James Crenshaw is a retired professor who has spent his entire life studying the Wisdom Literature of the Bible. He is an expert on Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. He has written numerous books on these subjects, and he is widely hailed as a scholar. In a recent interview, he was asked how he would describe the character of God in the Hebrew Bible.
The character of God in the Hebrew Bible has long troubled me, and I have struggled mightily to mitigate its negative impact on contemporary believers. There are too many disturbing features of the divine persona, as highlighted in Jack Miles ‘ God: A Biography. From my first book, Prophetic Conflict, to my recent book of poetry, Dust and Ashes, I have refused to accept the biblical depiction of deity as a helpful paradigm. In the end, I have been forced to view scripture as a literary construct of those who created god in their own image. It is becoming increasingly clear that the character of deity in the bible–the mandate for genocide, violence, wrath, sacrifice, patriarchy, slavery, boasting, and so forth–has left a legacy of hatred that the world can no longer bear. As I try to justify my worship by highlighting other features of scripture, it requires an enormous leap of faith. Still, I am not willing to forsake my Judeo-Christian heritage. The myth of divine pathos, while intellectually troubling, is at the same time emotionally compelling.
How tragic. This is classic evidence that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If you don’t start there, nothing else will bring you wisdom.
I think the compassion of the God in the OT is much easier to see through the lens of the NT. To be honest, without the New Testament, I don’t believe I would be drawn to the God of the OT. If Jesus had not yet come, I doubt I would be a Jew.