I hear that Richard Dawkins also portrays God as a jealous maniac, and a bunch more insults besides. I suppose I can understand the claim, if you focus on a small (but I agree significant) aspect of the Old Testament to the exclusion of all else. If you read the whole thing, the big picture is more interesting and appealing.
(Note, as one complication, I don't believe that any American pro-war or pro-gun factions embody the essense of the religion of the Bible, although some critics try to equate the two.)
First, the religion of the Bible is in a unique position compared to all other world religions, in a number of ways, the most important of which is the death of Jesus Christ—an entirely unexpected event according to what humanly-devised religions would dream up.
Second, God as depicted in the Bible in Old Testament times is notably different from the contemporary local religions in that:
He imposed extensive moral standards, which was directly connected with the initial demise of the Canaanites, and the later demise of Israel itself.
Worship was centred on morality rather than sexual rites. This apparently made the people of ancient Israel strongly attracted to the surrounding religions—hardly a winning formula for a jealous maniac god or his priests, I would think.
Third, the Bible is not what you would get from a maniac god or the followers of an imaginary god. It speaks of a meticulous and dedicated God carefully working out a grand plan over long time periods (much longer than a human lifetime; much greater than the capabilities of any human-originated endeavour).
I hear that Richard Dawkins also portrays God as a jealous maniac, and a bunch more insults besides. I suppose I can understand the claim, if you focus on a small (but I agree significant) aspect of the Old Testament to the exclusion of all else. If you read the whole thing, the big picture is more interesting and appealing.
(Note, as one complication, I don't believe that any American pro-war or pro-gun factions embody the essense of the religion of the Bible, although some critics try to equate the two.)
First, the religion of the Bible is in a unique position compared to all other world religions, in a number of ways, the most important of which is the death of Jesus Christ—an entirely unexpected event according to what humanly-devised religions would dream up.
Second, God as depicted in the Bible in Old Testament times is notably different from the contemporary local religions in that:
Third, the Bible is not what you would get from a maniac god or the followers of an imaginary god. It speaks of a meticulous and dedicated God carefully working out a grand plan over long time periods (much longer than a human lifetime; much greater than the capabilities of any human-originated endeavour).