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God of Old Testament was a loving one, MSU institute teacher says

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DennyG | 6:54 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Oh come on!

Instereo | 8:01 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Revisionism, plain and simple. Use a few scriptures to make your point and then ignore the rest of the old testiment.

canada | 9:03 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

He did a lousy job.

Comments continue below

Jeff | 9:21 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Is this guy serious?

Go Ask Onan | 9:29 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Yeah right. God was so busy "slewing' everyone in the Old Testament that it makes me want to vomit. If He wasn't doing the killing, then his prophets and "chosen people" were.

Abe Lincoln | 10:14 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

it not that he is alaways angry in the old testament, it's just that his anger was more chronicalled in the old testament then in the new. justice is not evil, no matter how horrible it sounds.

to: go ask onan
i am sorry you fell like that about the one who created you and has infinite love for you. it's quite obvious you have your own personal issues on the subject. but since you insist on bringing God down to human standards, i'll oblige you. someone once said, "before we judge them so harshely, think of the horrible things we humans have done." i think this phrase applies here. i am not saying i agree with you, i am merely saying that if you want to judge God by your standards, then others are more then free to judge you by those same standards. in this case, think of all the crimes and murders we humans have commited throughout our existence. God may have been there to severly punish those, but how much innocent blood have we spelt?

Anonymous | 10:15 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Typical religion thinking... if it doesn't make you or your beliefs look good, just change it.

Robert S | 11:44 a.m. Nov. 3, 2009

My Mormon friend (yes he is active) has wriiten his own "articles of regulation" to help explain away anything that might cause some challenges to accept. Regulation #1 says; "The most difficult and complex question can be answered with a mindless cliche."
Me thinks this discussion fits that.

For the Record | 12:29 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

It is the Old Testament that expressed God in Stone Age human standards, not the other way around.

God did not create me. My parents did.

I do not love God, but I do love my parents.

My parents did not kill people who differed from them. Nor did they require me to constantly worship them.

My parents did not favor me over the rest of their children, nor did they consider them better than others.

All Relative | 1:14 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

The god of the Old Testament is only slightly worse than the god of the Book of Mormon, who is only slightly worse than the god of the New Testament, who is only slightly worse than a Nazi concentration camp operator!

John Pack Lambert | 3:57 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Anyone who will judge Brother Draut's presentation based on excepts in an article is over-stating their case. Unless you have listened to all of Brother Draut's talk.
I know Brother Draut personally and have to say he is a wise and insightful man.

hbeckett | 7:10 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

I am very thankful for the God that many people do not understand or like. I love him.

Anonymous | 8:45 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

You got to be kidding. A loving God? Oh my goodness, I think this guy need to re-read and really understand the OT.

Silly willie | 8:57 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

This is too funny. Are you people serious?

Anonymous | 12:32 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

Well its seems pretty obvious that a lot of people on this board have never really studied the bible serious.

Or they have thier own preconceived notions floating in thier heads which makes it impossible to see truth if it dressed up in a monkey suit and danced around in front of them.

Or they are placing thier own current 2009 cultural and socio-economical standards on a time period of which they know nothing about.

Or they fail to realize that the Bible is a history of many of the highlights through time, which means the big stuff gets mentioned, which usually is the destructive stuff. I am sure that if you did the same thing with America today, 9/11 would make it in but all the small things that show God's love for mankind would be missing, kind of like the evening news.

What ever makes you all sleep better at night when you live your lives of justification.

Anonymous | 3:48 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

Do mormons read the same bible as Christians. The God of the OT was not a kind nor forgiving God!

slcskp | 4:32 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

So from the article I read, David L. Draut quotes passages in which true believers sing the praises of God (YHWH) in the most nonspecific terms, and uses those as conclusive proof of His inherent goodness and love. He makes no mention of any of the passages in the Old Testament documenting specific instances of outrageous behavior (wiping out the entire world except for a boatload of survivors; destroying all the firstborn of the nation of Egypt; including the innocent; commanding the destruction of whole cities, including men, women and children, for the crime of being in the Israelites' way), much less try to reconcile any of that behavior with the passages he DOES quote.

David Koresh, Charles Manson and Jim Jones all had a circle of true believers who thought they were the most wonderful beings ever to walk the planet. The rest of us bystanders can only base our final judgment on the behavior that we were able to observe.

Anonymous | 4:57 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

Anonymous | 3:48 p.m Christians read a modified text. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. You all who know your Bible so well: why was the number 26 committed from the Torah? If you can't answer this simple question, you lack the understanding of how Hebrew is different from English.

Stay Anonymous for your sake! | 8:02 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

To Anonymous 4:57

Trivial pursuit does not prove understanding.

The Old Testament, as it appears in most Bibles, does not come from Hebrew manuscripts, but from Greek manuscripts. With few exceptions, a knowledge of Hebrew does nothing to help your understanding of the Old Testament unless you have a thorough understanding of Greek. Moreover, you would have to be stupid to claim that "modified text" between Hebrew, Greek, and English is the cause of the perception that the God of the Old Testament is NOT a loving god!

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