If God is of wrath, behaviorally is he not the same as the devil?

Question

Religions of the world, teach of a God in one form or another which "dictates" a following, to be obeyed, follow it's rules, or ELSE. In many instances, it, itself, judged and is said to have "killed" many who were "evil," yet the very same doctrines teach of an evil entity (ies - muslim) who does the very same things yet is said to be "against" us. God in heaven according to Jesus (Yezua-hebrew) is a God of love, yet for the first 300 years after he was crucified, many went after destroying his "apostles" and "disciples," succeeding in many cases. Is this what Jesus taught as his doctrines? To kill and torture? No. He taught "love" and "compassion" for enemies, not destruction, yet this is what the "foundations" of christian faith became in 330 a.d. and of the "church" who for centuries set out campaigns to eraticate any opposition to it's own doctrines it proclaimed were of "Jesus Christ." Yezua, or Jesus,
was of his "Father" in heaven. Of LOVE and not "wrath..........."

Answer 1

What you just noted is the fact that the teachings of a religion are not necessarily the practices of the adherents. Yes, Christianity has its own tainted history. But you should judge the truth of the religion on what it teaches, and not on how its adherents had failed to live up to them. Moreover, it is not as though ALL Christians are guilty of what you said. What about those Christians who fall outside of your accusation?

Answer 2

Actually, those are religions implications upon the Divine Nature. Men have this selfish desire to be affirmed, and thus create 'conditions' to be followed, assigning them to whatever deity they worship to create authority, and as a result, feel their particular 'idea' about God is vindicated and righteous.

The God I found in the Mormon church, which is a close semblence to my "Ultimate God", has commandments, and focuses on the 'rewards' rather than the 'wrath'.

Being a religion, Mormonism still has that 'righteous path' stuff, but tones it down to a degree (as an institution...some LDS members are quite into the 'we're right, you're wrong' thing, which contradicts the Articles of Faith).

I used to ask a similar question to yours "If there is a God, then why is it that only Christians can go to Hell?" If one is not a Christian, they can't quality for Hell because they never had a choise. THe Mormon answer is that those who never were exposed to the church can be baptized by proxy, thus allowing the deceased and ignorantt a chance to choose whether to subscribe to Christ's Atonement. To me, this is a very beautiful and loving way to address the whole "Take it or be damned' orientation that is commonly ascribed to the Bible.

I totally agree that God is of LOVE, and anything else ascribed to him is done by mankind. When all is done, only LOVE endures...which indicates in a eschatological sense that GOD is permanent and enduring. The other notion, that of 'wrath' would describe God as limited and thus, not infinite...

Answer 3

If you did something bad when you were really little did you fear a spanking from your Dad? Did it mean he didn't love you. God is our father in heaven. God disciplines the ones he loves to grow them in the way they should go. Bad things do happen to good people. Sometimes it takes dark colors to make a beautiful painting. Following God doesn't mean it will be easy but he does promise to give us the strength to get through the tough times. The disciples were hunted down by the pharisees to stop the teahings of Jesus. They were afraid of loosing their standing in the community. Jesus is the Word of God brought to show us a the way to Heaven. God is black and white in many areas. A sin is a sin, big or small, they all require forgivness and accepting of what Christ did on the cross. The jews of King David's days whiped out many nations that were not godly. You either are for the Lord or against. You can not serve two masters. God is pure and man is not. Satan loves nothing more than to confuse the two in our understanding. Any man who says he is of God and does not love his brother is not of God. There are extremists in all movements of social conformitty. God is the creator of all things on heaven and earth. If he takes my life and I believed in his son,Jesus, then it is to my gain not lose. If I stood against his teachings or moched the death of his son then I have two deaths to fear. I am a carpenter and if I build something and it doesn't work the way I intended after giving it every opportunity to do so can I not take back the parts I made it with t build something useful in its place. God is soverign.

Answer 4

Hi, I understand how it seems that way, "follow it's rules or eles." God is a god of love, compassoin and He is just. He has to be just or people would run around doing whatever they want to to others and some think that is what they are doing. But one day they will answer for all they have done including me. Let's focus on His love. He loves you so much that He allowed His one and only son to die a horrible death to let you live. You won't have to pay for your "wrong doings" if you just beleive Him and receive Him. As for "the rules" He gave us the Word or Bible or teachings, to help us not to condemn us. The more we follow His teachings no matter how hard, in the end it will work out for our good. He said He came to give us life and to give it more abundantly.
Ex. We teach our kids not to run in the road... Why because we dont want them to spread out have fun enjoy all they can? No because we know (but a 2yr. old don't) that vehicles run up and down the road and it could kill them. That's all God knows better than us what's coming down the road. IT'S STILL OUR CHOICE. His "rules" are there to protect us.
We can not work our way to God. We come as we are, telling him we've messed up, that we believe in him. and need His help. Then we start trying to do it His way because we trust that He knows best. Will we be perfect? Does He expect us to be perfect? No He knows we cant. All we have to do is ask Him to forgive us and He will. Then we try again...
He loves you and cares about your hurts and concerns all you have to do is talk to Him.

Answer 5

That is the point of Christianity...it's not about the "rules", it's about the relationship. God does not release his wrath on people who he loves. He releases his "wrath" on Satan and eventually people who hurt the ones he loves.

I am sick of hearing of the violent history of the world. Everybody knows that some "Christians" didn't get it. I find it very ironic that some people claim that religion is responsible for all the violence in the world. Every single major dictatorship and major players in the realm of violence and destruction in the history of the world have been Athiests! Really, look it up! There is not a group in the world that claims a perfect history or perfect members. That is the essence of man and the essense of sin. None of us are perfect. Some people really messed up, others just a little, but all need Christ.

My God is a God of Love. He is also the God of Justice.

Answer 6

Jesus did say, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." (John 15:18-20)

Back when Christianity was still new, prosecutors did set out to eradicate the apostles and disciples of Christ. One of their strongest prosecutors was Saul of Tarsus, who, because of an encounter with Jesus, was converted and became the St. Paul we know of today.

Even today, that is still the case.

The Spanish Inquisition, excommunication, etc. have all been mistakes of the (Catholic) Church and the Church admits that. We are only, after all, imperfect agents who serve a perfect God. The Church admits that we have had bad popes, etc. but that doesn't reflect in any way that God doesn't care.

Yes, the Bible says that God is a God of Love. But nowhere in the Bible is it mentioned that we have to follow Him OR ELSE. That's why God gave us free will. He wanted us to learn to love and obey Him on our own accord. He loves us so much that He's willing to let us act on our own will instead of programming us into robots who blindly worship Him.

Did you know that we are the only creatures capable of loving? Even angels and archangels do not love, They only worship. That's how important our love is to God, that He wants us to give it to Him on our own accord.

Answer 7

You seem to make the mistake of staking Christs entire kingdom on that of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is but a small piece of the puzzle and is not Christianity. Jesus is Christianity.

You are also inaccurate about Jesus' teachings. He DID teach about destruction. The destruction that was going to befall Jerusalem as well as the end times. And it is he that is going to bring it!

Answer 8

The "or else" that you mentioned and the way the Church acted in trying to eradicate non-Christians was unacceptable and is not at all what God wants us to be like. And you pretty much answered you own question in the details so... there you go.. God is of love, though it is completely possible to live in a righteous manner so when God gets angry with us for blatantly choosing not to, it's completely righteous anger. Just like parents who get angry when their child does something damaging to his/herself. The child doesn't see the danger and the parents get angry because they love the child and are frustrated that the child doesn't just trust them, who know much more that they do.

Answer 9

Is a secular judge wrathful when he condemns a criminal to prison? No. He is just.God is the same way when he sentences people. But we are really self-condemned. A criminal is condemned by their own actions, just as we are.

Answer 10

Well you know, If you would just follow the rules of God then Hey, you would have no worries at all