Why is God so violent?

[xpower]

Why is God so violent and wrathful?

When looking at the bible God sometimes seems just mean spirited. Why curse and torture a family for multiple generations because of what a ancestor did? Why kill a man because he did not impregnate his sister-in-law? Why kill and curse the hebrews just because they wanted to eat something else besides mana all day everyday?

God seems to be easily angered and quick to kill the people he supposedly loves.

 

[Catherineanne]

God is not violent, people are. Then their conscience starts to give them trouble and they decide that if God is all powerful and he didn't save those people from violence then they must have deserved it because they were sinners. That very conveniently makes the perpetrators into tools of God's vengeance and they can carry on with whatever it is that they are doing, safe in the knowledge that God wanted them to do it, or indeed told them to do it. Their God is a Psychopath with no conscience whatever and they strive to be like him.

The Old Testament in particular is full of this projection onto the Deity, and as we all know, if the OT got it right then prophet after prophet and finally the Lord himself would not have been needed to say, 'No; that is not what God is like at all!' The OT gets it spectacularly wrong; in effect it creates God in man's image.

Hence God gets the blame, every time. Cf George W Bush in Iraq. God did not in fact tell him to do anything of the kind; GW displaced his guilt onto the Deity.

Bush: God told me to invade Iraq

This is not just politicians; we all do it all the time.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Why is God so violent and wrathful?

When looking at the bible God sometimes seems just mean spirited. Why curse and torture a family for multiple generations because of what a ancestor did? Why kill a man because he did not impregnate his sister-in-law? Why kill and curse the hebrews just because they wanted to eat something else besides mana all day everyday?

God seems to be easily angered and quick to kill the people he supposedly loves.

If you read the Bible, as a Christian, believing God's Word is TRUTH,
all these concerns do not happen. You won't think God is unjustly violent nor wrathful without a reason. (remember mankind is completely evil, enemies of God and of His people, apart from those Redeemed in Christ) .
You picked out things that unbelievers question, 'made up' issues the unbelievers opposed to God use to try to discredit God or God's Word, without success.

 

[mikeforjesus]

God doesn't need me to defend Him. I wrote a long thing but God is more honourable than people deciding He is good from what others say. Though I can say

 

[Kenny'sID]

Why is God so violent and wrathful?

When looking at the bible God sometimes seems just mean spirited. Why curse and torture a family for multiple generations because of what a ancestor did? Why kill a man because he did not impregnate his sister-in-law? Why kill and curse the hebrews just because they wanted to eat something else besides mana all day everyday?

God seems to be easily angered and quick to kill the people he supposedly loves.

Wish I could disagree with you, but it's all right there in the Bible, so I can't, nor can I spin it into something it's not.

I personally think this was God trying everything to get us to do what was good for us, and though the end probably did justify the means, it's still troublesome. and it is my guess, God would agree with you today.

Maybe it was to all lead up to what he does today, and simply to show us the steps he took for us..the steps he took in dealing with our sin from Adam till the new covenant.

Fortunately, he changed the way he deals with sin, (why I think he would agree with you) covered it all with Christ, and just lets us be when we don't accept Christ, instead of implementing the punishments of old. He lets us all grow together and will separate the tares form the wheat in the end.

I'd also guess there will be those who wished he'd a been a lot more strict as in the old days, as they wait for judgment to Hell.

But in the end, it's all his ball game, he does it his way and I accept it, but think he made a good choice on how he now deals with us.

There may be some biblical thoughts in all that, otherwise, it's pretty much off the cuff, so take it for what it's worth..

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Fortunately, he changed the way he deals with sin, (why I think he would agree with you) covered it all with Christ, and just lets us be when we don't accept Christ, instead of implementing the punishments of old. He lets us all grow together and will separate the tares form the wheat in the end.

The penalty for sin is still death.
Salvation is still by faith.
Those who continue in sin without repenting are put out of the assembly, not permitted to continue in the assembly. (according to God's Word)."Put out the wicked one from your midst, so you're not all polluted/defiled" ....
The tares are not openly sinning, are not recognized as unbelievers - they are fake believers, but not doing anything openly sinful: they pretend and imitate the believers in order to stay in with the believers.

 

[Kenny'sID]

The penalty for sin is still death.
Salvation is still by faith.
Those who continue in sin without repenting are put out of the assembly, not permitted to continue in the assembly. (according to God's Word)."Put out the wicked one from your midst, so you're not all polluted/defiled" ....
The tares are not openly sinning, are not recognized as unbelievers - they are fake believers, but not doing anything openly sinful: they pretend and imitate the believers in order to stay in with the believers.

We have a difference of opinion on the tares....clearly.

Can you offer scripture to demonstrate the tares aren't the unsaved?

Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

 

[CoolDude68]

Since God made us in His image and gave us "free will" I believe He was even surprised how His creation handled things early on. This brings up another question; Does God make mistakes? If He is suppose to know past present and future then how could He ever let such things happen?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

We have a difference of opinion on the tares....clearly.

Can you offer scripture to demonstrate the tares aren't the unsaved?

Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I did not say that the tares are saved. (they are not)

 

[Kenny'sID]

I did not say that the tares are saved. (they are not)

OK, still not sure what your post mean then.

 

[Kenny'sID]

This brings up another question; Does God make mistakes? If He is suppose to know past present and future then how could He ever let such things happen?

He let it happen because of the free will you mentioned. He would have to make robots otherwise and that's no fun.

On him knowing past present and future, those thing have to happen in order for him to know them. And I agree, he may have been surprised, but he still follows the free will rule.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

OK, still not sure what your post mean then.

Somewhere in the instructions to the ekklesia,
YHWH tells them to put out the wicked ones from in their midst -
those who sin and won't repent are to be put out, not left in as if to grow with the repentant believers.
If they won't repent, they are not allowed in fellowship.
Tares are allowed in fellowship without any instruction to even try to identify them, per se.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

And I agree, he may have been surprised, but he still follows the free will rule.

His Word says He knows all the thoughts and motives of the hearts of all men,
and knew all things BEFORE creating the world -
God is not subject to time the way men are. The beginning and the end are all the same to Him, according to His Word. Even darkness is bright light to Him - nothing was ever hidden from Him, nor could be.
Main point though - FREE WILL - yes , FREE WILL is HIS GIFT to men so we may choose to serve HIM or not.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Somewhere in the instructions to the ekklesia,
YHWH tells them to put out the wicked ones from in their midst -
those who sin and won't repent are to be put out, not left in as if to grow with the repentant believers.
If they won't repent, they are not allowed in fellowship.
Tares are allowed in fellowship without any instruction to even try to identify them, per se.

So you are saying the tares are not the wicked? I'm still very confused on what you are telling me, and never having run across your reasoning, I'd need specific verses to try to figure out what you are saying and if it is valid. Fair enough?

His Word says He knows all the thoughts and motives of the hearts of all men,
and knew all things BEFORE creating the world -
God is not subject to time the way men are. The beginning and the end are all the same to Him, according to His Word. Even darkness is bright light to Him - nothing was ever hidden from Him, nor could be.
Main point though - FREE WILL - yes , FREE WILL is HIS GIFT to men so we may choose to serve HIM or not.

Then maybe he knew he'd be surprised.

Still need scripture so I can sort out if that is exactly what is being conveyed.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

So you are saying the tares are not the wicked? I'm still very confused on what you are telling me, and never having run across your reasoning, I'd need specific verses to try to figure out what you are saying and if it is valid. Fair enough?

I believe you posted the Scripture concerning tares: leave them alone, the angels will separate them at the appropriate time.
They look just like wheat, right?

I never said the tares are not wicked. (unforgiven, unbelievers, actors on the stage of life - pretending to be believers)

Then maybe he knew he'd be surprised.

No. He was never surprised, ever.

 

[Catherineanne]

Since God made us in His image and gave us "free will" I believe He was even surprised how His creation handled things early on. This brings up another question; Does God make mistakes? If He is suppose to know past present and future then how could He ever let such things happen?

It makes no sense to speak of God giving us free will and then ask why he lets us do bad things.

He gave us free will. Free to act; free to suffer the consequences of that action.

 

[CoolDude68]

It makes no sense to speak of God giving us free will and then ask why he lets us do bad things.

He gave us free will. Free to act; free to suffer the consequences of that action.

No, I was referring to why He did the things He did and then later changed those things in the New Covenant. I understand why He lets us do bad things, that's our choice.

 

[Catherineanne]

No, I was referring to why He did the things He did and then later changed those things in the New Covenant. I understand why He lets us do bad things, that's our choice.

Because we took a long time to get the message, perhaps. God himself did not change; not a bit.

 

[CoolDude68]

I didn't say He changed, His laws did. My original question was if He knew all things, past, present, future why was this so?

 

[Sanoy]

The law was there to restrain wickedness, to hold humanity in order until the Messiah would come. Israel bore that heavy burden, as well as the burden of the nations which they offered sacrifices for until Christ died. If Israel failed it's duty, all nations would suffer. Israel was the to the world the 50 good people to save a city from destruction. Just as the tribe of Levi represented Israel through the priesthood, Israel in turn was as the tribe of Levi to the entire world. That role came with a very heavy burden.