God Behaving Badly: Is The God Of The Old Testament Angry, Sexist, And Racist? by David T. Lamb
The short answer to this book’s subtitle is no. The longer answer takes a bit under 200 pages of well-written and closely argued prose to answer. Lamb is to be commended for this work–he manages to write a book that tackles serious “problem passages” dealing with the issues of anger, racism, sexism, rigidity, and other areas, showing that rather than going to any extremes, the portrayal of the Bible, and of God’s people, and God’s ways as a whole, is immensely complex and deeply relational in nature. Overall, this book strikes the right approach–in addressing problem scriptures it begins by seeking to learn from scripture, examining the context, and demonstrating that God reaches us as we are, and that meant reaching the patriarchs and ancient Israel where they were as well. Additionally, the book presents a strong moral challenge to contemporary believers to demonstrate the same lovingkindness and graciousness towards others that God has shown to His believers throughout biblical history.
In terms of its contents, the book is organized in a series of false dilemmas that the book addresses while maintaining the tension between them. The book begins by discussing God’s bad reputation in the eyes of many in our present society, looking mostly at the Old Testament. Then the book gives seven dichotomies and demonstrates the complexity of Yahweh in all of them: angry or loving, sexist or affirming, racist or hospitable, violent or peaceful, legalistic or gracious, rigid or flexible, and distant or near. Then, after a short epilogue and discussion questions, the book closes with its notes, acknowledgements, bibliography, and a scripture index. In terms of its passages, no one can accuse the author of dodging difficult passages–the book examines such challenging and rich passages as Naaman’s cleansing from leprosy [1], Elisha’s curse against the crowd of young hoodlums [2], Jesus’ role as Lord of the Sabbath in seeking to do good for others [3], and even such areas as the legitimacy of lament psalms as a sign of God’s desire for His people to be honest about their struggles [4]. At times the author does not claim to fully understand the passages being examined, but he brings to it the right approach–a desire to learn, a willingness to give the benefit of the doubt, and a desire to understand God on His own terms, through the use of both near and full biblical context. This approach is admirable and worthy both of praise and emulation by others who make biblical commentary part of their own stock and trade as writers and speakers.
It must be admitted that this book is not perfect. For one, it pulls a bit short of fully endorsing the practice of the Sabbath even as it points out the problems of a lack of rest in contemporary society. For another, this book adopts a politically correct language with regards to issues of gender and race that copy the lamentable political discourse of our present outrage culture and not the more inclusive biblical language. That said, much of this book’s powerful relevance to readers is in its challenge for believers to recognize the gracious and egalitarian thrust of God’s working with humanity, especially where it comes to being just and hospitable to the stranger and (especially for men) to show respect for the wisdom and insight of women, and to seek wives as partners and not as subjects, and for believers in general to combine reliability with gracious flexibility and mercy in dealings with others. This book has received a great deal of praise from a wide variety of readers, and that praise is well-earned. This is a book that should be required reading for students wishing to grasp the importance of biblical hermeneutics, and is direct and straightforward enough to be accessible to a wide reading audience. Here’s hoping the book finds the wide audience it richly deserves.
[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/go-up-you-baldhead/
[4] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/psalm-13-will-you-forget-me-forever/
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/psalm-56-put-my-tears-into-your-bottle/
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/psalm-44-arise-do-not-cast-us-off-forever/
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/psalm-88-for-my-soul-is-full-of-troubles/
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