Dr. David T. Lamb, associate professor of Old Testament, is the author of the new book God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist, and Racist? Dr. Lamb was recently interviewed about the inspiration, challenges, and what he hopes readers take away from the book.

What inspired you to write this book?

I love the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, but I've got to admit that the God of the Old Testament has a bad reputation.

It has always troubled me that people don't share my passion for Yahweh (God's name in the OT). Problematically, Yahweh's bad rap seems to be biblically based. Readers of the OT are frequently turned off by the portrayal of God they find there. They wonder why Yahweh seems to behave so badly: striking down Uzzah for stabilizing the ark (2 Sam. 6:7), telling a victimized woman to marry her rapist (Deut. 22:28-29) and commanding the Canaanite genocide (Josh. 10:40).

And it’s not just people who read the OT who have a problem with Yahweh.  The negative perception of Yahweh is also found in popular media: TV, movies and even comic strips (I use examples from The Simpsons, The Office, Evan Almighty, Ocean’s Thirteen, The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes and Doonesbury).  The “mean” God of the OT is often contrasted to the “nice” God of the NT.

However, in reality God is the same throughout the Bible and is consistently characterized by love.  Jesus himself loved the OT and referred to it frequently.  Since critical images of Yahweh affect readers of the OT negatively, it is vital to correct these distorted perceptions.  God Behaving Badly is my attempt to do just that.

What are some of the common misconceptions people have about the God of the OT?

I first need to acknowledge that there are often valid reasons for people’s misconceptions about God.  Many of these perceptions find some support in Scripture—that’s why we need to keep studying the text to discover what God is really like.

While there are many misconceptions about Yahweh, in God Behaving Badly I focus on seven.

• People think Yahweh’s anger is quick and random, but actually he is slow to anger and gets mad about the right things: evil, injustice and oppression.
• People think Yahweh is sexist and misogynistic, but actually he is highly affirming of women and even selected a women as the spiritual and political leader of Israel (Deborah).
• People think Yahweh is racist and hostile toward foreigners, but actually he is hospitable toward foreigners and commands his people to love the aliens as they love themselves (Lev. 19:34).
• People think Yahweh is violent and brutal, but actually he consistently punishes people severely in order to protect the weak and to promote peace.
• People think Yahweh is legalistic because he gives so many commands, but actually the reason he gives commands is to bless people and to move them deeper into relationship with him.
• People think Yahweh is rigid and inflexible, but actually he is highly flexible toward people who repent (and yet still stubbornly inflexible about his commitment to bless his people).
• People think Yahweh is distant and aloof, but actually he desires to be close to his people and he is often described as speaking to, walking with and dwelling among them.

How does a proper understanding of God affect a person’s worldview?

Our understanding of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God.  If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him.  But interestingly, the people in the OT who knew God best desperately desired to be with him (Abraham, Deborah, David and Elijah).

Negative perceptions about God could affect a person’s passion for reading Scripture, as one encounters commands that seem bizarre, obscure or irrelevant.  But people that knew God’s word well loved it.  The author of Psalm 119 even uses language that is embarrassingly effusive towards God’s commands: “My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times” (Psalm 119:20).

Our image of God will also affect what we think God’s followers should be like.  If God really were angry, sexist and racist, it would follow that Christians would be as well.  (And these are the very issues that the church has struggled with the most with over the past two millennia.)  However, as we study the text in light of its ancient cultural context, not only does a highly attractive God emerge, but also many of God’s followers appear as people we would want to emulate, not as hotheads, chauvinists and bigots.

Who do you hope to reach with this book?

I wrote the book for as wide of an audience as possible.  Friends have said they had a hard time putting the manuscript down.  An IVP copy-editor thanked me for making the text so funny.  Intervarsity staff workers have told me it will be perfect for college students.  Scot McKnight said it is a book he wants to assign for his academic classes.  (My father, brother and wife all liked it, but they may be biased.)

Specifically though, there are four groups of people I would hope to reach with God Behaving Badly.

• Atheists, agnostics and ex-Christians who have been convinced by the arguments of the “New Atheists,” such as Hitchens and Dawkins, and are turned off by a God who seems to be a “sadomasochistic bully. ”
• Religious seekers who want to believe in the God of the Bible but can’t because they’re so troubled by the supposedly “violent, racist, and sexist” God of the Old Testament.
• Christians who neglect reading the Old Testament because they are confused by the images of God they encounter there.
• Preachers and teachers who ignore the Old Testament because they don’t understand the disturbing behavior of Yahweh.

What do you hope people learn after reading your book?

Many Christians feel guilty for not reading their Bibles and it doesn’t help that when they finally get around to doing it, they encounter a God they don’t understand and who seems to be in many respects “unlikeable.”  I would hope that after people read this book they would have an increased passion, love and enthusiasm for Scripture.

Not only that, but I would also hope that this book would give Christians the information and knowledge to intelligently discuss the biblical portrayals of God with their skeptic friends and neighbors.  As skeptics and seekers read the book, my goal for them would be that some of their obstacles to faith would be diminished or removed.

However, my deepest hope is that readers of God Behaving Badly will desire to draw closer to God since they have a better understanding of his behavior, and they realize that he is not harsh, unfair and cruel, but loving, gracious and generous.

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God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist, and Racist?
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