But it does make sense if the God of the Bible is evil. According to the Gospel of Mathew, a man wanted to follow Jesus, but he had duties at home looking after his old and sick father. For example in Job 42:11 God is described as doing evil to Job as part of its test of Job even though Job is described as holy and blameless. God cannot be benevolent. The author of the Gospel of Luke wrote that Jesus said that 'a tree is known by its fruit' (Luke 6:43-44): "Good trees do not produce rotten fruit, and rotten trees do not produce good fruit". In religion, ethics, philosophy, and psychology "good and evil" is a very common dichotomy.In cultures with Manichaean and Abrahamic religious influence, evil is usually perceived as the dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which good should prevail and evil should be defeated. While theyre recovering from the surgery, in pain and incapacitated, Jacobs sons show up and slaughter them. That is responsible for all of creation , good and evil. Violence and Murder Endorsed in the Old Testament, The endorsements of violence, mass murder and rape & pillage are dramatic, and are conducted under the direct commands of God for the betterment of the believer's religion, many times where God leads by murderous example, ancient form of Christianity was preached by Marcion, who realized that the God of the Old Testament must be Evil, Some think that the New Testament is nicer than the OT, the NT still endorses violence and murder. Biblical morality so stunted ethical thinking that "the third century Church Father, Tertullian, could not imagine how God could not demand fear"3: But how are you going to love, without some fear that you do not love? Momen, Moojan(1999) The Phenomenon Of Religion: A Thematic Approach. The most evil of them has to be Hera, the queen of gods. And we don't doubt that good is real, possible, and desirable, too. Even in the twentieth century, Pope Leo XII argued for violence and murder, based on religion: The death sentence is a necessary and efficacious means for the Church to attain its end when rebels act against it and disturbers of the ecclesiastical unity, especially obstinate heretics and heresiarchs, cannot be restrained by any other penalty. He wanted to take care of his father until he died, and then follow Jesus. She was irrelevant: 'Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it.' And henceforth, Christian history contains many unfortunate chapters where Christian groups anathematized one another as heretics, and proceeded to burn, torture and murder those who disagreed. When David Plotz set out to read every word of the Old Testament, he discovered gruesome smitings, rampant misogyny, and a God whos a lot like Donald Trump. Other translations such as Young's Literal Translation phrase it in the same way. Both good and evil exist by Gods will, and it is not our right to question him. 15:32). (, "Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord. Is God Love? They exclaim to him that they've been looking for him sorrowfully, and his cold response is covered by the last two verses of that story: "How is it that ye sought me? God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. No one who ever read this book with any degree of intellectual honesty could think that this is a single story and it all coheres. Hades is a god that was misunderstood. He smites often just for the joy of smiting. Real-estate negotiation, in Genesis in particular, takes up a third of the book: Who owns it, who should have it, where is it? Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are. Plotz was, by his own estimation, an inattentive Jew, a biblical ignoramus. Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel., The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.". Another example is 1 Timothy 1:20, where God mentions "Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme". New edition now published as part of the Very Short Introduction series. If I were a biblical literalistand thank God Im notI would have no idea how I would make sense of this because there are two creations. God is the author of good, but we make moral choices that result in evil. Its a lesson thats as true for us today as it was for Gods faithful who have wrestled with evil and suffering for thousands of years before us. The Old Testament God, who says that he "creates evil" (Amos. A paperback book. An evil God, indeed, would do this, and this is exactly the state the world is in. The Book of Revelation is the climax of the New Testament. These examples are where it is Humans carrying out God's will and don't include the many times where God leads by murderous example., "Endorsement of Violence and Murder in the Old Testament" by Vexen Crabtree (2016), 2nd Century Marcionite Christians believed that the Old Testament God was Evil (2006). Such arguments have been used by many philosophers as evidence against belief in god18,19. We also have to remember that while our Earth was initially created good, it was later corrupted by evil. God's Methods of Communication: Universal Truth Versus Hebrew and ArabicCriticism of the Christian BibleGod Must Be Evil (If It Exists), If we knew the truth, our existential crises, mental angst and warring world religions would have no grounds to vex. 1 Chronicles 21:2 and 2 Samuel 24:2 both contain a copy of the exact same text: So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Christian USA bullying countries that are not christian, and Muslim countries attacking back. Its influence on our law, on our legal system. Amazon Kindle digital edition. We are inspired by everything we perceive as good all the time. So, Satan acts only when God gives it power to do so. Psalm 104:27-30 notes that God sometimes makes animals happy and sometimes "terrifies them" as part of the daily rhythm of life as described in general by Psalm 104, although the King James Version nicely tones this down to "troubles" them. Monotheistic religions Christianity If you accept this story as fable and myth, then, it is clear to see that it is the attempt of a primitive people to explain why Humans have different languages. ", 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. But, for some reason, David went ahead and did so. So, an evil God would appear to mankind in a variety of guises and preach a number of powerful, but conflicting, religions. 'reaching the heavens') don't make sense, as God is all-knowing and would have known that this was impossible to do by building a tower, no matter how high. The New Testament makes more sense if its schemes are the plan of an evil god, rather than a good one. It is more likely that an evil god exists, but, it is sensible to assume that there is no god of either type. Who, when it comes to the concluding of the story in chapter 42, is given the credit for bringing evil against Job? Everybody Hates Hades, God of Evil, God Is Inept, God Is Flawed, Order Is Not Good. They affirm that God is not just, not moral, and is actively evil and arbitrary. Isaiah 45:7 affirms that God creates darkness and disaster. The Old Testament describes God as angry, fearsome, destructive and vengeful. An e-book. I would start with the uneducated and the poor. It doesnt. If that is what God is, then why would you want to have a God like that? What did he do? In the other, it was God. I would most assuredly use my immortality to fool them into thinking I came back from the dead as proof of my divinity. Unfortunately, the evil trumps the good in the worship of every god, and so are all gods acolytes the worst on earth. He tried to protect 3 male guests who had arrived at his house, from a mob outside who wanted to rape them. Penguin 2006 edition. The worry is that this gives justification for anyone who hears voices in their head telling them to murder for their religion that actually they should do so, and indeed, historically many have used the Bible to justify murder. After all, no one can resist God. In the Christian Bible, Satan is God. This question is posed to Christians often, and rightfully so. With the exception of maybe a half-dozen women, every woman is described as a whore or a prostitute and shes turning tricks in one way or another. If God is good, then all He created was good. A similar confusion of roles happens in the Book of Job. Satan in the Old Testament is merely the face that God puts on when it is testing its people. God is able to judge us perfectly, because God is perfect, just and all-knowing. As a huge mythology fan, I have been constantly angry at the way medea treat Hades. If god revealed itself to everyone, in no unclear terms, there could be no disagreement. [], 4Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth. On top of that are the mistranslations, cultural misunderstandings and outright subjectivist attempts at exegesis by those who are genuinely and passionately trying to understand the core text of their religion. These appear to be the tactics not of a god that wants us to understand and unite, but of one that actively encourages division, war, conflict, confusion and stress. Did you consult study any guides as you were mucking your way through? The moral of the story is somewhat shaky: if an animal resists doing what you want, then do not make it obey you because it might be God trying to communicate with you. It is only with the Christian God who is the universal standard of moral truth, can we then judge what is good and bad. What did he do? It is not a creation of mankind, nor of fallen beings or Satan. When David Plotz read every word of the Old Testament, he discovered lots of smitings, misogyny, and a God whos like Donald Trump. 2:4), but that raises another question: If God sent the evil spirit, how is Saul responsible for trying to kill David? In a materialistic world without God, saying something is evil by nature means that it is evil everywhere, all the time. A paperback book. If God is all-powerful and all-good, it would have created a universe in the same way it created heaven: with free will for all, no suffering and no evil. In "The Woman's Bible" by Elizabeth Cady Stanton11, the author despairs at the misogyny, and asks: How is it that not one word is said about the death of Mary, not one word about the death of Joseph? His attitude toward women is like Norman Mailer on a bad day.. Satan can't do anything except by the will of God. Hades is a god that was misunderstood. This is the fourth woe. The best route to improving people's behaviour is to educate them on the effects of their actions, so they want to do good. Published by Routledge, London, UK. We can deliver group punishments in accordance with the worst offenders amongst them, and, the less bad amongst them are simply unlucky to have been around at the wrong time. Well there's a question! We have a situation where a large population of our nations churches have declared that what Jesus said was evil in his sight, is now good. God's method of communication here - out of all the means available to the miracle-worker Creator of the Universe, is to have the donkey do things. God is not evil..God is full of love and joy..if He was in your heart you would know the feeling that He gives. There are persons who gloss over evil deeds and evil habits by fair-sounding names, who call cowardice caution, and rashness courage, stinginess thrift, and wasteful profusion generosity. The author of Good Book talks to The Daily Beast about what his Biblical journey begat. Even if there is not a god of either type, as the dominance of death and violence in the natural world, a result of nature being abused by life and not being designed for life, I think the evil symbol of Satan is the best representative of the state of reality and the universe, whether or not an actual evil god exists. - Woe unto them that call evil good. This heartless response stems from the fact that all non-followers of Jesus might as well already be dead, and, that in the Bible, it is said that "the end" was so nigh that there was no more time to wait. I liken it to The Odyssey or Dostoyevsky. 2As people moved eastward* they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there. Check out Book Beast, for more news on hot titles and authors and excerpts from the latest books. See Also: God and Satan Are Both Jerks , Devil, but No God , Neglectful Precursors , Jerkass Gods for when the deities are not really evil but just neglectful, Abusive Precursors for when this so called creator is beyond just guilty. How did it happen that Christ did not visit his mother after his resurrection?, "The Woman's Bible" by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1898)10, "Christianity and Women: Biblical Misogyny and Male Dominance: 2.2. And in Luke 14:25-26 and 18:29, Jesus says "If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple". He says to Jesus "let me go and bury my father first" and Jesus replies coldly "follow me, and leave the dead to bury the dead" (Matthew 8:22). Rather, what we call evil is nothing more than the absence of good. Is he able, but not willing? Good exists, but evil does not. God is the author of good, but we make moral choices that result in evil. And James 1:13 tells us that God will not tempt us with evil. Question: "Is God evil? Normally, after a skeptic has lost all hope of defending their belief that the Bible contains errors they resort to moral arguments against God. 3:11) and to teach them (Prov. It is an incredibly difficult task to explain to Christians who decide to kill in god's name that they are in fact going against the Bible, because this is simply not the case. Aside from the New Testament's endorsement of killing in the name of religion, God itself leads by example. And the third time was during the crucifixtion, when he said to her: "woman, behold thy son". Atheists, skeptics and other critics of Christianity often argue against God on the basis of the reality of evil and suffering. Very well, God replied. In Mark he is found preaching in Galilee, at the start of his ministry. We have a situation where a large population of our nations churches have declared that what Jesus said was evil in his sight, is now good. Such attitudes are not merely disasters found in history. Jesus cared so little for his family that he never sent them messages informing what he was up to even when he was in their immediate locality. As various authors copied copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, changes accumulated in the stories. Subtitled: "Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad". And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them". An evil God would likely have created us as intelligent microbes living on the surface of Jupiter torturing us forever. The Hebrew word here that is translated as "disaster" could also mean "wickedness", "hurt", "affliction" or "adversity". All we have to do is watch the news. God is able to bring judgment on an evil group of people in order to spare those who are devoted to Him. And then, in Chapter 2, he creates it all again, and he creates man again, and he does it in a completely different way. When David Plotz, the editor of Slate, opened to Page 1 of the Old Testament, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. The Monstrous Actions of an Immoral God" by Vexen Crabtree (2013). The arsenal it attempts to use to prove its assertions is one common to many other atheist web sites and publications. But we can stick to wisdom and do good all by ourselves. Many Jewish terrorists have followed this line of logic and for hundreds of years Europe fell into the barbaric and ignorant dark ages under the terrible machinations of Christian institutions that embraced the Bible's endorsements of violence. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good. Satan isn't a being that freely chose to reject God; it is a hidden part of God, that God uses as a tool so it doesn't have to sully its own name. The Evil God Challenge thought experiment explores whether the hypothesis that God might be evil has symmetrical consequences to a good God, and whether it is more likely that God is good, evil, or non-existent. 1 Samuel 15:1-8 has it that because the indigenous people of Amalek opposed God's murderous army, they killed all the men, women, children, babies, cattle, camels and donkeys there7. And at first glance this would Everybody Hates Hades, God of Evil, God Is Inept, God Is Flawed, Order Is Not Good. This concept of "darkness" or "evil" was not yet personified as "the devil". What does this teach us? Is there an underlying reason? What better way to channel more souls away from God and straight into Hell?. In case we doubt God's judgement of Lot, Lot then goes and has children by both of his daughters. God allows evil to occur partly for reasons we do know and partly for those we do not. 1979 abridged edition. The women are very manipulative and vicious and the treatment of them is incredibly derogatory. Examining Exodus, Ecclesiastes 7, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, Matthew 5:45, Acts 13, Romans 8, Roman 9, 2 Timothy, 2 Thessalonians, Titus 3:4-5 and Revelations, we see that God's plan overrides our free will; those that do good do the specific good that God predestined them to do, and all others are ruled by Satan because God sends "powerful delusions" to them. I've heard, 'The devil's greatest trick was convincing all the people that his name is God'. The suboptimal route is to force people into good behaviour through threats. If God is both able and willing to stop evil, but chooses not to stop all evil, that means God has allowed evil to exist. Because nothing, absolutely nothing in the culture compares in terms of its influence. But this is a clear-cut path to chaos and anarchy, and would immediately undermine all religion. Genesis 6:7 says "And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them". God remains hidden - and if god is the source of any of our world religions, it seems that it is intentionally giving conflicting messages. The lack of respect continues in another story in Luke: When one of his women listeners was so entranced by his teaching that she cried out 'Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts that you sucked!' Not a single positive comment from Jesus to his mum10! Zakaria, Fareed(2003) The Future of Freedom. I was raised in Reform JudaismI was in tune to it. In the sense that I am now on high alert and in a fight with the Bible and in a fight with God and struggling with questions that it raises. The answer depends on your notion of God's personality. Karen Armstrong says that in today's terms, Jesus' answer could be understood as "put him in a geriatric home and come and follow me"13. 25:17, Deut. No, these messages are not really aimed at children but at adults, telling us to obey God, the ultimate father-figure, else we suffer the consequences. Joshua 6:21-24 and Judges 20 tell stories where God wants them to kill "everyone in the city, men, women, young and old. It would preach to each religion that its followers were right and other followers were wrong! Jesus shrugged off this praise of his mother. In other words, the evil done by God on Job was not the result of Job's free will. Throughout the Old and New, the unequal and barbaric position of women in the family compared to men is infamously misogynistic - there are too many related verses to repeat here. The evidence and logic is even more compelling than the anecdote above. Some excerpts: Revelation 6:8 (the 4th seal) "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Any moral person would have sternly told Abraham that he failed God's test. Then he is not omnipotent. Good Book is a mercilessly funny one; imagine Sunday school taught by Jackie Mason. The whole scheme of the life of Jesus does not add up, and it is very hard to reconcile it with the plans of an all-knowing, good God. Where does the Bible go on the list? What else did I miss? But you can't have that in a nontheistic worldview. Ruthven, Malise(2007) Fundamentalism. We often use the adjective good to describe people. To allow evil and wrongdoing to go unpunished would indeed be cruel and would indicate a callousness toward the innocent. You write that God is not a particularly likable character. You had to follow Jesus now or never. There are many occasions where "and fear God" is added to other instructions, seemingly without adding anything except highlighting the poor persuasive power of the author. It contradicts Jesus, who says: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. God made Lucifer a good angel, but with the power to change himself through pride into the one we now know as Satan. Luke 2:41-49 tells a story of a 12-year-old Jesus; he wonders off for three days and his parents search for him, before finding him in a temple. It makes no sense to say that this is the behaviour of a good god. It seems that not only does the Bible describe a God who is a very poor communicator, but that the Bible itself is communicated very poorly. By evil, we mean the antithesis of good; an exact opposite. Revelation 4th Seal and 6th Seal.