Why did God's personality change so much in the Bible?

Question

OT-mean, vengeful, Egyptian child killing machine
NT- loving, caring???

Is this evidence of different writers of the Bible interjecting their own personal views of God? Wouldn't this nullify it as being an actual testament of 'the man'.

Jean: The proper way to phrase that:
Do you get a kick out of being a super idiot?

You see the word an is used if the word after begins with a vowel or an 'h'. Also a question requires a question mark.

BTW, Thanks, I am super.

Answer 1

God didn't write the bible. Different men did, and it's all their opinions. Testament is the correct term for what they wrote.

Testament - A statement of belief; a credo:

Answer 2

The God of the OT is the same as the God of the NT. Before Christ paid the price for sin, every sin had to be either punished, or forgiven through sacrificing a lamb.
God promised the children of Israel that He would give them the land of Canaan. He would drive out the pagans who were inhabiting that land before them. These pagan tribes were guilty of the most horrific crimes against God, sacrificing their babies by throwing them into the fire for Dagon. Whenever the Amalekites attacked the Israelites, they would come up behind and attack the women, children and cattle. Whenever the Israelites retaliated, the Amalekites would, in a cowardly fashion, place their own women, children and cattle in front. Since God knew they placed absolutely no value on human life, God told the Israelites to "slaughter them utterly" - they would have to cut through that layer of women and children to kill the Amalekite warriors. Besides, leaving offspring of the enemy could be a fatal mistake in the future, because it ensures that you will have enemies for generations to come.
You must also understand, God doesn't see death the same way you and I do. We are afraid of it (especially those who are unsaved). He is not. We must trust Him, even when He asks something difficult.

Answer 3

This is not evidence of different writers, its the same God both in the OT and the NT. Remember Jesus even says in Matthew 24 that his second coming will like in the days of the flood - Remember God destroyed the earth and everyone left only 8. We are in a probationary period of such because of the blood of his son Jesus Christ who died for us. But also, the same God who passed judgment in the OT will do so again when Jesus returns again.

Answer 4

The Old Testament covers a span of about 1,000 years and has a record of God's dealings with man during that time. Most of the time was not a time of carrying out any sort of vengence.

The New Testament covers a span of only about 60 years. The book of Revelation predicts God's wrath on man as never seen before in the Old Testament.

Both show God's patience at times and vengence at times.

Answer 5

" I am the Lord, I change not"-Mal.3:6. With the coming of Jesus Christ came the Age of Grace. In Acts -NT- we see God strike dead 2 individuals for lying to the Holy Spirit-Acts 5:1-11. In the book of Romans-NT- we read,"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"-Ro.6:23. Jesus Himself said "I have not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them"-Matt.5:17. This means that the Son of God is confirming everything found in the Old Testament.Also, in Romans, we read,"And do you think this, O man, you who practise such things, and doing the same, that you will escape God's judgement?"-Ro.2:3. And again from Romans," But in accordance with your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God"-Ro2:5. God has not changed one iota, He is merely displaying His infinite and matchless patience and giving everyone time to be saved.
The word Testament means covenant, so instead of Old and New Testaments it's actually Old and New Covenants. The Old covenant involved the sacrifice of innocent lambs etc that were without spot or blemish as a temporary covering for sin. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ-the spotless Lamb of God who was without sin- was a better offering, was permanent, was once and for all and was a better covenant-Hebrews8:1-10:18. Also, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance"-2Pet.3:9. God is consistent and never changes. Those who lived in the era of the Old Covenant were judged for their sins quicker than those of us that live in the New Covenant era-age of grace- because Christ hadn't yet come and died on the cross for the sins of the world. We can all be thankful that God is so patient and that He doesn't immediately judge us according to what we deserve because there would be very few-if any- of us left. We've been given an opportunity to flee the Day of Wrath to come by coming to the Son of God for cleansing of sin and forgiveness. Take the opportunity or face God's wrath.

Answer 6

Read the OT. The OT shows God putting the law into place and the NT as the fulfillment of the law all through the person of Jesus Christ. God doesn't change, just our views of Him.

Answer 7

I notice that you look for the vengeance, thus you find it. You will also find the same in revelations. The Old Testament does bear witness to the same as the New Testament, and they compliment.

If you wish to understand something you must look at it with an unbiased point of view, which is very hard but not at all impossible.

Answer 8

It's evidence of the personality of the writers of various books, yes. It's also evidence of the evolution of the "idea" of god by various followers over the years.
The OT god starts out as one among many gods, as every culture had their own gods and this one was just "limited" to being the god of the Hebrews. This is borne out in many passages in the bible. As the Hebrews went from being nomadic to establishing cities, and at times gaining military strength, their idea of god also became more "settled," and in their eyes more powerful, until the idea that he was the only real god emerged during the reigns of the kings in Jerusalem.
In the NT, christian ideas of god are shaped by Platonic philosophy (after Plato, the Greek philosopher) more than ancient Hebrew ideas. Since Platonic philosophy was widespread at the time, and had a heavy influence on philosophic thought all over the mediterranean, it's not surprising. The Platonic idea is less of a god that oversees people and their daily activities, and more a god that is a guide to self-examination and ideals of good (the "forms" Plato spoke of).

Of course the bible is a collection of writings by men, and wasn't written by god -- nobody who has studied it and its context in history, even religious historians, believes it is the exact word of god!

Answer 9

It was because of the sin of the jews that God punished them not because of anything that he did, if you really take a wider view of the OT you will see a loving caring God in the stories as well.

Answer 10

God doesn't change. In the OT they had the law to follow. God doesn't kill, He isn't vengeful (hateful) nor is He mean. God allows things to happen. There are consequences in life for the choices we make.

Answer 11

Old testament he was caring. He promised abraham that if he could find just ten holy people in sodum he wouldn't fry it. Abraham didn't find his ten people so it got burnt but thats not the point. There were a multitude of authors for the bible each showing it their own way.