I like this a lot, but I have some friends that are struggling with the OT and the God they see there, which, generally (I grant there are many many exceptions) doesn’t appear “True, Beautiful, Good and Loving”. My current thought about that is that God is the same in both Covenants, but Man changed. It’s like God fathered “Mankind”, and specifically His people, as if they were small children. There were very specific rules that were important for survival both physically and culturally and if the “child” broke them, there were consequences that were sometimes severe, but with the aim of developing this young child. And if anyone threatened the existence of that “child”, that threat was eliminated. But then, that “child” grew up, and when that happened, the father didn’t relate to the “child” the same way, as any father does. But the Father is the same.
Idk if that works. It makes sense. It helps me justify what I see in the OT vs what I see in Jesus. Idk why this happened when it did, 1st Century Rome and all. But it helps me be intellectually honest with the text. There are probably many other holes in my theory.
I think there's a lot of ways of reading the Old Testament. But what you're describing is exactly my point. People read the Old Testament and lock in the meaning of the word "God." They then imagine something more beautiful, true, loving and good from where they have camped the word "God." "God" then becomes imagined as "less." So we reject "God." But God can never be less. So the problem isn't with God but with where you've located the word "God." You need, as I said in the post, to pick up the word "God" and walk it out toward God, toward the horizon of the true, beautiful, good and loving.
Now, in practice, what does that mean? Well, it might mean you have to rethink how you read the Old Testament. And as I said, there's lots of ways to do that. I don't much care, for this post, how a person does that. But I do agree that walking the word "God" toward God will involve, for many, a hermeneutical journey with the Bible.
I like this a lot, but I have some friends that are struggling with the OT and the God they see there, which, generally (I grant there are many many exceptions) doesn’t appear “True, Beautiful, Good and Loving”. My current thought about that is that God is the same in both Covenants, but Man changed. It’s like God fathered “Mankind”, and specifically His people, as if they were small children. There were very specific rules that were important for survival both physically and culturally and if the “child” broke them, there were consequences that were sometimes severe, but with the aim of developing this young child. And if anyone threatened the existence of that “child”, that threat was eliminated. But then, that “child” grew up, and when that happened, the father didn’t relate to the “child” the same way, as any father does. But the Father is the same.
Idk if that works. It makes sense. It helps me justify what I see in the OT vs what I see in Jesus. Idk why this happened when it did, 1st Century Rome and all. But it helps me be intellectually honest with the text. There are probably many other holes in my theory.
Thoughts?
I think there's a lot of ways of reading the Old Testament. But what you're describing is exactly my point. People read the Old Testament and lock in the meaning of the word "God." They then imagine something more beautiful, true, loving and good from where they have camped the word "God." "God" then becomes imagined as "less." So we reject "God." But God can never be less. So the problem isn't with God but with where you've located the word "God." You need, as I said in the post, to pick up the word "God" and walk it out toward God, toward the horizon of the true, beautiful, good and loving.
Now, in practice, what does that mean? Well, it might mean you have to rethink how you read the Old Testament. And as I said, there's lots of ways to do that. I don't much care, for this post, how a person does that. But I do agree that walking the word "God" toward God will involve, for many, a hermeneutical journey with the Bible.