the NT is that Jesus says he has come to "fulfill" these mitzvot. Many interpret this to mean that instead of a detailed adherence to the letter of the laws, we are to obey the main spirit behind them. This is identified in the NT as the "Great Commandment":

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. Love God above all else. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

— Matthew 22:35-40

Though the sense of all the OT commandments are boiled down to two, in fact these two are harder to keep. If the commandments are detailed and specific you know if you've kept them or not. But if the commandments are so general -- "love everybody" -- one is left in doubt as to whether one has done enough. 

I've heard the difference compared to the instructions you give a little child compared to what you say to an older person. To a kindergarten student, you give specifics: "don't get in anybody's car; don't speak to strangers; don't go into any stores on the way home; don't take candy from strangers." These are detailed rules because a small child won't be able to make good judgments for himself. If we just say "be safe" to such a small child, that's not enough, because they don't know how to be safe. Older children, however, are more capable of making judgments about what is and isn't safe. For them, the letter of the law is less important than the general goal. So the OT laws are what you'd tell to beginners, while the NT is for those who make their own judgments. 

Again, it's rude to the Jews to describe them as child-like. But this is a common Christian interpretation. 

There is also a long-running unofficial position among Christians, that the God of the OT is a different character from that of the NT. The Pope considers this a heresy, but many interesting Christians (e.g. William Blake) have held this position.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

In the Old Testament, God is mean and kills everybody. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, bone for bone.

But in the New Testament, God is suddenly nice and tells us to be nice to everybody. Jesus is basically nice to the point of wimpiness, telling us to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes one of our cheeks. In fact, the only time where Jesus ever becomes mean is John 8:44, where  Jesus attacks the Old Testament God. (Jesus' infamous anti-Semitic rant where he claims that the Old Testament God is actually Satan and the Jews are actually Satan worshippers.)

So why did God have such a makeover in the New Testament?

Because the political climate was markedly different. When the OT was compiled, Israelites were violent and vengeful, so God was violent and vengeful. When the NT was being forged (no pun intended), Jews under Rome were - in their view, at least - an oppressed minority with no hope of throwing off the Roman yoke, so they came up with a God that counseled suffering and patience in hope of a future reward.

John 8:44 is not an 'anti-Semitic rant'. At most, it is an anti-Pharisaic rant. Jesus isn't claiming that the OTG is Satan, but that the Pharisees have been seduced by the devil (this is a common tactic of religious psychopathic fanatics: 'You disagree with me, therefore you are evil.').

Boru

[brewer]

---

There are a number of different ways that Christians answer this question. 

One way I've heard is, granted, not fair to the Jews, but it is compatible with what gets said in the NT. 

The 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the OT are detailed prescriptions for how to handle detailed legal issues. For example, what happens if your neighbor's cow eats your grapes. Despite the large number of rules, however, no specific set of laws can cover every possible moral issue in the world. It also leaves the follower open to the criticism of legalism -- that one merely has to follow the letter of the law and not its spirit, so that there will always be loopholes and ways to do what you want that don't seem very ethical, because none of the 613 addresses exactly the situation you're in. 

(The Jews, of course, deny these criticisms -- they'll point out for example that the commandment not to work on the Sabbath is not absolute -- if someone is sick then the ambulance driver ought to go to work. People's well-being may overrule the mitzvot. So the accusation of legalism is, to them, unfair.)

What happens in the NT is that Jesus says he has come to "fulfill" these mitzvot. Many interpret this to mean that instead of a detailed adherence to the letter of the laws, we are to obey the main spirit behind them. This is identified in the NT as the "Great Commandment":

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. Love God above all else. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

— Matthew 22:35-40

Though the sense of all the OT commandments are boiled down to two, in fact these two are harder to keep. If the commandments are detailed and specific you know if you've kept them or not. But if the commandments are so general -- "love everybody" -- one is left in doubt as to whether one has done enough. 

I've heard the difference compared to the instructions you give a little child compared to what you say to an older person. To a kindergarten student, you give specifics: "don't get in anybody's car; don't speak to strangers; don't go into any stores on the way home; don't take candy from strangers." These are detailed rules because a small child won't be able to make good judgments for himself. If we just say "be safe" to such a small child, that's not enough, because they don't know how to be safe. Older children, however, are more capable of making judgments about what is and isn't safe. For them, the letter of the law is less important than the general goal. So the OT laws are what you'd tell to beginners, while the NT is for those who make their own judgments. 

Again, it's rude to the Jews to describe them as child-like. But this is a common Christian interpretation.

---

There is also a long-running unofficial position among Christians, that the God of the OT is a different character from that of the NT. The Pope considers this a heresy, but many interesting Christians (e.g. William Blake) have held this position.

I agree, they are both characters.

[The Grand Nudger]

In the Old Testament, God is mean and kills everybody. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, bone for bone.

But in the New Testament, God is suddenly nice and tells us to be nice to everybody. Jesus is basically nice to the point of wimpiness, telling us to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes one of our cheeks. In fact, the only time where Jesus ever becomes mean is John 8:44, where  Jesus attacks the Old Testament God. (Jesus' infamous anti-Semitic rant where he claims that the Old Testament God is actually Satan and the Jews are actually Satan worshippers.)

So why did God have such a makeover in the New Testament?

Historically?  Because the people involved in cobbling together christian canon didn't believe in the same god or the same covenant or that they were the same people anymore.  Most notably, marcion, who produced the first nt and gave the folks he would later break with (and be called a heretic by) the very idea to do so and to form an identity around this body of work wholly separate from a jewish identity.  He very explicitly believed that jesus was a new and different and better god.  Made Paul™ famous, too. Others were more nervous about the potential loss of the borrowed ladder - and that's been pretty much the status quo since. Leaving us with a theology that claims continuity and a magic book that tries to establish a break.

[Hi600]

In the Old Testament, God is mean and kills everybody. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, bone for bone.

But in the New Testament, God is suddenly nice and tells us to be nice to everybody. Jesus is basically nice to the point of wimpiness, telling us to turn the other cheek when somebody strikes one of our cheeks. In fact, the only time where Jesus ever becomes mean is John 8:44, where  Jesus attacks the Old Testament God. (Jesus' infamous anti-Semitic rant where he claims that the Old Testament God is actually Satan and the Jews are actually Satan worshippers.)

So why did God have such a makeover in the New Testament?

Historically?  Because the people involved in cobbling together christian canon didn't believe in the same god or the same covenant or that they were the same people anymore.  Most notably, marcion, who produced the first nt and gave the folks he would later break with (and be called a heretic by) the very idea to do so and to form an identity around this body of work wholly separate from a jewish identity.  He very explicitly believed that jesus was a new and different and better god.  Made Paul™ famous, too.  Others were more nervous about the potential loss of the borrowed ladder - and that's been pretty much the status quo since.  Leaving us with a theology that claims continuity and a magic book that tries to establish a break.

Probably correct

[Fake Messiah]

[Simon Moon]

New Testament God is infinitely worse than the Old. In the Old there is no threat of eternal pain. Jehovah had no eternal prison, no everlasting fire. His hatred ended at the grave. His revenge was satisfied when his enemy was dead.

In the New Testament, death is not the end, but the beginning of punishment that has no end. In the New Testament the malice of God is infinite and the hunger of his revenge eternal.

This is pretty much what I was going to post. You beat me to it.

And stating that the NT god is "infinitely worse" than the OT god, is not hyperbole. Infinite punishment for finite crimes, is definitionally, "infinitely worse".

It would be hard to imagine a worse universe to live in, than one where the Bible gods actually existed.

It is a universe, with hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with at least a 100 billion stars, the vast majority of which have planets (5297 at latest count), all 'created' as a giant 'soul filtering machine', just to determine how many souls get to spend eternity with Yahweh.

And all it seems to take to get filtered out, is to doubt said god exists. A thought crime.