When I Don't Like the Bible

The Bible contains some of the most beautiful passages in the world. It has stories of love and adventure, amazing miracles, heart-breaking tragedy, and even comedy. Then there are the parts I don't like, the parts that can make you question the goodness of God. What do we do when those start to get to us?

We love the soaring language of the Psalms. We cheer the stories like Elijah facing the prophets of Baal. Joseph's character through the trials he faced encourages us to be more godly. We are moved by Jonathan and David's tragic friendship. We're perplexed by David and Bathsheba's adultery.

And we wonder why their child had to die. And the first-born children of the Egyptians. And the children of the Canaanites. Did Uzzah really deserve to die? Did Nadab and Abihu's sin really warrant capital punishment?

There may be logical answers to those questions, but that doesn't mean they're really satisfying. The problem with these passages is they make us question the character of God. It's not rational; it's emotional. Like Lewis, we fear "so that is what God's really like".¹

What do we do then? Turn again to those passages that display the true character of God. When I began looking at how the prophets portray God two years ago, I pointed out that what makes people angry reveals a lot about their character.

Look again at those passages that tell us of God's concern for the widow and the orphan, tell us how he avenges the oppressed, and show how he jumps at the chance to forgive. We see this in the historical books, the Psalms, and the prophets. Reread Numbers, Jonah, and Amos. Remember that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of who God is. Revisit how he embraces the leper, forgives prostitutes, and blesses children.

I also borrowed the writer's adage "action is character". What did God do? "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). This is God's character.

Christians often quote, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", but we lose out when we don't consider the context. In that passage, God is calling on the wicked to repent.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
   come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without cost. ...

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
   call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
   and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
      declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55: 1, 6-9)

This is who God is. His mercy is incomprehensible. God has shown us that he is good.

We do not understand a lot of what goes on in the Bible, much less the world. Job challenged God to defend himself and got his ears pinned back. The response from the Lord was basically, "Can you run a universe?" (see Job 38-41).

No, I cannot run a universe. I cannot imagine the kind of decisions God has to make. I cannot fathom what it's like to have a plan executed over millennia.

But I can trust the heart of the One who does. Even when he does things I don't understand.


1 A Grief Observed

Related: God is Metal

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