Is God Cruel?

INTRODUCTIONIs the God of the Bible a cruel God? Atheists and other unbelievers would quickly reply affirmatively and would then proceed to point out examples from the Bible as evidence that God is harsh and sadistic."For instance," they would add, "Is a God that wipes out humanity with a flood, or that destroys cities and tribes because they do not reflect His moral standards not cruel and sadistic?" They would also point to other events relating to his own chosen people Israel and...
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INTRODUCTIONIs the God of the Bible a cruel God? Atheists and other unbelievers would quickly reply affirmatively and would then proceed to point out examples from the Bible as evidence that God is harsh and sadistic."For instance," they would add, "Is a God that wipes out humanity with a flood, or that destroys cities and tribes because they do not reflect His moral standards not cruel and sadistic?" They would also point to other events relating to his own chosen people Israel and even to individuals He says He loved, such as King David, for instance.Of course, to the biblically ignorant and to the ones who do not know the context of all of the above events, it might, in fact seem that God was indeed harsh and cruel; but not to the biblically literate; and definitely not to the ones who have spent years studying and the mind of God.This work was written to increase the reader's understanding and appreciation of God's character, His love for righteousness, His great wisdom and His unending love. Above all, it is meant to strengthen the reader's faith and trust in the Almighty so that he/she may turn to Him with total assurance in the fact that He is a Father who is always fair, just, and loving. To accomplish this aim, this book will analyze many major events that have been used by atheists and others as evidence of God's alleged cruelty; but it will do so in a way that is both original and unusual. Each analysis will begin with the thought-provoking, hypothetical question, "What if God...?" Afterwards every situation will be explored in depth as will the historical context. Lastly, the author will address what might have happened if God had handled each event differently. For instance, the Bible tells us that God destroyed the pre-flood world and only saved Noah and his family. This seems to be quite a drastic measure, and some skeptics point to it as an example of incomprehensible cruelty on God's part. But what if God had not destroyed the inhabitants of the earth and had allowed them, instead, to continue in their degeneracy? Would that have been a wiser decision? Or could it be that God's verdict was both appropriate and necessary? Again, God appears to be very harsh when He orders Israel to totally eradicate the inhabitants of Canaan. Scoffers point to this as one more example of sadism on God's part and insist that it contradicts the "God is Love" idea. But what if God had not ordered the Canaanites' total destruction and had allowed all of them to live side by side with Israel, though extremely evil? Would God have shown more justice by doing that? Lastly, what if God would not climax the end of our age with the horrific events described in the book of Revelation? What if He would, instead, orchestrate Christ's return in a much more peaceful and much less catastrophic way? Would not that be much more appropriate from a loving God, or could it be that even the cataclysmic end of the age is another manifestation of God's wisdom and greatness? In this work the reader will clearly see that God's actions are invariably wise, fair and just. No matter how seemingly cruel or unjustified, every one of his interventions, when looked at closely, reveals great love, patience, wisdom and justice. This book is meant to be a mind-expanding and transforming experience. The author's hope is that, by reading and reflecting upon God's traits and motives, the reader's understanding of God's mind will reach new heights and that his love and respect for God will multiply. Most of all, the author hopes that readers will be greatly reassured that the Ruler of the Universe is the best Creator there could ever be, the best Father we could ever have, and that humanity is in very good hands.