God is not accountable to us?

[Binary]

I’ve been looking for explanations on some of the more violent parts of the old testament. A common response I have seen is something along the lines of “God is the creator and giver of life. He is not accountable to us for His choice to take it away at any time.”

I don’t fully understand this. Certainly God doesn’t have to justify His actions to us. BUT, being incapable of doing anything wrong, He is always justified (or to say it another way, has a justification). I don’t think it’s unreasonable to try to figure out what these justifications are. Saying God is not accountable seems intellectually lazy to me.

 

[jmcrae]

It’s really important to read the Old Testament thoroughly and in context. The violence makes a lot more sense when you realize where those tribes came from, and how much they truly hated the Israelites. Wars of self-defense are permitted under God’s law, and since these tribes were bent on utterly destroying God’s people, and since the children of these tribes would have felt themselves honour and duty-bound to complete the tasks of their parents, it was necessary to wipe them out completely.

Had they been followers of God’s laws, or if they had been merely neutral (didn’t care one way or the other about the Israelites) then God would most likely not have considered it necessary to wipe them out, but under the actual circumstances, it doesn’t seem as if there was much choice.

 

[Della]

You are right. God always has a justification for what he does.

It is hard for those of us who are not biblical scholars/interpreters to sometimes understand the more violent commands of God in the OT. But, I know from what little I learned in earning my B. A. in Bible, that the context, both historical and textual must always be considered first.

Then, there is what God intended in light of the coming of the Messiah, whom he promised to mankind back in Genesis. What appears to the average reader or those with little biblical education to be capricious on God’s part truly wasn’t, but was filled with divine purpose and justification.