One of the most controversial things about Holy Christianity is the decision to remove from the Bible all the books of the Old Testament except Genesis, Psalms, and Proverbs. These books portray God as angry, jealous, and vengeful. Holy Christianity believes that the benevolent, loving God of the New Testament, the God that Jesus spoke of, is the only God that exists.
This article will try to make a logical argument as to why an angry God does not make sense. The best way to do this is to tell a story from my college days in the early 1990s. I was living in a college dorm and was thinking of having a phone line installed in my room (this was before cell phones became common). My mom was opposed to the idea as she thought it was an unnecessary expense. But, ultimately, she told me that it was my choice.
In the end, I decided to have the phone installed. When I later told her, she became angry and started attacking me.
I couldn’t believe it. So I could make my own decision… as long as it was the decision that she wanted!
“But you said it was my decision!” I retorted.
“I thought you weren’t going to do it!” she said.
“That’s not fair!”
She knew I was right, and so she backed down. It truly was hypocritical of her to tell me that I could make my own decision and then get angry when I didn’t make the decision she preferred.
So how does this relate to God?
Well, God has given us agency. He has given us the freedom to choose. So wouldn’t it be hypocritical of Him to get angry just because we don’t choose what He desires?
And if God found our choices to be so offensive as to provoke Him to anger, then why doesn’t He simply take our agency away? He is all-powerful. There is nothing He cannot do. God could easily force us all to worship Him or to do whatever He wishes.
Some will have hard time believing that God would not get angry at an act of evil, such as the molesting of a child. To understand this, we need to view it from a higher level. First, this world is a purgatory. By its very design, we are all guaranteed to experience pain and suffering to one degree or another. Second, if you understand how karma works, that terrible events often allow us to undo negative karma (i.e. someone who was a child molester in a previous lifetime gets molested in this one), then you will be able to perceive how divine justice is woven into everything that happens. This is why God would not get angry at a terrible act of evil, for can an act truly be evil if experiencing it is what allows one to karmically move forward? (Another thing to consider is that there are four billion people on this planet. If God got angry every time someone committed a sin, he would always be in an ongoing perpetual rage).
Of course, God does not want us to commit evil. He wants us to make better choices. He wants us to choose good over evil, love over hate. But unless we choose these things freely, it would ultimately be meaningless. Because without agency, life itself would be meaningless. This is why agency is the greatest gift God has given us. And it is why He doesn’t get angry when we don’t take the correct path. To be given a choice, but only the choice that God desires, would be no choice at all.
It will also be helpful to understand what causes anger.
Anger is the result of having unrealistic expectations of the world. Human beings, because of our limited understanding of the nature of reality and the universe, have many unrealistic expectations of the world. This is why anger is such a common emotion for us.
However, because God is all-powerful, none of His expectations are unrealistic. Think about it. None of God’s expectations could ever be unrealistic. For He has the power to change reality to meet any of his expectations. So why would God ever get angry? About anything?
Considering all this, it leads to only one conclusion: God must view reality and the universe that He has created as perfect. He must view this world, the human condition, and the freedom we have to make our own choices as perfect.
And if he indeed sees all of this as perfect, then why would he ever get angry about it? Again, if God did not see all of this as perfect, why wouldn’t he just change it to make it perfect? Wouldn’t that make more sense than going into a rage like some petulant child?
This brings me to my next point: God is not a person. His consciousness is at the level of Infinity. Therefore, he is far beyond human flaws and human weaknesses. To suggest that God would ever indulge in anger or any other negative emotion is to dramatically underestimate what God is. It is to dramatically underestimate His power, His strength, His glory, His greatness, His compassion, His mercy, and most of all, His infinite love for us.
The problem that many Christians will have with the idea of a God who does not get angry is that they will assume it means there is no hell and thus no accountability for those who commit evil. But this simply isn't true.
Hell indeed exists. But it is not God who decides if we go there. Ultimately, it is a person's level of consciousness (LOC) that determines the fate of the soul. If their LOC is in the positive range (200 or higher on the Map of Consciousness) when they die, they will go to heaven. If it is in the negative range (below 200), they will go to hell. (Hawkins, 2003, pp. 254-255)
This idea will be hard for many people to accept, but it perfectly explains how a loving, non-judgmental God can exist while there is still accountability for our actions when we die. Many people reject Christianity because they cannot accept the idea of an angry God who passes judgment on us. But with this new understanding of heaven and hell, an angry God is no longer required. This is why I believe this new understanding of God and the afterlife has the potential to propel Christianity to new heights.
This brings up two important questions. Were the books of the Old Testament divinely inspired? If so, then how could they have been so fundamentally wrong when it comes to their depiction of God?
I believe the Old Testament books were indeed divinely inspired (with the possible exceptions of Ezra and Song of Solomon which do not mention God). However, it is possible for a text to be divinely inspired and yet still contain mistakes. To be divinely inspired does not mean that the author had God or the Holy Spirit whispering in their ear telling them exactly what to write. It doesn’t work like that.
The Gospels were also divinely inspired, yet there are contradictions between them regarding the details of major events (such as the birth of Jesus and the Resurrection). So to be divinely inspired doesn’t necessarily mean that everything will be completely correct.
When you think about it, the mistake that the Old Testament books make in their description of God as an angry, vengeful being is perfectly understandable. For if you believe that there is a God and that we go to heaven or hell when we die, it would seem logical that God is the one who passes judgment as to where we go. And surely God would be angered by those who commit evil. If not, then why would He send anyone to hell?
This all makes sense. Which is why it required someone like Jesus, who descended from heaven, to teach us the true nature of God, to teach us that his Father is a loving God, not an angry, vengeful one.
Unfortunately, Jesus could not easily explain how both a loving God and the realm of hell can co-exist together. For how could a loving, merciful God ever judge us? How could a loving, merciful God ever send someone to hell? No one has been able to answer these questions… until now. As a result, this anchor that has been weighing Christianity down for centuries can finally be tossed aside.
Hawkins, David R. I: Reality and Subjectivity. Sedona, Veritas Publishing, 2003.
This article will try to make a logical argument as to why an angry God does not make sense. The best way to do this is to tell a story from my college days in the early 1990s. I was living in a college dorm and was thinking of having a phone line installed in my room (this was before cell phones became common). My mom was opposed to the idea as she thought it was an unnecessary expense. But, ultimately, she told me that it was my choice.
In the end, I decided to have the phone installed. When I later told her, she became angry and started attacking me.
I couldn’t believe it. So I could make my own decision… as long as it was the decision that she wanted!
“But you said it was my decision!” I retorted.
“I thought you weren’t going to do it!” she said.
“That’s not fair!”
She knew I was right, and so she backed down. It truly was hypocritical of her to tell me that I could make my own decision and then get angry when I didn’t make the decision she preferred.
So how does this relate to God?
Well, God has given us agency. He has given us the freedom to choose. So wouldn’t it be hypocritical of Him to get angry just because we don’t choose what He desires?
And if God found our choices to be so offensive as to provoke Him to anger, then why doesn’t He simply take our agency away? He is all-powerful. There is nothing He cannot do. God could easily force us all to worship Him or to do whatever He wishes.
Some will have hard time believing that God would not get angry at an act of evil, such as the molesting of a child. To understand this, we need to view it from a higher level. First, this world is a purgatory. By its very design, we are all guaranteed to experience pain and suffering to one degree or another. Second, if you understand how karma works, that terrible events often allow us to undo negative karma (i.e. someone who was a child molester in a previous lifetime gets molested in this one), then you will be able to perceive how divine justice is woven into everything that happens. This is why God would not get angry at a terrible act of evil, for can an act truly be evil if experiencing it is what allows one to karmically move forward? (Another thing to consider is that there are four billion people on this planet. If God got angry every time someone committed a sin, he would always be in an ongoing perpetual rage).
Of course, God does not want us to commit evil. He wants us to make better choices. He wants us to choose good over evil, love over hate. But unless we choose these things freely, it would ultimately be meaningless. Because without agency, life itself would be meaningless. This is why agency is the greatest gift God has given us. And it is why He doesn’t get angry when we don’t take the correct path. To be given a choice, but only the choice that God desires, would be no choice at all.
It will also be helpful to understand what causes anger.
Anger is the result of having unrealistic expectations of the world. Human beings, because of our limited understanding of the nature of reality and the universe, have many unrealistic expectations of the world. This is why anger is such a common emotion for us.
However, because God is all-powerful, none of His expectations are unrealistic. Think about it. None of God’s expectations could ever be unrealistic. For He has the power to change reality to meet any of his expectations. So why would God ever get angry? About anything?
Considering all this, it leads to only one conclusion: God must view reality and the universe that He has created as perfect. He must view this world, the human condition, and the freedom we have to make our own choices as perfect.
And if he indeed sees all of this as perfect, then why would he ever get angry about it? Again, if God did not see all of this as perfect, why wouldn’t he just change it to make it perfect? Wouldn’t that make more sense than going into a rage like some petulant child?
This brings me to my next point: God is not a person. His consciousness is at the level of Infinity. Therefore, he is far beyond human flaws and human weaknesses. To suggest that God would ever indulge in anger or any other negative emotion is to dramatically underestimate what God is. It is to dramatically underestimate His power, His strength, His glory, His greatness, His compassion, His mercy, and most of all, His infinite love for us.
The problem that many Christians will have with the idea of a God who does not get angry is that they will assume it means there is no hell and thus no accountability for those who commit evil. But this simply isn't true.
Hell indeed exists. But it is not God who decides if we go there. Ultimately, it is a person's level of consciousness (LOC) that determines the fate of the soul. If their LOC is in the positive range (200 or higher on the Map of Consciousness) when they die, they will go to heaven. If it is in the negative range (below 200), they will go to hell. (Hawkins, 2003, pp. 254-255)
This idea will be hard for many people to accept, but it perfectly explains how a loving, non-judgmental God can exist while there is still accountability for our actions when we die. Many people reject Christianity because they cannot accept the idea of an angry God who passes judgment on us. But with this new understanding of heaven and hell, an angry God is no longer required. This is why I believe this new understanding of God and the afterlife has the potential to propel Christianity to new heights.
This brings up two important questions. Were the books of the Old Testament divinely inspired? If so, then how could they have been so fundamentally wrong when it comes to their depiction of God?
I believe the Old Testament books were indeed divinely inspired (with the possible exceptions of Ezra and Song of Solomon which do not mention God). However, it is possible for a text to be divinely inspired and yet still contain mistakes. To be divinely inspired does not mean that the author had God or the Holy Spirit whispering in their ear telling them exactly what to write. It doesn’t work like that.
The Gospels were also divinely inspired, yet there are contradictions between them regarding the details of major events (such as the birth of Jesus and the Resurrection). So to be divinely inspired doesn’t necessarily mean that everything will be completely correct.
When you think about it, the mistake that the Old Testament books make in their description of God as an angry, vengeful being is perfectly understandable. For if you believe that there is a God and that we go to heaven or hell when we die, it would seem logical that God is the one who passes judgment as to where we go. And surely God would be angered by those who commit evil. If not, then why would He send anyone to hell?
This all makes sense. Which is why it required someone like Jesus, who descended from heaven, to teach us the true nature of God, to teach us that his Father is a loving God, not an angry, vengeful one.
Unfortunately, Jesus could not easily explain how both a loving God and the realm of hell can co-exist together. For how could a loving, merciful God ever judge us? How could a loving, merciful God ever send someone to hell? No one has been able to answer these questions… until now. As a result, this anchor that has been weighing Christianity down for centuries can finally be tossed aside.
Hawkins, David R. I: Reality and Subjectivity. Sedona, Veritas Publishing, 2003.