Have you ever noticed how inconsistent the Old Testament is? Here are two quotes from the translated text of Mendelsohn’s “Elijah”:
Yet does the Lord see it not, He mocketh at us; His curse has fallen down upon us, His wrath will pursue us till He destroys us. For He , the Lord our God, is a jealous god, and he visiteth all the fathers’ sins on the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate him.
Later:
Blessed are the men who fear Him, they ever walk in the ways of peace. Through darkness riseth the light to the upright. He is gracious, compassionate, he is righteous.
And:
Thanks be to God, for He is gracious, and his mercy endureth forevermore.
So what is this gentleman? Kind and compassionate or mean and vindictive? And why is it always necessary to fear God? If he is gracious and compassionate, what is there to fear?
Epicureans put all this fear and manipulation behind them.
Come to think of it this old testament god sounds just like a dozen average human beings: nice and decent most of the time, but cruel and vindictive at times if he doesn’t get his way.
Which is the point. All these descriptions of god are mirror-images of human behaviour. Even today people still think of god as some sort of human grandfather with a beard, sitting on a throne. If there is a god he will not look like your average human male for sure. Female perhaps, but that isn’t particularly likely either. How a about a giant Atom?
… he accepts the human sacrifice of a little girl (the story of Jephtha’s holocaust of his own daughter) but then has the prophets speaking up against child sacrifice …
Good example. There are probably loads more. How is it that it takes us to spot the inconsistencies?