Life Christian Fellowship @ USC

Many people make the comment that God depicted in the Old Testament (OT) seems different than the God of the New Testament (NT) — often, one’s impression is that the OT God seems more violent and punitive, sometimes putting people to death, and this seems in contrast to the image of Jesus, the “nice guy.”

Are these two contrasting depictions of the God the Creator?  Did he change?

First of all, let me start with this:  Jesus was no “Mr. Nice Guy” — there are times he smashed tables at the market in the Temple courts;  he would be quick to call out the religious leaders “brood of vipers;” even to one of his own disciples he uttered the words, “Get behind me Satan” (!).  I happen to think the “nice” image of Jesus has more to do with our association of him to the pleasant environment and the nice folks in churches than than on the Scriptures.

Remember the writings of the NT covers a very brief span of 50-60 years or so during pax romana.  Judea was under Roman rule, and within this particular corner of the world at this particular time, there were no wars to deal with.  In contrast, Abraham lived some 4000 years ago, where tribal wars was the way of life, not only for the Hebrews, but for all the cultures in the region.  It was either kill or be killed.  Such was the ancient, barbaric culture that God had to deal with, with a small, fledgling group of nomadic sheepherders — they did not fully understand God, and often the only “language” they understood was magnificent display of power and authority (think Red Sea, Jericho).  The point here is God gradually revealed himself over many generations, until we have the full revelation of His character in Jesus (“anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”).

An example I’d like to use is this.  When my son as younger, barely walking and too young to even speak, I still needed to teach him right from wrong, and also to let him know that I am his Father.  So when he does something seriously wrong (like smack his friend in the head with a metal box).  How did I communicate with him? – with the a language he would understand — I’d often raise my voice, and sometimes even resort to spanking when he refused to acknowledge he did wrong.  Now that my son is older and I am able to communicate with him and reason with him at his level, I find I no longer have to spank him.  I’d like to think my standards and who I am have not changed much, but from my son’s perspective, he may remember the spankings from years ago and think that I used to be a violent man and now I am reformed.  It is my hope that my son would see me as a whole person, not just a person who used to beat up his kids.

Roman coin showing Emperor Trajan

Whenever I tell people the New Testament is the best record we have of Jesus’ life, his teachings and his character, almost without fail someone asks for evidence for Jesus outside the Bible because they don’t feel(?) the Bible is reliable.  To me such request is akin to saying, “Teach me what Abraham Lincoln was like, but I don’t want to read anything written by his close friends.”

Nevertheless, there are well-known (in the academia, anyway) references to Jesus in the ancient writings.  In the preserved works of Roman history, documenting day-to-day events of the empire, all written by Roman officials (who, at the time were hostile to Christians and Christianity) we see examples that support the Bible accounts of Jesus and of early Christians.

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Another form of this question might be “Aren’t you a Christian because you live in America?” — the questions express the view that my beliefs are the result of sociocultural influences.

Let me start out by saying just because you’re influenced to believe something, it doesn’t mean that “something” is necessarily fake. I try my hardest to influence my boys to believe eating vegetables and brushing their teeth every night are good for them.

On the other hand, my parents‘ belief or disbelief about God doesn’t make me a Christian. Sure, they can be positive influences (in my case, however, my father did not like it when I started going to church at the age of 18), but ultimately we all need to make our own informed choices after doing some serious thinking.

I often ask two questions to people who tell me I’m a Christian because my parents made me: “are you a non-believer because you’ve thought it through seriously, or because of your sociocultural background?” And, “how many books have you read on (non-)existence of God before you concluded God does not exist?”

Recommended reading to get you thinking on your own: The Evidence That Demands a Verdict (McDowell) and The Case for Christ (Strobel) — both are books by two individuals (one a historian and the other a journalist) who set out to disprove Christianity, but in the process came to a conclusion that Jesus was who he said he was.

“There are many roads to the top of the mountain, and [your religion here] is one of many ways to God.” Chances are you have heard similar statements like this, but is it really that simple?

I believe all people of different faiths (and of no faith) should be treated with respect and dignity, and I am pretty sure most people in other faiths would agree with me. When it comes to statements like the one above, however, most people of faith would disagree with it. A few may even find the statement insulting.

The fact is, each of the world’s major religions has its unique set of core beliefs regarding 1) the nature/identity of God or gods, 2) the origin of man, 3) the path to salvation /enlightenment /deliverance and its meaning, and 4) the afterlife. We can talk about the specific differences, but the point is, they are not all the same.

Jesus himself made it quite clear that there are not many ways to God, but only one — himself (“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” NIV Jn14:6). He leaves no doubt that his teachings are quite different from other religious traditions.