Fellow Christians: What do you do...?

Question

when your understanding of God in your heart is at times inconsistant with how God is portrayed in parts of The Bible?

I know some of you will be offended I'm even asking such a question. I'm hope I'm not the only one who strugges with this.

For example, in my heart, God is loving and forgiving (prodigal son story comes to mind). Yet God is not always portayed in this light in many parts of The Bible. Because of this, I have always struggled with Christianity (I have not struggled with my commitment to God.)

Answer 1

I'm not surprised that this mystifies you at times. It takes a lot of studying of the Bible to clarify what God does and means for us to understand. First of all, think of Him as a loving father. I hope, if your father has been a good one, he hasn't always liked what you did. As God has given us a choice of what to do, and does not interfere with our decisions, He did have some frustration with the behavior of the Jews constantly losing faith in Moses, while Moses did his best to keep them obeying God's word. God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, which Abraham did not question, but then God did not let that happen. Sort of like a run-up to what he would do to His son.

That's the hardest thing for most people to accept - why would God, who could do anything, actually send his son in the form of one of us, feeling pain and I'm sure feelings of much concern and kindness and closeness, and then set it all up that Jesus would be put to death. What did He ever do?

This is the fulfillment of a need God knew could only save us all; those who came before, those there at the time, and those of us to come. Jesus, as He was dying, felt all the pain of all of our sins, (imagine that!) and once you can grasp that truth, you no longer have many, if any, questions of anything that happened.

This is a higher power, for want of a better phrase, that not only raised that son, as He after all didn't want to lose his very self, and then sent a Holy Spirit as an intercessor to act as a means of taking our prayers to God, to Jesus, and although my friends don't always agree with me, I think it becomes somewhat a kind of conscience, to clarify my prayers, perhaps from God as an answer, and I can promise you, you needn't worry, everyone has similar doubts, but if you don't have any doubt that your beliefs are right - and when you don't hesitate to share with others, it will probably be very fruitful for you, as God sees these things, and He'll answer you in His way.

A Fellow Christian.

Answer 2

You are not alone Colin. There are things you will read in the Bible that will not seem right. Trust what is in your heart. Until you have surrendered to God and give him the benefit of the doubt, your faith will falter. If you base your relationship on what man has written, you run the risk of being turned away because of inconsistencies. There are many scriptures of Gnostic writings and the Book Of Urantia that confirm that faith in God is well founded. Reading the bible and studying the meaning of the words is not a poor idea. There are different levels of Knowledge and as you seek answers you will find that questions become satisfied and your faith will become stronger. Decide what is Christianity. It is not the Bible of the Christians. It is not what others decide is right for you. Your relationship with God is your own. Christianity was built around the following of a teacher who cross over the line and questioned the temple traditions and words. Having read and listened to many teachers, I find the wisdom in the words of Jesus to be truth that passes the test of time. He did teach that we are all like the prodigal son and when we realize that after going out and making errors we can be forgiven by a Father God who's Love is unconditional. If you give up on Christianity because you don't agree with some things, don't let that stop you from being a believer in Christ. If you do, then there will be more things that pull you further and further away and it may be hard to come back. Look for positive reinforcement, not negative ones.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 3

Very Good question, one most people aren't willing to tackle head on.

I would argue that the Bible presents a "progressive revelation" of God, meaning an understanding that gets refined over time as people contribute new and better insights. So it's never a perfect picture (until we get to Jesus), because people are always trying to figure out who God is.

So for example, you see Moses encountering God on the mountain: "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7)

But then much later you see Jonah echoing the same words, but notice what is missing:
"He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." (Jonah 4:11)

The Israelites wanted a God who would bless the righteous (them) and punish the wicked (everyone else). But they got a God who forgives even their enemies.

Just an example, but it's the way I (and many others) interpret the Bible.

Peace to you.

Answer 4

I think God was very vengeful in the OT. But the sins of the people back then at the time were horrific as well, to mention mostly Manasseh who took part in child sacrifice. Maybe He was portrayed differently in the OT because of the severity of the sins. The OT did not have a Saviour to take the burden of sin. Maybe God had to do deal with sin differently without His Son?

I struggle with this too. I live by the rule that God knows more than I do, and that He could have a design for the world that I wouldn't understand. But I trust Him, and take the good with the bad, the forgiving with the judgmental because He is our God. If you want to confirm the loving, forgiving God that you know, please read "The Signature of Jesus" by Brennan Manning. Very good book!

Answer 5

There is so much to learn in the Bible. The more you read it and study it; the more you will understand. Sometimes I have a few questions written down that I want answers to. I ask other Christians and try to find out in the Bible. Then, while I am just reading; all of a sudden, when I least expect it...there is the answer I had been looking for. I have found two answers like that in the last few months. I felt so good when it was right before my eyes.
I pick a group of books of the Bible to read before going on to another book of the Bible. Some books are together and very small; so I will read them together.
I found the two answers lately that I was looking for in the book of Romans.

Don't be discouraged; things will become clearer to you as you study and learn more and more. When you find something that clears things up for you; it will make you so happy that you stuck with it. It will encourage you to keep reading. There is so much in the Bible that it takes a lot of time to understand some of it. Things will start falling into place. It gets so interesting that it's hard to put it down.

One thing that helped me a lot. I had a Living Bible when I was young and later I bought a King James version. I have gone back to the Living Bible for most of my reading because it is much easier to understand. It it also good sometimes to compare the different versions to see what they say.
As you read you will understand God more and more and things will become clear to you and you will grow closer and closer to Him in your Heart.
God Bless You.

Answer 6

I wonder what parts of the bible specifically you are referring to?

I might have an idea - at least for myself - I struggled with God ordering the Israelites to kill off entire cultures.

So I read about it and researched the question. The bible teaches that God is longsuffering - he has extreme patience, but there comes a time when his patience runs out. The cultures that he put an end to were idolatrous, murderous, they burned their own infant children in a fire to their gods. They had become a malignant cancer on the earth and since God sees everything from the perspective of eternity - he alone could determine that these cultures were without hope and would only bring misery upon the earth and upon the children born into them.

That is why he decided to end it.

If you had a specific reference in mind, I would like to see it.

Answer 7

Yes we all struggle with things..... Yes , God does seem harsh at times......... but, in the Old Testament, God is dealing with a world that has gone completely against all things right and good....... they played around with what He created, taking it from pure to well, evil......I do NOT have all the answers you seek, nor does anyone else... Gods way is far above our own..... there is NO way we will ever understand all that He has done or will do......... God is just, and fair, many I know , do not see Him as such, but think about it... read the Bible slowly and with prayer, remembering when and where and for whom each part was written...... I know the whole Bible is for us all NOW, to edify, but, the OLD Testament was written BEFORE Jesus' work on the cross.....sorry, this is the best I can do here......... God bless

Answer 8

Hello,
It takes courage to ask this kind of question...especially here. In answer to it, we must remember God's first and foremost attribute is love. (1 John 4:8) With that in mind, when we read of accounts that seem like God is un-loving or un-just, instead of meditating on it in a negative way, try to figure out why God did what He did. There MUST be a reason for it because we know that God is a just God.

Deuteronomy 32:4- "The Rock, perfect is his activity, For all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; Righteous and upright is he."

God has an abundance of loving-kindness, but it only goes just so far. When you read accounts of bloodshed, most times God has given plenty of chances to discontinue whatever badness is being done and worship Him. When their chances run out, lives are lost. Today, of course, He takes into consideration that we're imperfect, BUT if we continue doing wrong things ON PURPOSE, how can we expect Him to forgive us?

The problem with "mainstream Christianity" is that they say one thing, but do another. Examining what the Bible REALLY teaches, and then acting in accord with what you learn, is how you'll find true happiness and satisfaction.

Hope I've helped.

Rachel B

Answer 9

You always go with what's in your heart. The Bible has too many inconsistencies to count and they are written and rewritten so many times by "man" that you can't believe the whole of it.
Search for a deeper spirituality instead of the dogma of the bible and churches. Your already on the right path. God is pulling you nearer as we speak.
I agree, God is all loving, all perfect. If he is that, then how could he ever be as ruthless as the Bible portrays?

Answer 10

In the Old testament the only followers of God was Israel. I think that the story's of the Old Testament were to show future generations of the loyalty that God has for his followers and the respect that we should have for his wrath. God is a loving God. He defended his people and kept them protected. Also remember that this was not the time of Grace that God has granted to us through Jesus Christ. We can now have hope for the lost where the Jews knew that God was not for the Gentiles. Sometimes it is impossible to understand the mind of God, but to trust him. We are now coming to the end of the age of grace, and these things will repeat themselves on a larger scale. We now more than ever must have more faith in Gods protection.