Why is God portrayed so differently in the Old and New Testaments?

[tonychanyt]

John 1:

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The God of the Old Testament seems to be a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.

There is some truth to that. The OT covered a period of thousands of years while the NT covered a period of only about a century. The way God dealt with people was different at different times with different covenants and different revelations.

Is the OT God different from the NT God?

No, there is only one God and they all point to the same God. Now we are not talking about his interactions with people. We are talking about his identity, character, and nature.

Malachi 3:

6 I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

James 1:

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

Hebrews 13:

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Why does God seems to be portrayed so differently in the Old and New Testaments?

God dealt with his creation differently at different times but it is the same God. His nature does not change.

 

[Soyeong]

John 1:16

In John 1:16-17, it says grace upon grace, so it is speaking about one example of grace being added upon another. In Psalms 119:29, he wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and in Psalms 119:142, God's law is truth, so that is how grace and truth came through Moses and through Jesus.

The God of the Old Testament seems to be a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.

There is some truth to that. The OT covered a period of thousands of years while the NT covered a period of only about a century. The way God dealt with people was different at different times with different covenants and different revelations.

There is no truth to that, but rather it only appears this way if you ignore all of the love that God shows in the OT and ignore all of the wrath talked about in the NT

Is the OT God different from the NT God?

No, there is only one God and they all point to the same God. Now we are not talking about his interactions with people. We are talking about his identity, character, and nature.

Malachi 3:


James 1:


Hebrews 13:


Why does God seems to be portrayed so differently in the Old and New Testaments?

God dealt with his creation differently at different times but it is the same God. His nature does not change.

Indeed, the God of the OT and the same as the God of the NT, but it is contradictory to think that God deal with his creation differently at different times while thinking that His nature does not change. For example, it was a sin against God's nature to commit adultery in Genesis 39:9 long before the Mosaic Covenant, during it, after it has become obsolete, and if God were even to change the way that he dealt with us so that He no longer considered it to be a sin to commit adultery, then God's nature would not be eternal. God is not a respect of persons, so the way that he deals with one person in one situation will always be the way that He deals with another person in an identical situation, and if there were two identical situations where God dealt with people differently, then His nature would not be eternal.

 

[tonychanyt]

Indeed, the God of the OT and the same as the God of the NT, but it is contradictory to think that God deal with his creation differently at different times while thinking that His nature does not change.

By "contradictory", do you mean it in the First-Order Logical sense?

 

[Soyeong]

By "contradictory", do you mean it in the First-Order Logical sense?

I think so.

 

[tonychanyt]

I think so.

Then state the two FOL contradictory propositions

 

[Soyeong]

Then state the two FOL contradictory propositions

p = God changes the way that He deals with creation
q = God's nature does not change

p>q ≡ p&~q
TTT F TFFT
TFF F TTTF
TTT F FFFT
TTF F FFTF

 

[tonychanyt]

p = God changes the way that He deals with creation
q = God's nature does not change

That's pretty good However, you need to prove that p = ¬q to show them contradictory.

 

[Soyeong]

That's pretty good However, you need to prove that p = ¬q to show them contradictory.

God's nature is eternal, so the way to act in accordance with His nature does not change.

God's way is the way that He acts in accordance with His nature, such as by showing righteousness and justified (Genesis 18:19).

There are many verses that show that God taught how to walk in His way through His law (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Isaiah 2:2-3, 1 Kings 2:1-3, Joshua 22:5, Psalms 103:7, Psalms 119:1-3, and many others).

The Bible often uses the same terms to describe aspects of the nature of God as it does to describe aspects of the nature of God's law, which is because it is God's instructions for how to act in accordance with those aspects of the nature of God, such as with it being holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12) or with justice, mercy, and faithfulness being weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). God's law could not accurately be described in those terms if it were not His instructions for how to act in accordance with those aspect of His nature.

So the fact that God's nature is eternal means that His way and His law for how to walk in His way are also eternal. For example God's righteousness is eternal (Psalms 119:142), therefore all of His righteous laws are eternal (Psalms 119:160).

This contradicts the position that God changes the way that He acts or changes His laws, which is the way that God deals with people.

 

[tonychanyt]

God's nature is eternal, so the way to act in accordance with His nature does not change.

Are you familiar with First-Order Logic?

 

[Soyeong]

Are you familiar with First-Order Logic?

I've took a logic class years ago, so I have a very basic understanding of it.

 

[tonychanyt]

I've took a logic class years ago, so I have a very basic understanding of it,

p = God changes the way that He deals with creation
q = God's nature does not change

¬q = God's nature does change

¬q ≠ p
Therefore they are not contradictory, at least not directly.

It is still possible they are contradictory. But you need to prove that by following the procedure and syntax of FOL. E.g, see "Whoever is not with me is against me" vs "Whoever is not against you is for you".

 

[Soyeong]

p = God changes the way that He deals with creation
q = God's nature does not change

¬q = God's nature does change

¬q ≠ p
Therefore they are not contradictory, at least not directly.

It is still possible they are contradictory. But you need to prove that by following the procedure and syntax of FOL. E.g, see "Whoever is not with me is against me" vs "Whoever is not against you is for you".

p = The way to act in accordance with God's nature changes
q = The way to act in accordance with God's nature does not change

 

[tonychanyt]

p = The way to act in accordance with God's nature changes

I need some clarification. Are you saying

Within the limit in accordance with God's nature, the way God acts changes​

 

[AV1611VET]

There is some truth to that. The OT covered a period of thousands of years while the NT covered a period of only about a century. The way God dealt with people was different at different times with different covenants and different revelations.

Almost every time you start a thread, it's like I'm reading my own posts!

 

[Soyeong]

I need some clarification. Are you saying

Within the limit in accordance with God's nature, the way God acts changes​

My position is that the way that God in accordance with God's nature doe not change because His nature is eternal. God acts in accordance with His nature, so the way that God acts therefore also does not change.

You saying that God changes the way that he deals with His people is saying that He changes the way that He acts, that that the way to act in accordance with His nature changes, that God nature changes, and that God's nature is not eternal.

 

[AV1611VET]

You saying that God changes the way that he deals with His people is saying that He changes the way that He acts, that that the way to act in accordance with His nature changes, that God nature changes, and that God's nature is not eternal.

I think what he is saying is that God, in the Old Testament, only seems to be more vindictive than in the New Testament because, in the Old Testament, we see God responding to a variety of situations from anarchy to rebellion to idol worship.

God in the New Testament only covers a period of a century, and doesn't address idolatry and other issues.

HOWEVER, it's in the New Testament, not the Old, that we find the horrors of Hell described in detail.

And when you read the book of Revelation, note how extremely angry John describes Jesus as being.

 

[Soyeong]

I think what he is saying is that God, in the Old Testament, only seems to be more vindictive than in the New Testament because, in the Old Testament, we see God responding to a variety of situations from anarchy to rebellion to idol worship.

God in the New Testament only covers a period of a century, and doesn't address idolatry and other issues.

HOWEVER, it's in the New Testament, not the Old, that we find the horrors of Hell described in detail.

And when you read the book of Revelation, note how extremely angry John describes Jesus as being.

How can it be that the God who created the universe could be bothered to get angry at anything that we do? It can only be cause He loves us so much that every little thing that we do gets magnified in importance to Him, so even His anger is rooted in love.

 

[tonychanyt]

My position is that the way that God in accordance with God's nature doe not change because His nature is eternal. God acts in accordance with His nature, so the way that God acts therefore also does not change.

You need to distinguish God's nature from God's actions. They are not interchangeable.

 

[AV1611VET]

You need to distinguish God's nature from God's actions. They are not interchangeable.

God has two types of attributes: natural attributes and moral attributes.

His natural attributes include: omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, transcendence, and immutability.

His moral attributes include: love, joy, peace, mercy, and grace.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

John 1:


The God of the Old Testament seems to be a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.

There is some truth to that. The OT covered a period of thousands of years while the NT covered a period of only about a century. The way God dealt with people was different at different times with different covenants and different revelations.

Is the OT God different from the NT God?

No, there is only one God and they all point to the same God. Now we are not talking about his interactions with people. We are talking about his identity, character, and nature.

Malachi 3:


James 1:


Hebrews 13:


Why does God seems to be portrayed so differently in the Old and New Testaments?

God dealt with his creation differently at different times but it is the same God. His nature does not change.

Agree, both OT and NT are the same God however I also add the same message. One was under the Old Covenant the other soon to be under the New Covenant. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God in the flesh, is Messiah Savior of the world coming not to condemn the world anymore, but to save it from the condemnation of eternal death. Same God, fulfilled message , delivered by His Prophets, of the " Good News", Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Blessings.

Condemnation......
Deuteronomy 28:15-19 : "But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all his commandments and decrees, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: ... The Lord will bring on you and your descendants extraordinary plagues, and harsh and prolonged sicknesses, and chronic diseases. ... The Lord will bring you defeat before your enemies. ... The Lord will plague you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind."

Redemption........
John 3:16-21: “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”