A God of love...

Many skeptics say they can’t believe in “the God of the Bible,” who punishes and judges people, because they believe in a “God of love.” But where does the notion
of God as love originate?  Certainly one cannot point to life in the world today – with all of it tragedies and wars - and say, “Here is evidence that the God of the world is a God of love”?  Furthermore, one cannot even appeal to the various religious texts and conclude that God is a God of love. By no means is love the dominant, ruling attribute of God as understood in any of the major faiths.

To believe in God being pure love—who accepts everyone and judges no one—is quite clearly, then, a powerful act of faith since there is no evidence for it in the natural order, and there is no historical, religious textual support for it - outside of Christianity. 

The source for understanding that God is a God of love is the Judeo-Christian Bible.  Yet, it is important to note, this same Bible goes further and informs us that the God of love is also a God of judgment.

Christianity stands out as not only being unique among religions but also as having the most reasonable understanding of what God has conveyed to His creation about His nature and what our collective and individual response to Him should be.

In the next series of articles, we will examine justifications for taking the Bible “at its word.”