The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Is the Old Testament God Different From the New Testament God?

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Bruce Gerencser

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I have long believed that Christians rue the day that they included the Old Testament in its canon of Scripture. By including the thirty-nine books of the old Testament in the canon, Christians ensured that they would spend the next 2,000 years defending its teachings — some of which are outright disgusting and immoral.

Increasingly sensitive Evangelicals try to distance themselves from the Old Testament — except, of course, for the Ten Commandments (or is it nine?), six day creation, universal flood, and the verses on tithing. Not wanting to be tarred with same brush as hardcore Christian Fundamentalists, these Evangelicals want to be well-liked and well thought of. One way they try to present their faith in a better light is by suggesting that there is an Old Testament God and a New Testament God, incompatible one with another. By doing away with the Old Testament deity, the violent tendencies of God disappear. What’s left is the loving, kind, compassionate God-Jesus of the New Testament. (And let me be clear, there is plenty of God-ordained violence in the New Testament. Many Evangelicals pretend they have reading disabilities when confronted with these verses.)

It is impossible to separate the God of the New Testament from the God of the Old Testament. If Jesus is God as Evangelicals allege, then he is the God of both the Old and New testaments. Everything attributed to “God” in the Bible must, by necessity, be attributed to Jesus too. Christians would have it a lot easier if the Old Testament God miraculously disappeared, but such a position cannot be rationally sustained.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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4 responses to “Is the Old Testament God Different From the New Testament God?”

  1. Merle

    As I write elsewhere to Christians who claim to follow the whole Bible:

    I do not think you follow these commands to kill the adulteress. I do not think you follow the law that says to not mix fabrics. You have a low view of such laws.

    Then Isaiah has something to say to you. He says you have no dawn! In Isaiah 8 he calls us to the law saying, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”(Isaiah 8:20 )

    Isaiah has diagnosed you. You don’t follow these commands? Ok, then Isaiah says you have no dawn.

    You disagree with Isaiah, don’t you?

    Yes, I expect you will tell me that Isaiah’s message to keep the law was only temporary, that the Old Testament system was given only to help people until the gospel would arrive. If the Old Testament was temporary, why doesn’t it say so? Repeatedly the Old Testament declares that this system is to last forever. For instance:

    Psalm 119:60 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

    2 Kings 17:37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever ; and you shall not fear other gods.

    Of course the law referred to in the above verses is the only law they had, that of Moses. But you disagree that this law is forever, don’t you? You don’t think that the law against wearing mixed fabrics or the law commanding the killing of those who curse parents is eternal, do you?

    What about those verses above that call these ordinances are everlasting? Are they wrong?

    from https://mindsetfree.blog/dare-to-question/is-the-bible-the-best-moral-guide/

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  2. Avatar
    Jeff Bishop

    Great and interesting post Bruce.

    Well, anyone with a half rational mind understands the inevitable conflicts when a new Jewish messiah rises from the ashes of the old Jewish order and is proclaimed the son of Yahweh and a “living” God.

    Conflicts such as: Well the “originators” of the original cult (Jews) have REJECTED this Jesus dude as proclaimed in the New Testament, have they not?

    Jesus IS NOT the Orthodox Jewish messiah so foretold. Feel free to straighten me out if I have this incorrect. But this is what my Orthodox Jewish friends tell me.

    Seems like that first century crowd called “Christians” hijacked somebody else’s ideas, at least that’s how I see it.

    Yes, what little I have studied the Old Testament suggests the supernatural “thing” in charge was a bit nasty.

    Bruce I am not exactly sure but when do Secular or Jewish historians record the existence of Abraham? I know AI gives a date of 2000-1700 BCE.

    Anyway, when I went to Bible school at Pensacola Christian my sophomore year, they had some weird preaching about Jesus and time travel into the past and some rather bizarre supernatural interconnections between the new and old testament.

    If you happen to know of any articles, authors or You Tube videos (secular of course) that address this, in particular Bart Ehrman, please let me know, I would be interested in exploring this topic.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    I had a difficult time with reconciling the OT God with the NT God and Jesus (excluding Revelation of course – that whole book is entirely grisly). I couldn’t fully acknowledge the thoughts that the OT God was a really nasty dickhead because I feared the thought would bring punishment from an omniscient God who could read my mind. Jesus seemed like a good guy, but his dad/himself – woof.

    I understand that early Christians wanted to co-opt the Jewish scriptures for a couple of reasons. One reason is that many early Christians were Jewish, so they were just adding the Messiah onto their faith. Additionally, using the Jewish scriptures as a basis gave some legitimacy to this new growing sect. Christianity wasn’t starting from scratch but rather on a rich religious history and culture. Of course, the cultural part got changed as more Gentiles joined the movement (not too many guys wanting to get circumcised as adults, I suppose 🤔).

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  4. Avatar
    Revival “I Lie for Jesus” Fires

    He is the CREATOR of life and the giver and sustainer.

    He can give it and he can take it away.

    He is not on a human level and will not and cannot be put in a box.

    He did remove alot of human trash in the Old Testament. Cannanites,Amelkites, King Agag, Goliath, Philistines,pharaoh and the Egyptians ,etc. and the Babylonians (the verse in Psalms that Anti-Christian atheists like to throw around about happy is he that smashed babies against a wall) is talking about Babylonians bashing Jewish babies against the wall.

    Evil men who threatened the birth of the Messiah and refused to repent.

    Everyone on this fallen planet is deserving of hell! And hell is completely avoidable!

    I’m thankful for his grace through Jesus Christ and not what we deserve.

    But sadly millions will choose to live for themselves and choose to reject the New Testament gift of grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ.

    Reply

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