It is unsettling how often we can look at the God of the Bible and see that God is not very good at all.
That God seems to relish in killing off entire nations or punishing individuals by some slow, torturous means like stoning.
Even the New Testament God would offer a human sacrifice (his own son) to save people from his own condemnation!
Are these the hallmarks of a good God?
Sorry, but I don't think so.
I'm going to go with a lot of "I don't know"s when it comes to religious matters. I am very distrustful of religious people. Sorting out what to keep from my religious past is challenging. It is very discouraging to think that it has all been a lie.
Was there any truth in it?
Is there anything worth keeping?
Here's my answer -- I don't know.
I am trying to find answers.
But I am changing the first question from -- Was there any truth in it? to -- Was there any good in it?
If I do that, I can tell you the answer to the second question is -- Yes! There is much worth keeping.
And there is much worth studying further.
I think Jesus is worth studying and following. I think he taught some good stuff. I am not greatly concerned that you follow his teachings, although I do believe that many could benefit from doing the things he taught. I don't believe that choosing to follow him will determine if you go to heaven or hell. I don't even know if the heaven and hell of my religious upbringing exists.
For now, I'm filing it under "I don't know," but I strongly doubt its existence.
God is Good
But not that God.
For what it's worth...
I actually believe that God is Good.
I believe that God loves you (and me, too).
And even if I'm wrong, at least it makes a good bumper sticker.*
John
*It was a God is Good bumper sticker that got me started on this post.
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
God is Good -- Oh, Really?
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3 comments:
I know a religious man who is an authentic humble thoughtful inclusive person, a true follower of Jesus who uses his faith to improve himself and inspire peace among all. I also know of a religious man who is a recklessly judgmental radicalized conspiracy theorist whose sons hate him. Mindless tribalism is key to this conversation.
I'm not sure what basis there can be for believing the Christian God to be good, or even for saying one doesn't know. The Bible is pretty clear in depicting God as a sadistic genocidal maniac. If you declare those parts of the Bible inaccurate just because you don't like them, isn't that purely arbitrary? You could make the Bible support any position at all if you just discard everything in it that conflicts with that position.
And to find God to be good, you would need to discard most of the Bible. And if you do that, what grounds remains for referring to what you believe as Christianity?
Recognizing that the Bible is a collection of stories, poetry, and cultural teaching rather than actual history or divine writings greatly changes one's perspective of God.
Was Jesus cherry picking or arbitrarily discarding texts when he repeatedly said, "You have heard it said ..., but I'm telling you...?"
I am a believer in a Creator. I am not a believer in the Bible in the way it was taught to me. I am also a follower of Jesus, although once again, differently than I was taught to be.
I think Christians are arrogant and wrong to take the Old Testament -- the stories given to an ancient people and re-interpret them to mean completely different things than the people within that culture understand them to be.
I also believe that the religions of man -- even the ancient ones -- are mostly ways for the people in power to rule over the people that are ignorant.
Also -- "the Bible is pretty clear..." is one of those trigger phrases that is generally followed by somebody's understanding of something that isn't clear at all.
It is fair to say that my beliefs no longer look anything like the Christianity that the world recognizes.
Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts.
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