When I was a street preacher, I used to remind other Christians of
1 Peter 3:15–16 whenever they treated atheists with contempt, which frequently included false accusations of hating and/or rebelling against God, as well as extremely sarcastic remarks whenever any atheist attempted to reason with them.
1 Peter 3:15–16 states, "15
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." I'd also remind my fellow Christians to "
love your neighbor as yourself," "
love your enemies, pray for your enemies, do good to your enemies," and
"treat others the way you would like to be treated." They lacked the humility to admit that their behavior was severely harming their Christian testimony and personal reputation. To be quite honest, I've noticed the same arrogant attitude in some of the Christian posts on this forum.
John 3:16–17 states, "16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." I'd like to reexamine these verses in light of the following:
According to the Bible, God is omniscient (
Psalm 139:1–6;
Isaiah 46:9–10;
1 John 3:20), omnipotent (
Psalm 147:5;
Job 42:2;
Daniel 2:21), and omnipresent (
Psalm 139:7–10;
Isaiah 40:12;
Colossians 1:17). And also, according to
Genesis 6:6-7, God regretted creating not only mankind but also every animal, every creature that creeps on the ground, and the birds of the air. The Bible contains other verses that mention his other regrets in addition to creating humanity, all animals, and birds (
1 Samuel 15:11;
2 Samuel 24:16;
Jeremiah 42:10). Wouldn't an all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present God know better than to repopulate the world with the same flawed humans that he wiped out in a global flood? Well, if we're going by the scriptures I previously cited about him being omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, then the answer is apparently yes; he knew better, but he went forward anyway, knowing the outcome.
There are a plethora of biblical stories of a sadistic, psychopathic, and genocidal God who commanded the Israelites to wipe other nations off the face of the earth. According to the Bible, God commanded the Israelites to wipe the Amalikites off the face of the earth (
Exodus 17:8–13;
1 Samuel 15:2–3) and told them, "
Now go, attack the Amalekites, and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’" (
I Samuel 15:3). I wouldn't call this verse: "
Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks" (
Psalm 137:9) a shining example of morality from the Bible either. FYI, "
Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits" has more examples of violence in the Bible.
Bible verses on God's hate.
100 Bible Verses about What God Hates
15 Bible Verses about God Hating People
Bible verses on God's jealousy.
Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,
a jealous God."
Psalms 78:58 "For they provoked Him with their high places and aroused
His jealousy with their graven images."
Exodus 20:5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I,
the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me."
Exodus 34:13-14 "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god,
for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Deuteronomy 6:15 "for
the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth."
Nahum 1:2 The Lord is a
jealous and avenging God; the Lord is
avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and
keeps wrath for his enemies.
Bible verses on God's wrath.
Nahum 1:6 "Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger. His
wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him."
Ezekiel 25:17 "I will execute great vengeance on them with
wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
John 3:36 "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God remains on him.”
Romans 1:18 "For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
Romans 12:19 "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the
wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:6 "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
So according to the Bible, God is capable of hatred, jealousy, and wrath. To be honest, I don't believe that anyone should derive their understanding of morality, love, and justice from the Bible. Finally, I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't regard this God as loving, merciful, or just. What do you think?