Ep.948: Why Do Some Think God is a Monster?
Squaring extreme Old Testament harshness with God's true character
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Exodus 20:5-6
What would you think of a powerful leader who sanctions rape, pillaging, the destruction of thousands of lives for the wrong doings of one, racism and genocide? No matter who we are, if we have a conscience in any way tuned to the sanctity of human life, we would have to label them a monster – a maniacal psychopathic egotist. Sadly, there are many who read certain parts of the Bible and handily conclude that the God of the Bible – the Creator of all things - is such a being. They call Him out for the horrible and harsh things written in the Old Testament and boldly claim that a God who presides over those things is no god at all – He is instead a monster. Now look – there are terrible things written in the Old Testament, but do they point to a heartless dictator or is there another explanation?
To set things in order right from the start I need to tell you I am unequivocally convinced that God is not only NOT a monster, but on the contrary, He is a just, benevolent, wise, loving and thoughtful Creator. Further, I get personally frustrated by those who make these monstrous claims because I truly believe their claims are based on cherry picking Scriptures from very specific contexts and parading those verses around as fact and proof of God’s character – or lack thereof. I see this treatment of the Bible and of God as rash, incomplete and foolish, and therefore it becomes the basis for an entirely unfair assessment of the character of God. We don’t want to be unfair, do we?
Think about it – the Bible covers thousands of years of history from the dawn of mankind all the way through the few generations that followed the time of Jesus. Have any of those who would call God a monster ever questioned why this lengthy history was covered and why such a diverse set of experiences, both extremely positive and negative, were written down? You see, the answer to that question of “why” actually holds the answer to the accusations that God is a monster.
The bottom line is this: God from the start had (and still has) a plan. It is a plan founded in justice and includes the fully fair treatment of every man woman and child who ever lived. Did you get that? It includes the fully fair treatment of every man woman and child who ever lived. To understand this plan in the context of some of the horrible things written in the Bible people complain about is doable but certainly not easy. You cannot simply explain 4,000 years of history in five minutes and without asking the key questions – what does God want from all of this evil and why would He oversee things like one nation conquering another or strict laws that forbid religious freedom?
This is why you really need to listen to our December 12, 2016 podcast, “Why Do Some Think God is a Monster?” This broadcast step-by-step explains the “why” of things…Why did God let evil in? Why did God let Satan rule? Why does God use evil as a tool? Even better, it explains the “where…“ Where is God leading us through all of this evil? What will be the end result? Check it out – it may help to shed important light in a world filled with the darkness of misunderstanding.
Miss you Guys. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
I’m sorry, but rather than go through these extreme mental gymnastics to argue that what we read in the Old Testament isn’t what we actually read, how about doing something more difficult and simply recognize that these bloodsoaked parables were written by patriarchal figures thousands of years ago to justify their slaughter of other peoples, and dissavow them? I think that would actually put you much closer to God, who must be quite repulsed by this slander of His name.
We appreciate your taking the time to comment. We see if a little differently but definitely agree that God has to be repulsed at much of what mankind has done. Lord bless, Chrisian Questions
If you saw someone about to burn to death and you didn’t do anything about it, you would be considered a monster and rightfully so. In the same way, If you had medication to stop people from dying in agony and didn’t give it, you would have to be some heartless monster. Hitler was considered a monster and rightfully so. He did however prove himself better than God for a while as for the most part he did let people die. God carries out His monstrosity in the hereafter as well as on this earth.. He created a hell. He created my hell on earth. My grandma burned to death when I was three. My brother died of cancer when he was a baby, my mum, dad,stepbrother and stepfather all died with cancer too. When we were told that my husband David was terminally ill, having Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone, lung, bone and liver cancer of which they said lung cancer was the main killer, I became a 100 per cent convinced that if there is anything out there, it is an evil, callous, cruel monster. I want to end my life desperately but the “God of Love” has prepared a place worse than any death camp for people who don’t love and trust him. I hate him but the bastard has my husband and others that I love. Imagine the Jews being horrendously treated and killed being ordered to love Hitler. Yet God is worse and people praise Him and say He is good and Pastors and Vicars and Priests and such like have a very comfortable nice big house and as we know many are millionaires.
Thank you for taking the time to write and express your story so eloquently. We hope you have a chance to listen to this podcast episode and follow along with the written transcript, CQ Rewind, which lists every Scripture quoted and much of the commentary between Rick and Jonathan that explains why we see the enemy as Satan, not God, and that God will soon destroy all evil. Please also refer to Episode #1052 – “Is it God’s Fault We Have Evil in This World?” We read your comment on air and directly addressed your valid concerns. We also discussed on a recent Facebook Live event found here: https://youtu.be/XoR8WUx6s0w– Christian Questions
If you believe the text of Revelation 14, you are lying to say that God will destroy evil. he immortalizes it by having you tortured day and night without rest. God infinitely multiplied your sin by his ego, and decides that if you don’t choose the religion founded by Augustine and Constantine, he’ll harden your heart, delude you, force you to keep sinning, and torture you forever. Everyone else will spend eternity mindlessly chanting worship songs in a stadium of clouds and fire. This is what the Bible tells us. Eternal punishment requires sin to be made eternal, and just as God made Adam’s sin make the rest of us forced to be sinners, but blames us for not resisting his will (Romans 9:20), so does God make sinners in hell sin forever. The Bible says this. God will never vanquish sin. He will perpetuate it for all eternity.
Well, all of this would be devastating and pointless…if only the Bible taught eternal torture. The biblical hell is NOT an eternal place of torment. Hell simply means the grave, death, a ceasing of existence while we await our resurrection in God’s kingdom. We have multiple, in-depth Bible studies on every scripture that could even remotely imply any type of eternal torment. Search “hell” here on our website find these important studies. We hope you have the time to listen to this podcast episode you have commented on. It is important to understand how the plan of God works. There are many who think (without scriptural backing) that when a person dies, they either go to heaven or go to a burning place of eternal torture, depending on what their status was at the time of death. Some think that regardless of how a person lived their life, there is a loophole somewhere that says if at the very last second, they announce a belief in Jesus as their savior that they get a free ticket into heaven. Conversely, the billions and billions of people who have lived before the time of Jesus (including all of those faithful friends of God in the Old Testament discussed in Hebrews 11), or who have never heard his name, or upon hearing of it did not believe it, or were too handicapped or too young to comprehend it – poof! They somehow deserve to be tortured eternally with no hope of rehabilitation or chance for learning and acceptance. And this is from a God of love we are to revere and respect? We are happy and relieved to tell you this is NOT scriptural and is NOT the plan of God. – Christian Questions
god may not be a monster, but god is monstrous. That’s why he needs the gentle Jesus to keep working the rubes and marks. Demon est Deus inversus – you’ve all been tricked.
Hi, Mr. E., As you would expect, we respectfully disagree. Hopefully you have had the opportunity to hear the podcast. We always welcome an honest discussion about the Bible. – Christian Questions
I don’t find God to be monstrous. I find the god that people made up monstrous because people are monstrous. The Bible, Quran, Torah, Tao Te Ching…These are all books written by men who didn’t know where the sun went at night, and usually men in positions of power seeking to retain it.
Wow, this talk is amazing! It helped me to understand the ramifications of this fallen world and answer some questions I’ve had while working my way through the Bible. Even those who claim not to believe in God, blame Him for everything. To me, this demonstrates that they know His power (as the Bible states) but aren’t willing to look any further to understand why. I think it’s important for us to try and understand the why’s as best as we can, with God’s light shining on our search. In the end, God sees things with an eternal frame of reference and most people stop at what they see in their earthly frame of reference.
So in other words, “it’s ok when God does it”
Hopefully you have had a chance to listen to the episode to better understand the bigger picture as to why the permission of evil. We long for God’s promised future kingdom. – Christian Questions