Does the Bible give God a bad name?

Question

Or a bad rep, making people convert to Atheism instead of Deism.

So far, good job to Rabboleth.

Tobykeogh good response, although don't hate God for what man has done to It.

I think Dogma and Runningviolin are side-stepping the issue here?

Answer 1

No. People do.

Answer 2

All any book can do is portray the way a person or group of people relates to God, and how they consider God to be. Some will be good, some bad, and others a little bit of each. Says more about the person (or people) than about God.

Answer 3

depends on a persons interpretation. One person can take a passage and have a very meaningful experience from it and another could take it the other way. It is the responsibility of the reader to pray and seek guidance in the interpretations of what they are reading. A person will learn more and gain better understanding if they pray first and ask for God's help in understanding what they are reading.

Answer 4

Depends which one you're talking about. The Old Testament focuses more on the Fire and Brimstone, fear "The Lord Your God" kind of stuff. The New Testament is more about the forgiveness and kind nature of God. However, if one adheres to the Bible's own logic, then God is not given a bad name.

Answer 5

I am going to tell you some things about my father that will make him look bad. He regularly left my mother to fend for herself. I was once horrified to hear that he deliberately killed a helpless animal. Not only that, but he hit me (often). Here’s the information that’s missing: The reason he left my mom during the day was to work to earn money to take care of her and their children. He killed the animal because it had been run over by a car and was suffering. He regularly chastened me because he loved me enough to teach me right from wrong (I was a brat). Portions of the Bible that "make God look bad" merely reveal that we lack understanding. I never once questioned my dad’s integrity, because I trusted him (see Mark 10:15).

Answer 6

The Biblical picture of God can hardly be reconciled with the Christian teaching of 'God is love', e.g.,

**All forms of life destroyed because of one imperfect species - Genesis 6:5,7, 7:23.
**Human sacrifice commanded by God - Leviticus 27:28,29.
**God agrees that Jephthah sacrifices his daughter as a thanksgiving - Judges 11:29-40.
**God sends ten plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh will not release the Hebrews, but he deliberately hardens Pharaoh's heart so he refuses to release the Hebrews making the plagues necessary in the first place - God admits that this is so he can perform 'his wonders' (Exodus 11:9), i.e., wholesale mass slaughter of life in Egypt - Exodus 7:3-4,13-14, 10:1,20.
**God sanctions slavery and a man selling his daughter - Exodus 21:2- 6,7.
**Death demanded for heresy - Deuteronomy 13:1,2,5,14,15.
**God says that if a man strikes 'his slave', male or female, and they do not die immediately, the man shall not be punished because 'the slave is his money (i.e., property)' - Exodus 21:20-21.
**God orders people to slaughter their own relatives because they rejected Moses' religion; 3000 killed. Moses tells the killers that **God would bless them for doing this by making them ordained for his service - Exodus 32:27-29.
**A person to kill their own family for a difference of religion - Deuteronomy 13:6-10.
**God demands death for anyone not circumcised - Genesis 17:9-14.
**God demands the sick are to be driven out of the community - Numbers 5:1-4.
**God burns people to death for complaining - Numbers 11:1.
**God kills 24,000 people by a plague because one of them brought a Midianite woman to his tent - Numbers 25:6-9.
**The curses of God upon the Hebrews (e.g. eating their own children) - Leviticus 26:14-39, Deuteronomy 28:15-68.


The unfortunate fact is that people go to church and swear blind faith without truly knowing the nature of the God in the Bible. So the answer to your question, is YES! HE'S A REAL SOB!

Answer 7

Considering that the Bible is God's Spoken word it really should not, unless the truth is that painful to those who choose not to be saved by His Word.
I think it would depend on the person and where they are in life and where they stand spiritually.

Answer 8

The version of god that arose from the mid-east in Judaism, Christianity and Islam give the divine a bad name.

Answer 9

Yes

Answer 10

when i was younger i read the bible. and that's when i really started hating christianity. the bible talks about how its ok to own slaves and murder people, and that you should kill your children if they disobey you and that you should make your wife leave the home when she's menstruating. it's an awful book. the only reason people are ok with it is because they haven't actually read it., they've only heard select sentences like "love thy neighbor".

Answer 11

No, I think Christians are more the ones who give Him a bad name.