A Vengeful God

Recently, someone asked me why the God of the Old Testament was so violent and went around smiting people and all sorts of stuff.  It's not the first time I've heard that question.  And, more than once, it's passed from my lips, too.  But, I've been reading Brian McLaren's new book, "A New Kind of Christianity" and I found something interesting.  Part of it, I'd already come up with on my own, but McLaren fleshed it out and added a concept I hadn't thought of.  My idea was that the wrathful God of the Old Testament was what the people of that time could accept.  As religious thought and language progressed, a different picture of God emerged.  One of the loving Father that Jesus taught about.  What McLaren proposes that I hadn't seen before is that this progression is evident in the scripture if you're willing to look for it.

Before I get into this, I want to relate something I picked on in McLaren's writing.  First, one must understand that McLaren is a controversial figure in religious circles right now, due his involvement in the emergent conversation and his post-modern take on the Christianity (to explain, we say a lot of the same things).  So, much of what he writes is in the form of an apolgetic (defense of his view).  Second, from things I've read, I believe his early religious background is that of a fundamental, Calvinist bent.  Which colors his slant on many things.  That said, on with the show.

I think God revelation of himself doesn't so much change as our perception of that revelation evolves with our growth of understanding.  Although, he does tell Moses in Exodus that he revealed himself to Abraham and the other Patriarchs as God Almighty (Elohim), but not as The Lord (Adonai).  In the earliest parts of the Bible,  God is First among many.  Later, He is the only one, the lesser gods being shown to be pale shadows of Him.    In those same early passages, God seems tribal.  He favors the Jews over eveyone else.  Later, that changes and I like the way McLaren puts it.  "Choseness, we realize, does not give one people privileges over others as God's favorites, but rather responsibilities on behalf of others as God's servants and as channels of blessing."  God chose the Israelites, and later through Jesus, Christians to be his people, not to set them over others, but to show His love to everyone else in the world.  Pretty heavy stuff.  As we read more, God's presence seems to change with our understanding of the world around us.  Early on, God doesn't seem to be involved all the time but steps in when things get out of hand.  Later, especially in Matthew, it seems like God is everywhere with his Hand in everything.  Later, that view moderates in Paul's writings, as expressed in Romans 8:28, "In all things, God works for good".  Finally, there's God's character.  In the Old Testament, especially early on, God seems violent, callous, retaliatory and just plain mean.  As things progress, he morphs into a gentle, caring being who's concerned for the entire world.  And, that's the way we see Him today. 

As I said earlier, I don't think God has changed at all.  Our perception of him has evolved with our understanding of ourselves and our use of language.  It's vital to remember whenever we try to talk about God, words fail.  And, they always will, because as Rob Bell said "The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God."