Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion; "The God of the Old testament is a vindictive, blood thirsty, ethnic cleanser"
Christopher Hitchins in God is Not Great; How Religion Poisons Everything - "The God of the Bible needs to be tried for crimes against humanity"
As we address this objection, I feel like there are three sides of this objection that we need to look at. First, the objection that the God of the Bible is a cruel God and that the God of the Old Testament with His orders to kill complete nations is not compatible with the God of love portrayed in the New Testament. Second, we need to look at some of the injustices done by the Church over the years. Third we should look at the belief that all problems in this world are caused by religion and this world would be better off without it. So let's go.
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First let's look at this objection that God is a cruel God ordering the killing of the Caananites and Amalekites, even ordering the killing of women and children.Is the God of the Old Testament a “moral monster” who arbitrarily commands genocide against innocent men, women, and children? Was His reaction to the sins of the Caananites and the Amalekites a vicious form of “ethnic cleansing” no different from atrocities committed by the Nazis? Or is it possible that God could have had morally sufficient reasons for ordering the destruction of these nations?
We recently purchased the Lego Bible and as I read the doctrinally correct lessons, something was amiss. Even though these were directed at children, the violence of the Old Testament and the Wrath of God was not held back. I googled the author and found that he was an atheist and stated that on reading the Bible with an open mind he was abhorred by the violence and wrath of God and became an atheist because he could never believe in that kind of God. I was surprised that even in the midst of this violence, he never saw any of the love of God. This led me to investigate him further and found that he was actually a transgender with a new female name but keeps his male name as a pen name. What's my point? It's hard to go into anything with a completely open mind. I feel, because his lifestyle was incompatible with the Word of God, he didn't see the love of God throughout the pages. We as Christians know and have experienced the love of God in our lives and therefore when we read something that flies in the face of this, we give God the benefit of the doubt and look for reasons to explain it. This isn't an irrational approach. Evolutionists do this all the time. They believe in their theory wholeheartedly and when difficulties like the fossil record, beginning of life, Precambrian explosion come along, rather than discard their theory, they look for explanations for these. You see, Christians don't have closed minds to these things any more than atheists do. We all start with faith assumptions.
Therefore, believing God is good, lets look for some explanations.
1. First of all we must let God be God. God created life and He has the right to take it.
“See now that I myself am he!
There is no god besides me.
I put to death and I bring to life." Deut. 32:39
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:21
We often see in Hollywood where a character has a decision to make where that decision is a life or death decision affecting a number of people. Another character comes alongside and says, "You have no right to play God." We all have heard that maybe even in the context of abortion or end of life issues. Yet no one questions the statement because we all know and accept that God has the right to give and take life and in the end He takes everyone's life in a process called death. "If you can create life then you can take it but if you can't create it, then you don't have that right. People assume that what is wrong for us is wrong for God. However, it's wrong for me to take your life because I didn't make it and I don't own it. For example it is wrong for me to go into your yard pull up your bushes, cut them down, kill them, transplant them, or move them around. I can do that in my yard because I own the bushes in my yard." Norman Geisler
2. Secondly, these weren't innocent" people that God was having Israel remove.Lev.18:25 says that the people were so wicked that the land vomited them out. " The world of Moses, Joshua, Gideon and David was a world of unspeakable violence perpetrated by massive well-armed professional armies. The kings of Egypt, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia gloried in their brutality and savagery. In countless inscriptions throughout the history of the ancient Near East , the great kings boasted of boring through their enemies' bodies, ripping their entrails out, galloping their horses and chariots through the gore of enemy bodies, splashing through enemy blood as if crossing a river, impaling thousands of rebels on stakes around conquered cities, flaying the skin off of their defeated enemies in full view of their families and hideously mutilating the dead. They were into brutality, cruelty, incest, bestiality, cultic prostitution,and child sacrifice by fire.(Deut. 12:31) Almost nobody in the Near East found this shocking; rather most thought it glorious proof that the gods had favored the king. Compared to the graphic detail, intensity, and sheer mass of these ancient descriptions, the Old Testament looks rather tame, even modest." Seedbed.com
The Amalekite's mission was genocide of the Israelites. They followed Israel and cowardly slaughtered the most vulnerable - the weak, elderly, and disabled. They and the Caanaanites were determined to wipe out the Jewish nation which would have eliminated the future Messiah coming to save the whole world including them. God could not let that happen.
3. God gave them time to repent. We see that they had 400 years and they weren't without knowledge as seen by Rahab who was delivered because she trusted God.
Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Gen. 15:13-16
“I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." Rahab in Joshua 2
Many Egyptians went with the Israelites in the Exodus and escaped plagues by believing God. We see the sparing of Noah and his family from calamity by trusting the Lord and his continual preaching to the lost right up until the end without avail. We see Lot delivered from destruction and the Ninevites, a wicked people not unlike the Caananites and Amalekites, saved from destruction because they believed. The Gibeonites, marked for destruction in Joshua were not destroyed because of their faith in God.
“Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. 25 We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”Gibeonites in Joshua 9
The point is that throughout the Old Testament God is quick to grant mercy. In fact of the 261 times "mercy" is mentioned in the Bible 72% of them are in the Old Testament.
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? Ezek. 18:23
The word "love" appears 322 times and half are in the Old Testament.
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jer. 31:3
Jesus talks about Hell more than He does about Heaven and the Old Testament doesn't discuss eternal punishment wheras the New Testament does. And if you think God has changed from one testament to the other, check out Revelation.
Before the Israelites went to battle, they would give the people a chance to surrender.
"When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. " Deut. 20:10-12
The women and children had plenty of time to flee the battleground for safety. I know it is hard for all of us to accept but God, wanting a nation uncorrupted by the sin of these people found it necessary to kill those who didn't flee. In a strange way one Bible commentator states that killing these children before the "age of Accountability" actually enabled many to be in Heaven wheras if they had grown up they certainly would have rejected the God of Israel. I don't like this argument because it could justify abortion but I am putting it out there because Norman Geisler used it.
4. The battles were God's execution of justice on evil. (Deut. 9:4-6) In the past, God wiped out the earth with a flood. Now, since He promised to never do that again, the Israelites were his hand of divine justice. God can't leave evil unpunished and unbridled because He is a God of Justice. It's not that the Israelites were sinless. In fact, one day, they would be so evil that God would have to judge them through the hands of other unrighteous nations. It is important to know that this was not genocide, ethnic cleansing, or advancement of a kingdom for power, might or wealth. These were undermanned, undertrained armies going to war to punish evil and get back the land they once had and no more. The account in Joshua 5, before all the killing shows us that this is not God favoring one race over another. Joshua sees the preincarnate Jesus and asks, "Whose side are you on"? Jesus answers, "Neither, I'm on my own side." God was establishing the fact that He was simply punishing evil through His chosen nation.
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Next lets look at the injustices done supposedly in the name of Christianity. Before we do this, a bit of a disclaimer. The word "Church" in the Bible does not mean a building. It does not mean a denomination. It does not mean a religious institution. It is a universal body of truly regenerated believers. What is a Christian? It is a little Christ. In other words it is a person who has by faith received Christ's forgiveness for their sins and has received the Holy Spirit who is conforming them into the person of Christ. So when people accuse the Christian Church of great injustices, I always have to wonder were they truly saved individuals who were functioning in a God fearing transforming body of believers? We must remember that if you are opposed to phony Christians, Jesus beat you to the punch. He saved his harshest criticism for them and it was those religious people who put Him to death. Yet, Jesus never compains about the violence in the Old Testament. Are we more morally sensitive than Him?
Have you ever heard the claim "religion is responsible for all the wars in the world."?
It’s important to note that religion had nothing to do with the vast majority of wars, e.g. Hutu–Tutsi war in Rwanda, Falklands War, Vietnam and Korean Wars, WW2, WW1, Gran Chaco War in South America, Russo-Japanese War, Spanish–American War, Franco-Prussian War, Crimean War, US Civil War, Napoleonic wars, Wars of the Roses, Mongol wars, Gallic War, Punic wars, Peloponnesian War, Assyrian wars
Inquisition
The Inquisition is certainly a black spot; biblical Christianity, from a human standpoint, tells people to come freely to Christ, not be forced to profess Christ because of threats. But the Inquisition also must be put into perspective, both compared with the numbers and the culture of the time. Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834): historians such as Henry Kamen estimate between 1,500 and 4,000 people were executed for heresy, out of Spain’s 6–10 million total population.This adds up to 18 people a year. So at most 0.05% of Spain’s population was killed. While this is nevertheless deplorable, it means that the Inquisition’s number of executed people in 350 years equaled the number that Stalin Killed every week.Furthermore, Inquisition trials were often fairer and more lenient than their secular counterparts—indeed, some criminals uttered heresies precisely so they would be transferred to the Inquisition courts.Salem witch trials
This was a travesty of paranoia and mass hysteria in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. However, they killed fewer than 25 people, far short of the “perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions” that the late antitheist Carl Sagan (1934–1996) claimed. Further, they were stopped when Christians protested at the travesty of justice in the unfair trials and how they violated all biblical standards of evidence. Even a trial proponent, the Puritan minister Increase Mather (1639–1723), opposed the ‘spectral evidence’, i.e. from dreams and visions, instead of the biblically required plurality of eyewitnesses. He also made the statement that has now become a vital part of Western justice, “It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that One Innocent Person should be Condemned.”Crusades
While many people attack Christianity for the Crusades, an increasing number of historians regard them as a belated response to four centuries of Islamic aggression that had conquered two-thirds of the Christian world.In this, they were following the example of Muhammad himself. Evangelist Lowell Lundstrom (1939–2012) observed, “During Muhammad’s ten years in Medina, he planned 65 military campaigns and raids, and he personally led 27 of them.” In Sura 66:9, the Koran affirms, “O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end.” Historian Sir Steven Runciman notes, “Unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with the sword.”Emperor Alexios 1 called to Rome for help because of the advancing Muslim army moving into the Byzantine empire. Pope Urban II called for support in the battle promising forgiveness of sins and guarantee of Heaven to whoever went. Since the Church and government were so intertwined this is seen as a war versus Christians and Muslims but was it not - just nations protecting themselves from an army trying to take over the world. Were there ungodly acts reported of the Christian army? Yes. But we also have to ask was this truly a Christian army? While atrocities committed in the name of Christ, such as during the Crusades, were inconsistent with the teachings of Christ (such as “Do not murder”), the atrocities committed by Muslims are consistent with Muhammad’s teachings and actions.
As we judge Christianity for injustices and evil both in the Old Testament and in current events, we must recognize the reason for asserting that there is a problem is a moral reason. Where did you get those morals, you who judge Christianity so harshly?
Historian John Somerville states that critics of Christianity's injustice are using resources from within to denounce it. Critics criticize the church for being power hungry and self regarding yet in many cultures that is a good thing. In fact Christianity replaced honor based cultures in which pride was valued rather than humility, dominance rather than service, courage rather than peaceableness, glory rather than modesty, loyalty to one's tribe rather than equal respect for all. The typical criticisms for the oppressiveness and injustices of the Christian church actually come from Christianity's own resources for critique of itself.
The shortcomings of the church can be understood historically as the imperfect adoption and practice of the principles of the Christian gospel. When the Anglo-Saxons first heard the gospel message, they were incredulous. They couldn't see how any society could survive that didn't fear and respect strength. When they did convert, they were far from consistent. They tended to merge the Christian other-regarding ethic with their older ways. They supported the Crusades as a way of protecting God's honor and theirs. They let monks, serfs, and women cultivate charitable virtues but these virtues weren't considered appropriate for men of honor and action. No wonder there is so much to condemn in Church history but to give up Christian standards would leave us with no basis for the criticism.
Christians and atheists are both capable of love and hate but when a Christian loves he does it with full accordance of his world view and when he hates he does it in full opposition to that view. What is it in the atheisitic world view that can restrain hate and promote love? Only one kind of life is logically compatible with Christianity but any kind of life is compatible with atheism. Therefore the best argument for Christianity is not an argument but a life which leads us to the last section
"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people." 1 Peter 2:12-15
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One way to deal with the divisiveness of religion has been to forbid it or condemn it. There have been several massive attempts to do this in the 20th century. Soviet Russia, Communist China, the Khmer Rouge, were all determined to tightly control religious practice in an effort to stop it from dividing society or eroding the power of the state. The result however was not more peace and harmony but more oppression. The Marxists rejected religion for the state. The Nazis rejected religion for race and blood. The French Revolution rejected religion for human reason. There is something in the heart of man that must make something their reason to live. If you take away religion something else will replace it, usually with less restraint than religion. We can only conclude that there is something violent in the heart of man that expresses itself regardless of whatever a society deems as the ultimate value. "The 20th century gave rise to one of the greatest and most distressing paradoxes of human history: that the greatest intolerance and violence of that century were practiced by those who believed that religion caused intolerance and violence." Alister McGrath
Atrocities committed in Christ’s name pale in comparison to the record-breaking tens of millions killed by atheistic regimes just last century. 77 million in Communist China, 62 million in the Soviet Gulag State, 21 million non-battle killings by the Nazis (including 6 million Jews, ⅓ of all Jews in Europe), 2 million murdered in the Khmer Rouge killing fields. This is many times more deaths than all ‘religious’ wars put together in all centuries of human history, and this is just for the 20th century!
What is the answer then? Not to give up the Christian faith because that would leave us with neither the standards nor the resources to make the correction. The answer therefore is not less faith but a truer faith. When critics attack the evils done by the Church, we have to ask, what would this world look like without Christianity? Where would we even get our idea of a God of love without Christianity? No other religions even speak about a personal God of love.
What good has Christianity done?
1. Abolished slavery. Christian activists William Wilberforce in Great Britain and John Woolman in America dedicated their entire lives to the ending of slavery. It is true, to our shame, that many of the Christian Church opposed this through misunderstanding of the scripture, but nonetheless from within our ranks truth of the scripture was spoken and served as the impetus to end slavery.
2. Civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, a devout Christian - although if you look into his personal life, he too was a work in progress - stood up for the non violent ending of racism in the United States following the example of Christ. He called for White Christians not to have less religion but a truer religion following the words of the Bible. It is true, to our shame, that many of the Christian Church opposed this through misunderstanding of the scripture, but nonetheless from within our ranks truth of the scripture was spoken and served as the impetus to move toward ending racism.
3. Apartheid. When Apartheid ended in South Africa, people expected a blood bath in revenge for all the crimes done against them. Instead, Christians like Desmond Tutu set up the South African Commission for truth and Reconciliation in the mid 90's to avoid this.
4. Communism. Christian leaders in Hungary, Romania, and Poland spoke out against the violation of human rights by the state and were beaten and killed but they only served as fuel to the fire to bring down communism as their congregations stood united, peacefully objecting to the abuses even carrying signs "we forgive" past the secret police headquarters who murdered their pastors.
5. Science. Although many think that science and Christianity are incompatible, that isn't true. In fact, most of the early scientists were Christians. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Pascal all were Christians who believed the world had an orderly structure that could be studied because it was created by an orderly God.
6. Education. Many of our great universities in America were started by the Christian faith. These were started in pursuit of truth because the Christian faith stated that there is truth to be found.
7. Hospitals - The emphasis of the Christian faith on serving our fellow man especially the down-trodden, spurred on the formation of hospitals. Even in our area we see Catholic Hospital, St. Mary's, Baptist Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital, Methodist Medical Center. The symbol of the cross is common to the Hospital sign.
8. Non-governmental aid. When George Bush spoke of the thousand points of light as a source of aid for the destitute and needy, what was he saying? He was saying that the majority of non-governmental aid in this world comes from Christian agencies. In our community we have SMARM, the Food Bank, Goodwill, Salvation Army, but globally we have Compassion International, Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, Christian Hunger Fund, etc. Where would we be without those.
In summary, we must admit that the church over the years has truly been responsible for many injustices and we confess that. Let's move on from there and continue to bring the love of Christ into our world so that people may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven.
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