Their 'God of Love'

"Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys."
- 1 Samuel 15:3

"I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them." - Jeremiah 13:14
(COMPARE 1 CHRONICLES 16:34 and PSALMS 145:9)

How is it that the same Christians today who can speak on genocide as a wicked atrocity can read these verses and call their God the "God of Love"? These verses, being two of many, are not unclear or open to interpretation.

"Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities." - Isaiah 14:21
(COMPARE DEUTERONOMY 24:16)

Vengeance, spite, and blood lust are not traits of love. The God of the Old Testament frequently engaged in mass murder and even cursed his own people. God is painted in infinitely more benevolent strokes in different parts of the Bible, but does that mean God changes?

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." - 1 Samuel 15:29

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17

"I the LORD do not change." - Malachi 3:6

Oh! Wait! Hold on a minute... I must be confused...

"When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened." - Jonah 3:10

"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." - Genesis 6:6

ARGH! Hang on! Back up about 5 chapters! God creates all things and gives them to man and then:

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." - Genesis 1:31

Is it any wonder why there is so much confusion in our religions? A God who's emotional range balances precariously between serenity and psychosis? We put people with this sort of affliction in psychiatric wards. How can we ascribe these attributes to our God and worship THIS?

THIS is not MY God.

Jesus Interrupted

'Jesus Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible and Why We Don't Know About Them' by Bart Ehrman

Go to your local library and borrow this book. This man is a true biblical scholar. He's not seeking to destroy faith. What he actually wants is the real story of the Bible to be told and for each author to be respected for their own work-- independent of the others.

The books and letters found in the Bible were not meant to be read and interpreted as one. When these books were written, there was no "Bible". When you read, for instance, the Gospel starting at Matthew 1:1 through John 21:25, they appear to be in agreement. But simply take one occurrence, such as the events during and after Jesus' death, and compare them side by side and you'll find that they tell a decidedly different story between them.

Get your Bible and try this for yourself.

What were Jesus' last words?
Easy right? Compare Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 to Luke 23:46 and John 19:30.

When did the curtain of the sanctuary rip?
Again, Matthew agrees with Mark, but what does Luke say?

Who was present at Jesus' tomb when the stone was rolled away?
Was it Mary and the "other" Mary? Was it Mary and a group of women?

Who was seen at Jesus' empty tomb?
One angel? Two angels?

And that's but a small handful. The Bible is full of these sorts of contradictions and is hardly the unerring harmonious collection of books that most who were raised as fundamentalist Christians were lead to believe.

Some try to reconcile these things and say that all of these things mentioned in each separate book happened, but certain authors only recorded certain things. These people, in effect, are writing their own version of the gospels-- one not found in the Bible.

Check it out for yourself.