6 Bible Passages that Challenge the Christian Concept of God

Ask a Christian to describe God. The answers pretty quickly fill up with metaphysical
attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and timelessness. But
the Bible certainly was not written with these concepts in mind. The writers of the
Bible depicted a less lofty God than the modern Christian would have us believe:

1. God asks Angels for Advice on an Assassination

In 1 Kings 22, Ahab asks his prophets if he should go to war. The results are an
astounding “yes, you will have victory”. Ahab then asks the prophet of God, Micaiah.
Micaiah lies to him, but when pressed, decides to explain that he lied and God is
setting Ahab up for a massive deception. Micaiah explains the events led to this:

Quote
1Ki 22:20 And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at
Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
1Ki 22:21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will
persuade him.'
1Ki 22:22 The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' So he said, 'I will go out and be a
lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the LORD said, 'You shall persuade
him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.'

God was sitting in heaven surrounded by angels. God wanted Ahab to go to war such
that God can kill him. God then asks the angels for suggestions to make this happen.
Angels start giving God some ideas until one angel suggests lying to all the prophets.
God endorses this plan and sends out the angel to lie to all the prophets. Ahab ends
up going to war and dying. God has perpetrated a royal assassination through
deception, an idea that He crowdsourced from the angels.

2. Moses Adverts God’s Judgment through Peer Pressure

Anyone who has seen Exodus: Gods and Kings might remember the scene where
Moses is on Mount Sinai and looks below only to see Israel crafting a idol to a false
god. In the Bible, a very interesting exchange happens between Moses and God on
this point. God is infuriated. God wants to kill all of Israel. God’s new plan is to build
a new Israel through Moses.

But Moses argues that God should not destroy Israel. Moses offers a very interesting
argument:

Exo 32:12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm
them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the
earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.

Moses tells God that the other nations are watching. It would not look very good for
God to free His people from Egypt, but then just bring them into the wilderness to
kill them all. Israel would look like some sort of suicide cult, and God would not want
to be associated with that.

God does repent of wanting to kill all of Israel, and future writers in the Bible cite this
very reason:

Eze 20:9 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the
Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them,
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

God did not kill Israel because that would have made God look bad. God needed to
save face.

3. God Doesn’t Know What is Happening in Sodom

Kellogg's

4. God’s Curses Against Tyre Fall Flat

Nestle has
5. Satan Wagers Against God about the Future

On

6. God is Said to Live on Earth in a Temple

Cereal