OT God vs NT God

by brotherdan 58 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  unshackled

  I'm not a bible believer, but I too am curious how believers justify god's actions in the bible. I don't ask this in an attempt to flame a debate, but how do JWs justify the fact that god condoned slavery and rape?

  Slavery is universally accepted as an atrocity and morally wrong. Why would a god condone it?

  It is morally disgusting for a father to offer up his daughters for a crowd to rape (story of Lot), but yet this is a "good morals" story in the bible? Or where is the morality and decency in asking Abraham to kill his son?

  Has there ever been anything in the literature that defends this? How would you defend it? And please, don't say "we don't have the power to understand god". Rape is rape...slavery is slavery...they are just wrong.
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  PSacramento

  In those times, you completely annihilated your enemy - children and all.

  I don't like it, but that's the way it was.

  We will always disgree on that one sweetheart.

  That would make God no better than the other deities around at the time.

  We know better, Jesus has opened our eyes.
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  brotherdan

  That wasn't an insult snowbird! I didn't even catch that you mixed them up. I was just impressed that you knew where to look to find the accounts!
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  poopsiecakes

  I remember asking my elder dad why it was ok for his followers in the OT to have multiple wives if it wasn't really ok with god (per the NT understanding). The response that it was acceptable in those times never sat well with me...either it's something god thinks is ok or it's not. How can the same deity have multiple beliefs about right and wrong?
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  brotherdan

  Here's how to condone slavery.

  
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  donny

  I believe much of the change you saw between the OT god and NT God was the Hellinization of the Jewish culture that had begun a few hundred years before Jesus arrived. The Middle Eastern gods were angry, jealous and always seemed to be dishing out some form of punishment to their followers.

  The Roman and Greek gods were more laid back and were often fighting among themsleves. As Greek culture became more entwined in the Jewish cuture, The Jewish god became less and less a being with an attitude and slowly became more a more compassionate one.

  Then during the Middle Ages, God again became an arrogant person and through the church many people were killed in the name of heresy and apostasy. Then as the culture became more enlightned and people became more educated, God again became more compassionate to those in the West. Howevery, those in the Middle East still see the bad side of God.
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  brotherdan

  That's an interesting POV donny... Never thought about it like that. There were some badass Greek gods though...
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  snowbird

  That's ok, PSac.

  One fine day, it will all be clear.

  Unshackled, rape and slavery are definitely wrong; there is nothing to show that God condoned such things.

  Regulating and condoning are two different things.

  Syl
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  snowbird

  That wasn't an insult snowbird! I didn't even catch that you mixed them up. I was just impressed that you knew where to look to find the accounts!

  I didn't take it as such.

  I simply love the Bible.

  Does it show?

  Syl
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  PSacramento

  Actually the "hint" of loving and compassionate God is in the OT in many places, it is just over shadowed by the other crap attributed to God.

  Jesus merely brought the REAL YHWH to the forefront and explained things on a first person basis.

  The prophets did wha they could but they were simply men and soemthiems they dropped the ball and othe rtimes the ball wa staken from them, Jesus on the othe rhand made it clear and spoke with Authority.

  There was no need to "Hellenize" YHWH he was always a loving and compassonate God, the scribes and powers-that-be had just put that part in the back burner to rule through fear, intimidation and rules to control the populace.