Christians: Honest question?

Question

The OT describes God as emotional, angry, judmental, jealous...basically to be feared.

The NT describes God as loving, caring, and forgiving.

From what I've been told, the explanation is usually that Jesus's message was to "set the record straight" and define things as they really are.

So my question is, why would Christians quote the Old Testament as accurate if the coming of Christ makes the claims inaccurate?

To those who would answer: "Jesus said something along the lines of I have not come to challenge old law but to fulfill it.", that would mean that his message enhances OT instead of contradicting it...which would mean God is vengeful, angry, jealous, etc. and not loving, forgiving, etc.

Verbalis - I like your answer...but I would like a Christian answer that addresses this rather than ignoring it.

Elder Greg - Yes that was helpful.

Answer 1

I've always looked on it as a kind of marketing shift. During the OT times, the focus was on winning new customers, so it was, "My GOD is a fearful GOD, so you better join up, or else..."
During the NT times these days at least, it is, "My GOD is a loving, forgiving GOD, so it makes sense to stay on in this religion". You'll find that during the Middle Ages, GOD was still portrayed as a GOD to be feared, the loving, caring image is something from the last 2 centuries, after the customer base has already been built.

Answer 2

Well, that's a mess of confused statements there. I would suggest in the future you find the scriptures that back up your claims so we can at least tell if you're misinterpreting them or what.
First statement, I'll agree God can be emotional, angry, judgemntal, and jealous. He has feelings, He gets angry, He is the ultimate Judge, and He says He is a jealous God. These are characteristics of His personality and did not change at all from the Old to New Testaments. He is still like that.
God is loving, caring, and forgiving. He was in the Old Testament also. This also is characteristic of His personality and always has been.
"From what you've been told....." There you go, you can't accept statements from anyone as true unless you back them up with scripture. People say anything and speak as though they know what they're talking about, but with no references from the Holy Bible they have no credibility.
The coming of Christ did not do away with the old, He fulfilled the old....the prophesies of the Old Testament. He is the last blood sacrifice needed for the sins of mankind. The Old Testament paints a picture of Christ's coming, His death, His burial, His ressurection, His ascention into Heaven, His return, His reign over all. All the Patriarchs, the stories, the history of Israel, etc. provide little glimpses of Christ and the future. Then there are the prophesies which are specific to Christ. All these things were fulfilled by Christ's life in the New Testament. It's really not any more difficult than that.
Nothing in the O.T. is inaccurate, nor the new. You can't take things out of context, and you can't understand spiritual things without the Holy Spirit. Even with the Holy Spirit, sometimes it's difficult, but prayer and persistance will open up the true meaning of scriptures you can't understand or seem to be contrary. Any time you see a contradiction, there is something you are missing in the meaning or context. God does not contradict Himself, but people do misinterpret Him all the time....especially on Yahoo Answers.
Now, that's an honest answer and I hope it helps. I'm sure you'll get a mess of silliness and I pray you know the difference. God bless you for an honest question.

Answer 3

Jesus never said that the OT claims were inaccurate. As a matter of fact, Jesus said that He came to fulfill scripture and that not one word of scripture would be removed.

God is God. Its important to read the OT in context of the NT, understanding that the entire Bible is about God's redemption of mankind. At the same time, we must also read understanding the holiness of God and our place before a Holy God.

OT and NT God is emotional. He becomes angry in both (and so does Jesus, by the way - anger is not necessarily sin). He is jealous (once again, jealousy is not necessarily sin). And God can be judgemental - He sits in judgement over His creation (both in the OT and NT).

In the OT, He is forgiving. He forgives His people time and time and time again. There are so many amazing OT passages about God's desperation in loving us.

In the end, Jesus came to become God's greatest gift of all - eternal forgiveness. God never changes - He is always a forgiving and loving God. Its His nature.

Answer 4

The old testiment mentions the grace of loving kindness of God three times as much as the new testiment. Try reading Revalation and see how wrathful God can be in the New testiment. Try reading any of the epistles and see how much Paul talks about the wrath of God on those who don't believe. Try taking a closer look at Yahshua and see how intolerant and downright angry he could become with hypocrites and the false religeous leaders.

Don't blame the Sunday go to meeting christians for their veiws they are only parroting what they have been spoon fed but on the other hand don't lump us all into the same pot. Some of us actually read our scripture and know that The God of the Old testiment is loving and forgiving and caring and that the God of the new testiment can be wrathful Jealous Judgemental and basically to be feared.

Some news for you.. Same God. Yahshua is the God of the Old testiment as well as the new.

Answer 5

There is no difference in God - OT or New. The Old Testament displays more of the Justice of God. Whereas the New Testament focuses on God's mercy as provided by Christ taking our sin and punishment. God must be perfectly and precisely just. But God is also loving and merciful. However justice cannot be short circuited by mercy. So the just retribution of God's anger was taken out on Christ so that the love and mercy of God could come upon those who run to Christ for mercy and righteousness. Remember it was that "vengeful" God that sent his beloved Son to die in our place.

Answer 6

There is love in the OT. What changed between the OT and the NT was Jesus. It was prophesied throughout the OT that a messiah would come to save the people. God is so holy and pure that he cannot look on sin, so in the OT people had to give sacrifices and burnt offerings to cover their sins. It didn't take the sin away, but it restored the relationship with God. (Covering the sin would be like covering a chair with a blanket. You know it's still a chair, but it is covered from view)

When Jesus came and died on the cross and rose from the grave, His blood atonement took away our sin. There wasn't anymore need for blood sacrifices and burnt offerings, because he took care of it all on the cross. The sin was not covered, it was taken away. We still have to ask for forgiveness for our sins when we sin. But it means that once we do, it is gone, God remembers the sin no more. Jesus bridged the gap between man and God. God is still the same God, He is love. He is also a jealous God. All he ever asked of us was to love, believe and trust Him.

Answer 7

There is no contradiction in the messages. The OT was about punishment for not listening and blessing for listening. The NT was about how to listen, how to live according to the OT's laws and the reward for doing so.

People were under the impression that if noone knew about their sin, that there would be nothing wrong with them participating in stoning someone. Jesus made it known that he knows even your deepest darkest secrets. And if you are a sinner, you have no right to judge others for their sin according to the OT punishments. He fulfilled the OT by becoming the only one worthy to deal out punishment for sin or forgive it. His message in the NT is that simple.

Jesus comes to punish sin. Jesus comes to build a Kingdom. Jesus comes to show his love for obediance. Jesus is not only love, but he is also retribution.

Answer 8

Just exactly which translation of the OT are you reading?

I've read several. None describe God as emotional, angry or judgmental.

I'll give you jealous. Because he does say 'for I am a jealous God.' However, since I have read scripture and I understand it - he says this for we feeble people to understand. Not because HE actually feels jealous.

Generally speaking you get this "God is mean in the OT and God is loving in the NT so God has changed" business from people who have never actually READ scripture.

They just have a kind of general idea of the stories. Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses and that's it. They know a lot more about Jesus.

When I read the OT, I see God as rich in mercy, love and kindness. The people he chose as his own regularly forgot about him. Cast him aside. Fell away entirely. But in their dark moments when they remembered stories of his divine help, they called out to him and he answered.

Over and over and over again.

Answer 9

I know that God has the sovereign right to do whatever please Him (Ps. 115:3).

The Tanakh was given so that man would know what was right and what was wrong. We are not free to break the Mosaic Law. The Law is still a standard. It reveals that we cannot measure up to God's standard. The only way I can fulfill the Law is by accepting the only one who could fulfill it --Jesus Christ.

The Jews were so blinded by the Law (+ books) so much that they did not recognize the Law Giver, who came to fulfill the Law. If the Jewish rulers had truly understood the types (biblical objects, persons, and events that illustrate what is to come), and prophecies of the Tanakh books, they would have recognized the Christ early in His ministry, and accepted Him as their Messiah.

By making the statement "I have come to fulfill the law" Jesus placed His seal of authenticity on the Tanakh. Jesus is the only Man who kept the whole law of God from the moment of birth, never breaking the least commandment, not "one jot or one tittle."

For who ever keeps the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). In other words, there is only one righteousness that is worthy of the kingdom of heaven and that is the righteousness of Jesus Christ who "is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.... For with the heart one believes unto righteousness (Rom. 10:4, 9, 10).

Answer 10

By supplying Jesus Christ His only Son to die for our sins, which is what God was so angry about, He Himself provided the salvation we needed so badly. The OT is valuable in that it shows us what sin is, and predicts the arrival of the solution, Jesus. It goes hand in hand with the NT perfectly.

You don't think God has a right to bring wrath on his creations when they disobey? The creator controls the created if He wants to, and God could have made us all perfect. But how could we have chosen to love Him if we were robots? It was worth us choosing evil, for us to be able to choose love for Him. I pray He gives you understanding.

http://www.billygraham.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp

Answer 11

First, the Old Testament contains a lot of prophecy that was fulfilled when Christ came. Second when you read the OT read it and look for Christ in all passages. It is very symbolic and I think you should read it that way. Some Christians take all the OT literal, some symbolic, some both. Personally I think it is both literal and symolic.
EX: Adam and Eve.
Can be interpreted as Adam to represent Man
and Eve to represent the Church and also as actual accounts of real people. Or one or the other.