The Christian god
The Bible presents an interesting picture of God, ie. a god who
never changes (Malachi 3:6) but actually does frequently change
his mind and even regrets what he's done ("repents") - Gen
6:6,7, Ex 32:l4, l Sam l5:35, 2 Sam 24:l6, l Chron 21:l5, Jer
l8:8,l0, 26:3,l3,l9, 42:l0, Ezek 24:l4, Joel 2:l3, Amos 7:3.
Although it is to be noted that Numbers 23:l9 and l Samuel 15:2
say that God never repents.....
It states God is "spirit", ie. non-physical (John 4:24) and yet
he is always called 'him' or 'he' as if he had a male body,
but it also says that although spirit, he has feet (Psalm l8:9),
arms (Jer 27:5), wings (Psa 36:7), hands (Job 27:ll), eyes
(Deut 8:3), a mouth (Isa l:20), ears (2 Chron 6:40),
nostrils (Ex l5:8) and legs (Gen 3:8). He also uses a razor
- Isa 7:20. He also occasionally roars (Joel 3:l6) and
sometimes he even whistles (Isa 5:26) !!! Although he has
never been seen (John l:l8), he has actually been seen (Isa
6:l), and he even revealed his rear to Moses (Exodus 33:21-22)..
Christians argue that it is through Adam's sin that evil
exists and furthermore it is because of his transgression that
all humans must die; this is clearly taught by Paul in Rom
5:12,17,18 and is the central theology of Christianity;
however, this wholly contradicts 2 Kings 14:6, Ezekiel 18:20,
Jeremiah 31:30 that state a person will NOT suffer for an
ancestor's wrongdoing.
If the God of the Bible is truly God, then there is a dilemma;
for God to be God, he has to be omnipotent, responsible for the
creation of everything; this includes evil; if he did not
create evil, then he was not wholly creative, and therefore
cannot be God. In fact the Bible does actually say God
commits evil, eg. Exodus 32:l4, 2 Sam 24:l6, 1 Chron 21:l5,
Jer l8:8, 26:3,l3,l9, Jonah 3:l0. Furthermore he sends lying
spirits (l Kings 22:23, 2 Chronicles l8:22) and deliberately
deceives people (2 Thessalonians 2:ll). And not only this, he
admits to being responsible for the creation of evil and
misery - Isaiah 45:7, and that he has deliberately made people
so he can destroy them - Proverbs l6:4.
Christians blame the devil for evil, but the devil and his
desire for power (that supposedly resulted in his fall) must
have come from God in the first place if he created everything;
there is also the "awkward" point that he is hardly mentioned in
the Old Testament - just Job 1:6-12, 2:1-7 where he is called "a
son of God" (!), in 1 Chron 21:1 where he incites the census
(although 2 Sam 24:1 says God did this !), and Zechariah where
he is only a prosecuting attorney (3:1-3).
It is also argued that man has free will to choose; firstly,
what about those who have never heard the Christian gospel (and
some might feel they are fortunate !), or are incapable (ie. the
mentally-ill/retarded) or die in infancy; secondly, considering
man's eternal destiny depends upon this, one would have thought
God would have made as better job of it it, ie. a less
contradictory and a clearer Bible (that doesn't even mention God
is a Trinity !), and not literally thousands of sects (all
saying different things) making up the Christian church;
thirdly, if man chooses through this supposed free will to
reject the gospel, but then spends eternity in hell for this,
where is the free will here ?
God is hardly consistent - He condemns killing (Exodus 20:l3)
but orders it (Exodus 32:27); he encourages wisdom (Proverbs
4:7) but condemns it (l Corinthians l:l9); he protects the
righteous (Proverbs 12:21) but does not (Hebrews
ll:36-37); he cuts off the wicked (Proverbs l0:27) but does not
(Job 21:7-9); he commands respect for parents (Exodus 20:l2) but
encourages hatred for them (Luke l6:9); he blesses peace
(Matthew 5:9) but brings war (Matthew l0:34, Revelation l9:ll).
It continues by saying God will keep the earth (Ecclesiastes
l:4), but will destroy it (2 Peter 3:l0); is invisible and
unseen (John l:l8, l Timothy 6:l5-l6) but has been seen (Amos
9:l, Deuteronomy 5:24); he lives in dazzling light (l Timothy
6:l5-l6), but lives in darkness (l Kings 8:l2)......
Christians maintain that God cares for the world, he is
personally involved in it, he has sent his prophets, he has even
taken on human form himself and lived and died as a human
being, he has sent his Holy Spirit, his Word (the Bible) and
manifests himself through his church; however, how is it that so
much suffering prevails in the world ?
The Bible has Jesus comparing humans' compassion with
God's; he supposedly pointed out that even a human being
'evil as they are' would not let their child starve or
suffer (Matthew 7:9-13) so (therefore) we can look forward to
much more more from God. This is the real nonsense; no human
being would allow the suffering that goes on in the world today
to continue if they could stop it, but a supposedly
caring, loving, omnipotent god does nothing...
What is one supposed to make of a deity that allows so much
suffering to go on which even a mere frail feeble
inconsistent 'evil' human would stop if they could ?
All forms of life destroyed because of one imperfect
species - Gen 6:5,7, 7:23
Human sacrifice commanded by God - Leviticus 27:28,29.
Under inspiration of God's Spirit, Jephthah agrees to
sacrifice daughter as a thanksgiving - Judges 11;29-40.
God sends ten plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh
won't release the Hebrews, but he deliberately
hardens Pharaoh's heart so he refuses to release the
Hebrews in the first place, making these plagues
necessary - God admits this is so he can perform 'his
wonders' (Exodus 11:9), ie. wholesale mass slaughter
of life in Egypt - Exodus 7:3-4,13-14, 10:1,20.
God sanctions slavery and a man selling his daughter -
Exodus 21:2-6,7.
Death demanded for heresy - Deuteronomy 13:1,2,5,14,15.
God says that if a man strikes 'his slave', male or
female, and they do not die immediately, the man
shall not be punished because 'the slave is his
money (ie. property)' - Exodus 21:20-21.
God orders people to slaughter their own relatives
because they rejected Moses' religion; 3000 killed.
Moses tells the killers that God would bless them
for doing this by making them ordained for his
service - Exodus 32:27-29.
A person to kill their own family for a difference
of religion - Deuteronomy 13:6-10.
God demands death for anyone not circumcised - Gen 17:9-14.
God demands the sick are to be driven out of the
community - Numbers 5:1-4.
God burns people to death for complaining- Numbers 11:1
God kills 24,000 people by a plague because one of them
brought a Midianite woman to his tent - Num 25:6-9.
The curses of God upon the Hebrews (eg. eating their
own children) - Lev 26:14-39, Deut 28:15-68.
God arranges the Midianite slaughter - Judges 7:2,9,22.
(Note: Numbers 31:l-l8 states that God instructed the
mass slaughter of Midianites, and the Lord "slew every
male", alongwith their rulers (31:7), and the
Midianite women and children and animals were
captured; Moses then demanded all the males, including
babies and the women were to be slaughtered, but the
young girls could be "kept alive for yourselves"
(31:18). This story records the extermination of the
Midianites, but later on, God AGAIN instructs the
slaugher of the Midianites (Judges 6:16), It is the
same with the Amalekites - they are "ALL destroyed"
in 1 Samuel 15:8, but they are destroyed yet again in
1 Samuel 27:8-9 and everyone - men and women -
are killed; however, they are killed (- for the 3rd
time!) in 1 Samuel 30:1,l6ff except for 400 young
men. At long last, they are are finally killed off
in 1 Chronicles 4:43 when the 'remnant' were destroyed.
NB. most of the Pentateuchal battles were ordered
by Moses but he was only God's mouthpiece (Num 12:6-8).
He also has an important role in the N.T - Matt 17:1-4,
Heb 3:2,5, 11:23-29, Rev 15:3).
The Spirit of God comes upon Samson and he murders
over a thousand people - Judges 14:19, 15:14-15.
The Psalmist praises God for his 'steadfast love' but
then details his slaughtering in the past - Psalm
136:10-21.
God deliberately deludes people so they will not be
saved - 2 Thess 2:11-12.
A girl not found to be a virgin was to be killed -
Deut 22:13-21 (Note the same did not apply to men !).
God kills an innocent baby for its father's wrongdoing
- ignoring the father's pleas - 2 Samuel 12:15-20
God kills 70,000 men - 2 Samuel 24:15
God has a friendly meeting with his arch enemy Satan -
whom he doesn't even recognise - Job 1:6-7, and they
have a wager (Job 1:8-12) over how much suffering it
would take before righteous Job will reject God. Job
then has his whole family killed and livelihood ruined
(1:13-19) and then is afflicted by a loathsome plague
(2:7-8).