Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » The Old Testament God is wrathful vengeful angry and jealous. The New Testament God is loving. Is GOD BIPOLAR or a SCHIZOPHRENIC?
RosieG

The Old Testament God is wrathful vengeful angry and jealous. The New Testament God is loving. Is GOD BIPOLAR or a SCHIZOPHRENIC?

IF the Bible is the WORD OF GOD which GOD? The angry jealous wrathful GOD folks fear or the loving merciful kind forgiving GOD?

Could that be the real division among people of the Christian ilk?

Old Testament Extreme Right-Wing Cons versus New Testament Left-Wing Libs?

Ever try to reconcile the two faces of GOD? Ever try to figger out why the vast difference?  Why one is so dark and the other so light?

Posted - July 2, 2019
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Responses


  • 10753

    God has never changed.  He is the same God now as He was back then.

    When we read His Word (especially the Old Testament), we tend to gloss over His mercy and patience and concentrate on His punishments.    We see Him as some cosmic bully with a magnifying glass and we’re the ants.  In reality, He’s just the opposite.  In fact, if you want a true picture of God, look to Jesus.  Jesus is the EXACT representation of God.

    As our creator, God has every right to demand that we love and obey Him.  Yet instead, He allows us to choose whether we want to or not.  However, He tells us what the consequences of our actions will be.  We were told on day one that the punishment for sin is death (separation).  Frankly, I’d hate to have a god who didn’t tell us straight out what the rules were; what pleased Him and what angered Him.   If He never told us, we’d be walking on eggshells every minute of the day hoping he wouldn’t “zap us a bolt of lightning”.

    God doesn’t want ANYONE to be lost – no one!   Even though He knows that not everyone will choose to be saved from the punishment that our sins demand, He still avidly seeks to save everyone from that punishment.  This is what the Old Testament shows us – God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  It also shows us that that sin will be punished (and it’s not pleasant).  That’s why He founded a nation of people who would show people who He was (the Jewish people), but they failed.  The nations turned to things that were an abomination before God.  They practiced idolatry (worshiping the created instead of the creator), child sacrifice, prostitution, homosexuality, murder, and more.  God had every right to punish those who did these things (and He still does).  God finally sent His Son (“surely they will listen to My Son”).  “God loved us so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  Yet even today, we still practice these same abominable actions (and more).  God is very serious about sin, as, like any good parent, He loves us and wants what’s best for us.  However, He cannot simply let sin “slide”.  In His great mercy He allows us to live (in hopes that we will turn away from our sins and turn back to Him), but His patience will soon run out. 

    God isn’t bi-polar, nor does He change.  When we read of what He did back then we should be grateful for His mercy now… not scoff at it.

      July 2, 2019 3:01 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Did you notice the dearth of replies to this question  Shuhak? Thank you for your heartfelt comprehensive thorough reply. I appreciate the time you invested in it.
      July 4, 2019 5:36 AM MDT
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  • 10753
    People don't like to talk about religious topics.  And when most do it's usually derogatory. 
      July 4, 2019 11:05 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    God obviously is the reflection of the mind-set of the times.  

    We are co-creators in this physical world.   How we perceive God makes that perception real to us.  If we all buy into the perception, we have a GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS.  The GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS in the old testament was fear-based and filled with terrors.

    That is God to them.  The BIG KAHUNA.  They needed a FATHER like that who ruled them.


    Then the new testament and CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS rose above the horizon and we entered that NEW AGE of ENLIGHTENMENT.  We are evolving and we see God in a New and Loving light.  We are seeing what LOVE really means.  It is not dividing. It is uniting in recognition that we are all the SAME and GOD is in us.  ALL OF US.  


      July 4, 2019 11:13 AM MDT
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  • 7939

    Technically, I believe "he" would be a psychopath. 

    Traits of a Psychopath...

    Charming: Most people like him.

    No Remorse: Despite slaughtering entire populations, I don't believe any guilt over it was ever expressed.

    Arrogance: Most religions call for worship and people are supposed to ask to be forgiven. In some cases, they have to ask for forgiveness for being born. Failure to do so results in eternal damnation.

    Manipulation: There are probably more stories than this, but I'm somewhat familiar with the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his child as proof of his loyalty. 


    Failure to Accept Responsibility: Creating people and specifically giving them free will. Considering he's supposedly omnipotent, he should have known how people would use that free will. Instead, he punishes people who behave exactly how their creator designed them to. It's never god's faulty design. It's us. 

    So, that might explain it. Psychopaths are two-faced. When they can get something from you, be it padding their ego or resources, they're incredibly charming. When you're not of use, they're the darkest of the dark. Sometimes, people only see one face. Other times, they become conditioned to think that they deserve the poor treatment. One example of this is domestic abuse. People stay with their abusers believing that, if they were just better in some way, they wouldn't incur their abuser's wrath.

      July 4, 2019 11:28 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    Interesting. Posting a naked God is against the TOS but calling God a psychopath is not.  This is rhetorical, no need to defend.  
      July 4, 2019 11:32 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    Don't worry---God usually hides His sense of humor from us; but I'm sure He is amused by some of the silly things His creation does.

    He made us in His image---He's used to us trying to return the favor by making Him in ours.
      July 4, 2019 3:59 PM MDT
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  • 7939
    I'm sorry. Weren't you the one who was all upset over underwear photos before we closed the loopholes in our image guidelines? Pick your poison. If you want to allow naked photos, you have to allow all naked photos, and the underwear ones you were so fond of too. I mean, I guess I could make an exception for photos of God in underwear, but it MUST be the real God, not just someone's interpretation of him or someone saying "God is in all of us, so I'm God and can post naked pictures of me." This is rhetorical, no need to defend. 
      July 4, 2019 8:48 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    Considering he's supposedly omnipotent, he should have known how people would use that free will. Instead, he punishes people who behave exactly how their creator designed them to. It's never god's faulty design. It's us.

    Well, the words in bold are actually a statement of fact that I agree with---although I know you did not mean it to be taken in that way.

    It's very difficult to try to interpret what a given gesture means in a different culture without having some exposure to cultural anthropology; it is even more difficult to try to interpret the Abrahamic God without having had some awareness of theology 101.  

    And theology---unlike cultural anthropology---is not really suited to self-study when one is trying to get technical about perceived inconsistencies in the Abrahamic God. 

    Edit---changed comma to a dash
    This post was edited by tom jackson at July 4, 2019 4:12 PM MDT
      July 4, 2019 4:11 PM MDT
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  • 7939
    It's very difficult to try to interpret what someone's background is online.

    Signed,
    The psychology major with an academic background in the humanities, culture, and religion, particularly the Abrahamic ones.
      July 4, 2019 9:05 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    I find background to be less important than intelligence and the ability to reason---otherwise a human is essentially dead and incapable of contributing much to any conversation online or in person.

    And reading or listening to about 10 answers from anyone online or in person that are intended to be serious answers are sufficient to accurately gauge both of those items.  It also gives considerable insight into adequacy and consistency of the principles by which they approach issues   

    The print ad for the "Great Books of the Western World" 50 years ago showed a headstone and the tagline, "Most people die at the age of 30 but aren't buried until the age of 70.

    Are you saying that this is you?---The psychology major with an academic background in the humanities, culture, and religion, particularly the Abrahamic ones.

    I just want to be clear.
      July 5, 2019 12:06 PM MDT
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  • 7939
    See, this is exactly why we have the policies we do on this site. You're not even making a counterargument. You're trying to discredit my argument by going after me. Do you have an actual argument that doesn't involve me? Or are you just going to keep making assumptions about my background and intelligence and how they don't meet your criteria? 

    Yes, I am a psych major and, yes, I took all those classes- through the honors program, no less, and earned As in all of them. I figured if I wanted to understand how people think, feel, and function, I needed to understand huge components of their lives, including religion and other cultural aspects.

    Of course, if you're going to try to discredit me instead of the argument, there is no background I could possibly present that would appease you. The mere fact that we've formed different conclusions will always be your fallback to indicate that I'm somehow illogical. That's not a solid argument, but if it's all you've got, so be it. 

    I have friends of every religion and background. I engage with people from all walks of life here. I especially appreciate it when people who have opinions which differ from mine can lay out a logical argument that makes me think more critically about my own views. Without that component, any discussion is useless. If you have something of substance to say about the topic, fire away. I'd love to hear it. If you're only here to try to discredit me, you'll have to continue this discussion alone. 
      July 5, 2019 6:42 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    I'm not trying to discredit you---which incidentally illuminates the pitfalls of moderation on sites, namely that a moderator can read minds and, as you accuse me of doing, make assumptions about my background and intelligence and intent.

    Why would you have signed your comment to me thusly: "The psychology major with an academic background in the humanities, culture, and religion, particularly the Abrahamic ones" unless you are claiming special knowledge in the areas you suggest you are knowledgeable about.

    I have no doubt you are intelligent---and probably significantly above average---something I was able to infer simply by reading some of your posts and explanations when I first joined this site after Ask.com shut down it's community.

    So I have no problem with your opinions, but when you suggest it is reasonable that the Abrahamic God is possibly subject to psychopathy just because a human who may have acted that way could be so diagnosed is not consistent with your academic background in the Abrahamic religions when you post such an explanation without so much as a clarification of why you consider this a valid explanation of His actions (as we limited beings experience and understand them).

    I once reported a member on ask.com for his answer.  Someone asked what chemical he could include in a homemade mouthwash to treat an oral condition.

    There was only one answer posted, and the suggestion was a chemical that was highly caustic and would have caused significant damage.

    The moderator deleted his answer.

    Some of the possible "solutions" or explanations on here are no less dangerous to the mind than that advice to use that chemical would have been to his body. This post was edited by tom jackson at July 7, 2019 4:13 PM MDT
      July 7, 2019 4:13 PM MDT
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  • 5450
    I can believe there might be something out there or some things out there that created everything but I just have a hard time believing the God in the Bible is that something.  I wonder what convinced those people who lived back then to believe the being in those texts actually was God just like I wonder what convinced some different tribes that God was Molech or Baal.  So, one day someone just told everybody else to make a really big fire and throw their kids in there and they actually listened to him?  It just doesn't make any sense.

    Somebody posted here a while back that God had the characteristics of the people who made him up so I wonder how a guy with High-Functioning Autism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder and Psycopathy could possibly convince the rest of his tribe that there was some all-powerful and all-knowing supreme being out there was just as dysfunctional as he was.

    Sorry, but most religion just doesn't make any sense to me.  When I read those stories they just never add up.


    This post was edited by Livvie at July 5, 2019 7:13 PM MDT
      July 4, 2019 6:26 PM MDT
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  • 1817
    can confirm that god is actually borderline
      July 4, 2019 9:05 PM MDT
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