In my world God is a god of forgiveness, a god of understanding. He is in no way a spiteful god. In my world man's rules do not interfere with my understanding of God. I'm not going out and breaking any rules but the religions of today make rules from man's point of view not God's and it confuses me. My dad called me today. Realize that he is concerned with all that is going on in my life and is trying his best to find a way to help. What he said though just added more confusion to my already out of control world. He told me that God is unable to help me or enter my life because I have Rosary beads hanging on my Bible. I was raised Catholic, I raised my children as Catholics, I taught religious education at our church for several years. Eventually I turned away from the Catholic church. For me it was just too depressing of a religion. I want to believe that God wants us to feel His love and not guilt when we turn to Him in prayer and in our daily lives. The Catholic religion didn't offer this to me so I left it.
If you have seen my Facebook page the personal quote I have listed on it is what I believe. It says, "Faith is the strongest religion". Too many religions are based on man's rules not on God's. They have taken the word of God and turned it around to fit their religions or the rules they want their followers to live by. The only word I feel we should be living by is that of the word of God. So I follow my faith, not a religion. I feel it is only through our own faith that we can find the love of God.
So back to my question, "Is God a spiteful God?" and I ask this because according to my dad, who is strongly influenced by the Jehovah Witnesses, has told me that my rosary beads are a Pagan symbol and the word of God cannot enter my home as long as I have them hanging on my family Bible. Okay so I have two questions about this actually. First of all if you look up the word Pagan it is simply a different form of beliefs. Pagans worship the earth and the moon cycles they are actually a very peaceful religion. Pagans do not believe in God so how would Rosary beads with the Son of God on the crucifix be a Pagan symbol??? I believe the word my father is looking for is Demonic or Satanic. He believes that the Catholic religion, in fact all Christian religions, have been taken over by the Devil, therefore the Rosary beads are in some way now a symbol of the Devil. How in any way, shape or form would this be Pagan? A belief in the worship of Earth, Nature and Moon is not the worship of the Devil.
So onto the real reason for this blog. My father also stated that as long as my Rosary beads remain on my Bible that God will not help me in my struggles with my daughter. So there in lies the question, is our God a spiteful God? Can I honestly believe that God will not help me because I have what I believe to be a symbol of my Christianity hanging on a Bible? Okay so for the sake of my dad, lets say he is right. My Rosary beads have some how in some way become a Satanic symbol and I have them hanging there because I had no understanding of their new symbolism. Is God going to deny me His help, His love and His directions because I unknowingly have this symbol in my home? That is like saying you are going to punish your child for doing something that he or she didn't know was wrong in the first place. Is this who we are to believe our God is. An angry or spiteful God that will punish us for unknowingly doing something wrong? I am sorry but that is NOT my God. My God would understand that in no way, shape or form am I purposefully doing something against Him and He would be forgiving enough to still offer me and my family His strength, His love and His guidance through these difficult times.
Maybe I am wrong but I have always believed that God takes us each at face value. He understands our fears, our doubts, the personal struggles we have encountered on our own seperate paths to discovering our Christianity and it is based on what He knows of each of us individually that will lead us to be judged by Him and Him alone and not on what one religion or another religion based on man's laws says.
I love my father, I love and respect him more then most people on this earth. He has always been there for me. I can turn to him when things are at their hardest and he always tells me he is there for me, he supports me and he never has strings attached to that love and support. So because of this I will do what he asks. I will remove the Rosary beads from the Bible. Not because I think it is somehow keeping God out of my home but because it is important to my dad. It will give him the peace of mind that he needs right now. I only wish that he could once again find the God of love that I know and trust. A truly forgiving God that will be there for you when you need Him regardless of what you may or may not have done in your past, or even what you may unknowingly be doing right now. I pray that somehow my father will once again find a God that should be praised for His love and his glory, not feared because someone here on earth has taken the word of God and twisted it around for their own purpose. Man is an imperfect being and in being so he interprets things only with his understanding not with the understanding of the All Knowing God.
So because of this I say, "Faith alone is the strongest religion." No one on this earth can tell you if your faith is right or wrong. It is something personal between you and God. God will understand your strengths and weaknesses on the day that you stand before Him to be judged. And at least for me and hopefully someday again my father, the God of my Faith is one of Love.
Dad is NOT a Jehovahs Witness...not by a mile...he has been introduced to the bible by them but is NOT letting them guide his life...he is guiding his life by what he has read in the Bible...and that alone. I agree with you in regards to God being a caring and loving God...but dad interrupts the Bible as saying that in the last days, which he strongly feels we are currently in, the devil has taken over the churches and that if you use church symbols they will somehow say that you agree with the churches...I really dont know what to believe I believe strongly, like you, that all you can do is the best you know how to. Know we both love you and your family and pray that God will send you someone who can help in this hour of crisis. Love you all.
ReplyDeleteThe title of your post is "Is our God really a spiteful God???" It seems that by "our God" you are referring to the Judeo/Christian god of the Bible. If that's the god you're talking about then, yes, he is very spiteful. As proof, read the Old Testament. In case you don't have the time or inclination, here are some passages from a few books of the OT:
ReplyDelete"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth" - Genesis 7:21-23
God drowns everything that breathes air. From newborn babies to koala bears - all creatures great and small, the lord god drowned them all.
"And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." - Genesis 22:10
Abraham shows his willingness to kill his son for his god. Only an evil, spiteful person (or god) would ask a father to do that.
"For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.
And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died" - Exodus 9:2-6
Why does god kill all of the innocent cattle? What had they done to deserve his wrath? Only an evil, spiteful person (or god) - or a psychopath - would take out his wrath on innocent animals.
(It seems that blogspot has a limit on the length of comments, so I'll continue this in my next comment.)
"An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Exodus 20:24
ReplyDeleteHere god gives instructions for killing and burning animals. He says that if we will make such "burnt offerings," he will bless us for it. What kind of mind would be pleased by the killing and burning of innocent animals?
Throughout Leviticus, god gives detailed instructions for performing ritualistic animal sacrifices. Such bloody rituals must be important to god, judging from the number of times that he repeats their instructions. The entire first nine chapters of Leviticus can be summarized as follows: Get an animal, kill it, sprinkle the blood around, cut the dead animal into pieces, and burn it for a "sweet savor unto the Lord."
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." - 1 Samuel 15:2-3
God orders Saul to kill all of the Amalekites: men, women, infants, sucklings, ox, sheep, camels, and asses. Why? Because god remembers what Amalek did hundreds of years ago. So all those people and animals had to die because of something the people's ancestors did. Sounds pretty darn spiteful to me.
Those are just a few examples. Need more? I can provide dozens. There are a lot in the New Testament, too.
However, the first line of your post suggests that you might not be referring to the Judeo/Christian god of the Bible. You say "In my world, God is..."
To me, this says you're not going by any religious version of a god, but by a god you create that is a reflection of what you want/need. This is very common. "If you want to know the mind of God - look in the mirror." For more on this concept, check out http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=1323 and http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18216-dear-god-please-confirm-what-i-already-believe.html
(Continued in next comment...)
In your post, you refer to the "word of God" several times, but how do you know what that is? You say, "the religions of today make rules from man's point of view not God's..." How do you know God's point of view?
ReplyDeleteTo try to know the "word of God" or "God's point of view" you can go by one of the (dozens of) versions of the bible - the book that your pastor friend, Steve, claims is "inerrant." But how can something that has dozens of versions and translations and even more interpretations (and has been picked over and edited for centuries) be "inerrant"? Why not go by one of the versions of the Koran instead? If you'd been born in the Middle East, that's most likely what you'd do.
Or you can go by what you feel is right - your version of god. That's what you seem to be doing when you make statements like:
"In my world God is a god of forgiveness, a god of understanding."
"I am sorry but that is NOT my God. My God would understand that in no way, shape or form am I purposefully doing something against Him"
"I have always believed that God takes us each at face value."
You've used your heart and your mind to interpret and build your god. But why give all of the credit for your feelings and experience (your heart and mind) to something you call "God"? Why not acknowledge that it's your humanity, your inner strength, your inherent human knowledge of what's right and wrong that you are using to create this thing you call "God"? Your strength is inside YOU, not in the idea of a being you create.
Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes life REALLY sucks. Why does it happen? Because it happens. Not because you or your faith are being tested by some god, spiteful or otherwise. Not because you're being punished by that same god. It's just the random occurrence of events. The strength to overcome the bad events is inside YOU.
I can imagine that it's comforting to think about a big, loving Sky-Daddy who watches over you and takes care of you, but that idea seems to be burdening you with doubts and questions rather than providing comfort. Maybe it's time to look to a new source of strength - yourself. You might want to look to your family and friends, too.
I love you.