Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God

Notice how atheists who believe in real right and wrong make a massive intellectual leap of faith. They believe that somehow moral facts were eternally part of the “furniture” of reality but that from impersonal and valueless slime, human persons possessing rights, dignity, worth, and duties were eventually produced.

consider how some persons are more intelligent, athletic, artistic, or pleasant looking than others. We don’t have perfect equality here, except in the dignity and worth of each individual.

Much in the Old Testament visibly reminds us of God’s abundant grace despite human sin and fall-damaged social structures.

Genesis 1:26–27 affirms that all human beings are God’s image-bearers. This doctrine serves as the basis for affirming the dignity and rights of every human.

In the eyes of pagan, Roman, emperor-worshiping polytheists (i.e., worshipers of many gods), Christians were persecuted as atheists: belief in one God was close enough. Ironically, monotheistic Christians were singled out for attack by the diversity-affirming religionists in the Mediterranean world!

If we take God seriously, he will most certainly mess up our lives, make us uncomfortable, and even disorient us.

We can reject the notion that “if it’s in the Bible, it must have God’s seal of approval.”

God’s reign should affect all of life. God’s presence permeates and saturates our world.

As we move from Old Testament to New Testament, from national Israel to an interethnic Israel (the church), we see a shift from a covenant designed for a nation—with its own civil laws and judicial system—to a new arrangement for God’s people scattered throughout the nations of the world and whose citizenship is a heavenly one.