Thread: Is it possible for us as men to have a discussion on God

Deviating from the current line of discussion: how about Old testament vs new testament.
The God of the old testament is the same as the one of the new testament.
Someone here saved me the effort of writing down a bunch of examples (actually it was that post which caused me to post just now).

From the link 'that's not a wise and loving god, that's an evil kid playing The Sims and clicking the disaster buttons just because he's bored'

The phrasing is on the provocative side, but the point remains valid. Why do christians and catholics believe that their God is good and loving, considering that they accept both the OT and NT.
To me it seems like praising a mugger for stopping to beat you up.
Whether or not he changed his ways doesn't really matter because if both the OT and NT are accepted as true, then he did a lot of nasty things and he cannot be that loving and caring omnipotent God.

I actually read the OT when I was younger. If it were a movie it would be R rated.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Deviating from the current line of discussion: how about Old testament vs new testament.
The God of the old testament is the same as the one of the new testament.
Someone here saved me the effort of writing down a bunch of examples (actually it was that post which caused me to post just now).

From the link 'that's not a wise and loving god, that's an evil kid playing The Sims and clicking the disaster buttons just because he's bored'

The phrasing is on the provocative side, but the point remains valid. Why do christians and catholics believe that their God is good and loving, considering that they accept both the OT and NT.
To me it seems like praising a mugger for stopping to beat you up.
Whether or not he changed his ways doesn't really matter because if both the OT and NT are accepted as true, then he did a lot of nasty things and he cannot be that loving and caring omnipotent God.

I actually read the OT when I was younger. If it were a movie it would be R rated.

LOL at that last comment. Soooo true. I've read both from front to back. And I really see no difference between the two.

Mind you though that often when God seemed most vengefull was after He'd done people a service and they then spit in His face.

Remember the isrealites that He freed from egypt? People like to remember mostly that He gave a bunch of plagues and let them dwell in the desert for 40 years.....

In reality He'd just freed them from oppression, and slavery and probably saved their lives and as soon as Moses was out of sight they started making their own god and worshipping to it....I think they deserved a reminder of who He is.

In all reality....I've not seen anyone yet that couldn't agree with the 10 commandments....and those are almost the core of the OT. (Other than the hundreds of prophesies about the coming Christ)....

- No killing
-No stealing
- No worshipping false Gods (granted that was any God other than Him but still, it makes sense)
- Respect your parents
- No working on a sunday and not making anyone else work for you either (every one needs a break at least once a week don't they?)
- No abusing His name (the God freed His people from opression...I think He deserved some respect don't you?)
- No lying (no false witness bearing is what it says but that's pretty much what it means.)
- Don't touch someone else's wife (or husband)
- no jealousy

crap...I seem to miss one. Maybe people interpret the no -idol worshipping one as one as well.

Sorry man. I've heard about people having trouble about the OT....personally I just don't see it. But maybe my image of God is simply different from others.

Tsk Tsk.
You forgot the chastity / purity of thought commandment (no 9 on my list). I can name them all them by heart. It's a rhyme I once learned from the old-style catechismus (the book that you had to know by heart in order to renew your communion).
The spelling is a bit weird, but this was in formal 1950's Dutch. In my days noone used that book anymore, but I read it out of curiosity.

Bovenal bemin 1 god.
Zweer niet ijdel, vloek noch spot
Heilig steeds de dag des here
Vader en moeder zult gij eren
doodt niet, geef geen ergernis
Doe nooit iets wat onkuisheid is
Vlucht het stelen en bedriegen,
Ook de achterklap en t' liegen
Wees steeds kuis in uw gemoed
En begeer nooit iemand anders' goed.

You've been out-quizzed by a pagan
Actually I find that I know more about catholicism than most catholics. Probably because I've taken the time to think about my arguments.
EDIT: I know you are not a catholic. It was just a general observation.

As for why I have problems with the Old Testamentual acts: While we can debate about how God was treated, there are several things that don't fit that argument.
- What about the hundreds of thousands of infants that got killed when He was in a dark mood. They surely didn't deserve it.
- What did Job ever do wrong?