Why is the biblical god so human-like?

[Fraught]

Strange huh? the biblical gods actions are quite godlike: he created the universe! He even created plants before he created a star to sustain them! Why are his interactions with man so...well...to be honest...full of petty/malicious/vengeful behavior?

I mean, god is all knowing right? He knew when he created man that man would sin. Why would he find it necessary to then destroy man (flood) in a fit of anger? This is something I would expect from an emotional, imperfect being....ya know, like a human. Boooohoooo, I didn't get my way so I'm going to lash out. I think all of you with children will recognize this as behavior in our 2-4 year olds that we try to teach them to outgrow.

Strange huh?

Peace

p.s. To avoid all of the stock posts that usually follow anyone questioning the bible: I am not questioning your belief in an all powerful/all knowing supernatural being. I just find the bible very difficult to believe as the word of an all powerful being. There is a difference.

something to consider: perhaps there are human beings that are not born of God. these are not children of God, they do not have the Spirit of God living inside of them. theoretically, they are all dead anyway and going about under the illusion of life.

if this is true, it's lucky that God is so benevolent and will give everyone a chance to become a 'real, live boy'! ( recalling pinocchio)

[irishcowboy]

Who is that 2-4 year old to question the action of the parent?

Actually I was comparing gods behavior to that of a 2-4 year old child.

Do you get angry when your child dis-obeys you? What would you do, punish them? God also must punish sin. With out that fear, children will do all kinds of wrong. But sadly, we are not remembering as we should the fear of punishment, and the world will be distroyed agian, this time by fire.

Only a loving father keeps giving his children warnings, and chances to change, and to obey the rules he set for the child. But to many warnings with no action backing it up, and the child no longer fears the punishment, and thinks you are an unfair parent. But who is really being unfair the parent, or the child?

so what you are saying is that even though god could anticipate our sin, and even though god could anticipate his anger with our sin, the only strategy he could come up with to get us to play within his rules was to kill us? Thanks for backing up my argument. This is NOT the kind of behavior one would expect from a supreme being, even one with emotions.

The notion that *physical* punishment is required to get a human being to behave a certain way is antiquated and destined for the garbage heap of bad human ideas. Am I saying that there should be no negative consequences to improper behavior? Of course not. We even have tools (god given if you are inclined to believe that way) to investigate the biological basis of behavior and help us improve our strategies for dealing with problematic behavior. Neuroscience has taught us that the brain is a very efficient pattern-matching organ. It has also shown that, although the brain can change over time, the brain has key developmental stages. If the brain does not receive the correct sensory input it needs during these stages it will *NEVER* build the connections that it would have if the sensory input was there. *We* have already come far enough as humans to realize that spanking children is an unproductive childhood "motivator". Studies show that not even the death penalty is a deterrent to extreme behaviors. Why didn't god know this when he killed everyone(almost)?

Peace

let me ask you this.......

just supposing you have 12 children...... you love them all with everything you have..... from the deepest pits of yourself you love them...... all through their growing up years, you teach them right from wrong, and when they become teenagers, they all, save one or two, rebel against you and do nothing that they know they are suppose to do.... they get in trouble at school, they thieve, they carry on with all sorts of orneriness and meanness, bullying others, doing everything they can for themselves not thinking of others at all.....

then as adults, they continue on, you become disabled, unable to even take out your own trash..... your 12 children (save one) does not even come and visit you, 60 - 70 years after their birth, you have one faithful child that still comes over and does your house repairs, takes out your trash, enjoys cooking your meals, tending to your laundry and even takes you shopping.... and most importantly, enjoys just being there with you...... the other 11 children, call you three times a year, maybe four..... and some do not even contact you more then once.....

through out all the years, you have had one that really enjoyed you, respected you and served you......

who do you think would see anything of your inheritance???? be real.... who would get it????

the story i just gave you is a true story, there are only three of the twelve still alive today, one is my step dad and he was the one child that tended to his mother and his uncle in their years.... when Grandma Helen and Uncle Elmer passed away, dad was the only one that received more then a dollar, all the others received a dollar, dad got the rest.... Dad lived a three hour drive from her house.... his brothers and sisters were with in a half hour....

God is no different.... if we choose to do things our way, we will not receive the inheritance that God has set aside for us, if we do things HIS way, we shall receive the inheritance that He has reserved specially for you... it is your choice, not HIS...

my dads brothers and sisters chose not to do as grandma needed, they chose not to serve her..... and they received only what the law of Oklahoma mandated, they received a dollar IAW the law.....

which reward do you wish to get? everlasting life? or eternal damnation??????

remember, it is your choice, and each is forever.....

Every Knee shall bow, and Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord....... some will be doing it with praises and singing, others will be doing it with pleas of mercy and grief as they are being drug off and cast into the lake of fire....

mike