Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the Old Testament. The fact is, I cannot reconcile the depiction of God in the OT with the God I worship, and I am tired of making up lame excuses for the horrific acts portrayed. Here is the deal, if God is really as violent and petty as He is described by the writer's of the OT, it would be unethical to worship Him. I have more compassion for my dogs than God seems to have for the people He created.
Honestly, a new way of approaching the OT is way past due. Instead of celebrating the atrocities committed by the Israelites, it is time to view their behavior for what it is; nationalistic, opportunistic, superstitious attempts to mold God's will to their own agenda. I am not singling out the Jewish people - all governments and individuals do the same thing. The whole point of the OT is to declare God's Being and set down some rules to live by - the rest of it is a record of inspired cautionary tales, included in the cannon to illustrate how not to respond to God. It is a biography of humanity - our inept attempt to respond to God's Being. We should read the OT as a autobiography - placing ourselves in the shoes of all the characters in order to understand ourselves better. The worst thing we can do is read the OT as a guide to morality because the moral message is the ends justify the means - which is totally unethical.
The NT is God's response to God. Jesus is our example of how God wants us to live - love Him, love ourselves (self awareness) and love our neighbors through service. There is no room for war, genocide, human-made famine, consumerism, nationalism, individualism and the rest of the 'lesser good' behaviors, yet they are still prevalent, however, unconditional love is what we are supposed to be practicing.
So our response to the message of the Bible and Descartes declaration 'I think therefore, I am' is 'God is, therefore I love'
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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This was the straw that broke my Messianic Jewish back... I realized the God I'd prayed to as a child all the way up to early adulthood was quite a bit nicer than the OT God, which the Bible hauntingly reminded me was Jesus' Father...something just doesn't add up. Jesus seemed to be speaking to someone quite different.
ReplyDeleteThese days, I've decided to hold on to that image of a good heavenly father who is stronger, kinder, wiser, gentler, compassionate, understanding, just and all the virtues one would hope in a human but are only found, idealized perhaps, in God.
In my own path of Zen, I entertain the notion that God supports my journey and wishes all the good that any perfect father would. And in that path, he and I are one...