The Narrow Path Ministries

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

I came across this quote a day or so ago.

Is there a reasonably short reply to this statement? As short as this quote itself?

Just curious.

TK

TK wrote:

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

I came across this quote a day or so ago.

Is there a reasonably short reply to this statement? As short as this quote itself?

Just curious.

TK

I can think of a few brief replies I might make... depending on the attitude of the person I'm in dialogue with

1. You say the God of the OT is ARGUABLY the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. OK. Make the argument, passage by passage. Let's talk.

2. Have you actually read the Old Testament?

3. Do you think the Bible approves of everything that it records?

4. But the God of the Old Testament is the one who sent Jesus.

5. Are you in the habit of judging a narrative without reading its ending?

Having read Dawkins "The God Delusion" very carefully, his support for this statement is based on very poor skills in the area of biblical interpretation (to be expected). His section on the OT (chapter 7, pages 268-283) just picks out some of the worst events in the story (Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham lying about Sarah, the near sacrifice of Isaac, Jephthah's daughter, rape in the book of Judges, the Golden Calf episode, Holy War, etc and ASSUMES that all of them were endorsed by God (as opposed to just be a record of sinful humanity). At least a few of these are just that (records of sin in history). Most of the rest just demonstrate Dawkins confusion over the fact that God, the Creator of everything, has the right to punish rebels. He doesn't seem aware that jealousy is sometimes appropriate, that justice/judgment is sometimes longed-for, and that there is such a thing as right and wrong.

Dawkins' quote reminds me of some of the stuff my ex-wife might say about me—and with as much validity...perhaps for the same reasons?

I really wish Dawkins would throw off restraint and tell us what he really feels about God.

I think my one-liner is "Dawkins obviously has an agenda."

Dawkins and his ilk are the Westboro Baptist of the scientific community. He misrepresents his vitriol as objective critique of Christianity and gets away with it because of his association with "Science!" "Any rational person would see faith this way." That is not the necessary logical conclusion of agnosticism (though it might with atheism.) It demonstrates that Dawkins has an agenda hidden behind the veil of supposed "Science!" objectivity.

I might point out the irony of ending that run-on sentence with the word "bully."

Ha ha-- good one Jason!