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

by David T. Lamb

God has a bad reputation. Many think of God as wrathful and angry, smiting people right and left for no apparent reason. The Old Testament in particular seems at times to portray God as capricious and malevolent, wiping out armies and nations, punishing enemies with extreme prejudice.
But wait. The story is more complicated than that. Alongside troubling passages of God's punishment and judgment are pictures of God's love, forgiveness, goodness, and slowness to anger. How do we make sense of the seeming contradiction? Can God be trusted or not?
David Lamb unpacks the complexity of the Old Testament to explore the character of God. He provides historical and cultural background to shed light on problematic passages and bring underlying themes to the fore. Without minimizing the sometimes harsh realities of the biblical record, Lamb assembles an overall portrait that gives coherence to our understanding of God in both the Old and New Testaments. This expanded edition includes an updated preface, afterword, and appendix addressing the story of Noah and the flood.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, Old Testament, Faith

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Lamb is associate professor of Old Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. He has worked in campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. His first book was "Righteous Jehu and His Evil Heirs" (Oxford).

Reviews

[Daniel Bastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

From Marcion to Richard Dawkins, many have found the Old Testament troubling, not least for its Pandora’s box of ethical difficulties and the striking dissonance it generates when contrasting its patterns and ideas of morality with those of Jesus in the gospels. The God of the Old Testament is portrayed as bloodthirsty and capricious, jealous and vengeful, sexist and provincial, not to mention exhaustingly legalistic, while the New Testament’s protagonist comes off rather as an ethical savant, whose preachments and parables fare more admirably up against modern criticism. And this inter-testament discord has created tensions which persist to this day. This “disturbing divine behavior,” as Old Testament studies professor Eric Seibert labels it in his 2009 book of the same name, is one of the major strains of polemic featured in the rhetoric of New Atheists like Dawkins and Sam Harris.

To illustrate the depth of the problem, consider the following observation by nonviolent activist Walter Wink, summarizing an analysis by Raymund Schwager, prominent Catholic priest and theologian of the previous century:

“There are six hundred passages of explicit violence in the Hebrew Bible, one thousand verses where God’s own violent actions of punishment are described, a hundred passages where Yahweh expressly commands others to kill people, and several stories where God irrationally kills or tries to kill for no apparent reason…Violence, Schwager concludes, is easily the most often mentioned activity and central theme of the Hebrew Bible.”

Most Christians are at least aware of the multiplicity of sordidness lining their source texts, yet few have either the desire or the resources to properly engage them. As a result, Christians often choose to ignore them completely, preferring to decamp to the New Testament where they can find refuge in the magnetic miracle-workings of Jesus. Or, rather, they assume their pastors and the theologians of higher academia have come up with tidy and impervious answers to all of their concerns. Yet the question echoes, if not throughout the halls of seminaries but in the minds of sincerely questioning believers: What are we to make of a book which depicts God as an ally to slavery, genocide, misogyny, and prodigious violence?

A recent attempt to defuse these perennial concerns is David Lamb’s 2011 apologia, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? As Lamb makes clear at the outset, Christianity is no stranger to these questions: “[The idea that] the Bible condones violent, sexist or racist behaviors are problems that Christians and the church have struggled with since the time of Christ.” (p. 178) Lamb invites his readers to wade with him into the dark, tempestuous waters of the Old Testament and explore these questions on a more contextual level. With clear and accessible prose Lamb shoulders the unenviable task of navigating this theological minefield and resolving the ostensible split personality of the biblical God.

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[Hattush · Rating 2 out of 5]

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
~ Judges 10:16

Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
~Isaiah 65:24

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
~Exodus 2:23-25

“Jesus says to love each other, but the God of the Old Testament commanded murder, death, and genocide.”

We hear it all the time from believers and unbelievers. We think of Jesus as a kind, child-patting, weeping, soft man, and The Old Testament God as an angry patriarch sitting on a cloud with furrowed brows, searching for sinners to smite.

We forget that Jesus and Yahweh are not different Gods! We serve one God, and His character does not change from anger and hatred to love and acceptance.

God Behaving Badly by David Lamb seeks to make sense of the hard passages in the Old Testament – places where God comes across as sexist, racist, and genocidal. He takes his readers through many of the problematic stories and gives background and context to show how God is, in fact, none of those things.

While I appreciate what Lamb tries to do, there are many things that I disagree with and find problematic.

Let me start by saying that I’m no stranger to the Old Testament. When I was a child, my parents never gave us kids’ Bible story books – they sat us down with the KJV when we were just learning to read. I’m forever grateful for that. I’ve read and studied the Bible all my life, and never skipped over the troubling stories. I spent many nights wrestling with some of the things that I found, wondering how God could be so cruel. But the more I read, the more I understood.

God is never cruel. God is just. God is holy. God is righteous. We would never respect a God that didn’t punish the wicked. Would God be just if He looked at people who sacrificed their own children by burning them as a sacrifice and He did nothing? (Deuteronomy 12:31)
Would God be just if He allowed wickedness to go unchecked? (Jude 7)

No.

We live in a country that hates rules and laws. We demand freedom. There is no freedom unless there are laws. But that’s a topic for another time. God has given laws not because He is a control freak, but for our own good!

Despite saying that he doesn’t believe this, Lamb projects the idea that God and Jesus are almost different gods – one loving, the other judgmental. Many times, he contrasts Yahweh and Jesus.
Jesus didn’t come to offer a new religion, but the completion of what God had always revealed. The Golden Rule wasn’t a new idea that Jesus came up with. It is found in Leviticus.

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
~Leviticus 19:18

Almost everything that Jesus says can be traced back to the Law and the Prophets. I don’t appreciate how Lamb promotes the idea that Jesus came with radical new ideas and completely threw out all the OT laws. That’s simply not true.

Lamb is quite disrespectful of God at many points, speaking of Him jokingly as a “smiter” and someone who you’d better tiptoe around and obey perfectly. This not only perpetuates the cruel “God in the sky stereotypes”, but it also ignores God’s insane compassion in the OT. Anyone who has truly read the OT will be blown away by God’s care for not only His people but the nations. I have so much to say on that subject, but I don’t have space here. While Lamb did explain many of the problematic stories in the OT, he failed to share many of God’s moments of compassion, how He weeps over His people, how His soul aches for them and how He can’t endure their suffering. Sharing these things would have been so helpful in showing God’s true heart of compassion for humanity.

I don’t agree with a lot of Lamb’s theology – he is a very progressive and tries to shove the Bible into that. I don’t agree with his ideas of reconciling evolution and Christianity or that the flood was only regional. I didn’t realize his worldview until I was almost done with the book, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have read it.

I am glad, however, that I did read it. He makes a lot of good points, especially in the chapter on sexism. I never thought that God was sexist, but I do see how some texts can be read that way. I especially appreciated how he showed that God’s laws for rape victims were for the protection of the woman. It was a different culture, and a raped woman would have been destitute. That’s why God commanded that she be married to her rapist. She would be provided for and have security all her life.

A lot of the OT laws and stories that don’t make sense can be explained when we research the culture and the historical time. Things that we don’t get in the 21st century made perfect sense in ancient times. I recommend Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James. So many of the OT stories that puzzled and troubled me make sense simply by understanding the cultural backdrop to them.

In the end, God will not be put into a box. We don’t get to demand He do this or that or act in a specific way. He will do what He knows is best and we don’t have to understand it. God doesn’t need us to defend His actions to unbelievers.

We don’t know the full picture. He is always just and righteous and He doesn’t need to justify His deeds to His creation. As C.S. Lewis said in the Chronicles of Narnia, God is good, but He is not safe. We rest in His goodness and His mercy, but at the same time, we know that that we serve a God who is Holy and who doesn’t take our sin and our disobedience lightly.

In conclusion, I learned quite a few things from Lamb’s book, and it clarifies some of the hard passages of the Bible. But we must be careful not to force the Bible to say things that it doesn’t to fit our worldview.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the objections that the late Christopher Hitchens and others have raised to Christianity is the character of the God they find in the Bible. In their account, God, especially in the Old Testament is so angry that he kills Uzzah simply for steadying the ark. He seems sexist, racist and inconsistent. And for many, these are real obstacles to faith--who wants a God like that.

David Lamb and his students have also wrestled with these questions but come to a very different conclusion about God, and surprisingly have come to this by close reading of the scriptures. For example, the Uzzah incident. The deal was that the ark, which represented God's kingly presence, was meant to be carried on poles, similar to royalty. Instead, Israel was hauling it around on a cart--the equivalent of asking the king to ride in the trunk of your car. They were treating God with contempt--as just so much baggage. For God to continue to tolerate this would make him a wuss!

He goes on to explore a number of the difficulties we encounter regarding women and other peoples. But perhaps the most interesting chapter is the one where he discusses whether God is rigid or flexible. Lamb argues that God is rigid in keeping his promises, and flexible in showing mercy to those who repent.

This book is well worth reading if you have these questions or are a thoughtful reader of the scriptures and have struggled with these issues.

[John Martindale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, David Lamb includes humor and popular culture as he writes about various problematic passages in the Old Testament, seeking to show that God is loving, merciful and good. He seems like the kind of guy I would enjoy as a friend and well, as a professor. My favorite chapter was the one concerning God not being sexist, he made a excellent case from the OT that God is very affirming to woman and yeah, i really like it. David's chapter on the OT violence did not really satisfy, but it is clear that cases of violence that God condones are in the context of judgment, which helps, but still for me I am rather disturbed by how bloody God can be, even though its justified, since he is the judge. But yeah, though some parts of the books did not go into much depth, I thought over all it was enjoyable and made some good points.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written for the layman who knows little to nothing of how to interpret the Old Testament's difficult passages or who has read very little of the Bible, making it lean to the boring side for those who are more knowledgeable about the Bible. If you have read a few apologetic books before, Lamb's book is probably going to be a restatement of what you've already read. Even so, I found this book to be interesting until the chapter on God's immutability, or unchanging-ness. I found his exegesis of the texts to be somewhat lacking, his argument confusing, and his misunderstanding of what it means to be changeable (as opposed to simply changing one's mind) perplexing. It really ruined the book for me. Still, an acceptable starter text for people wrestling with the questions addressed in the book.

[Kimberly Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through solid exposition and an inviting, readable writing style, Lamb has provided us with the perfect resource for anyone with honest questions about God or the Bible. Even if you do not consider yourself to be an official "skeptic" - at one time or another you have come across things in the Old Testament (or heard about them!) that make you cringe. You want to love God and trust Him, but how can you if He orders toddlers to be mauled by bears, oppresses gifted women or calls for innocent nations to be swept away by the sword? But then along comes this extremely helpful book - one that raises all of these legitimate, thought-provoking questions (and more), and then carefully, faithfully answers them, one by one - leaving you not only with a deeper appreciation (and interest in) the Old Testament, but inspiring you with a deeper love for God Himself. Lamb's contagious joy in his relationship with God and his deep love for His Word combine with his scholarly gifts to give us the kind of answers that lead to deeper faith - and all that for under ten bucks! I highly recommend this book! Enjoy

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for those who are interested in learning more on how to reconcile the apparent differences between God as portrayed by the New Testament and the Old Testament. The author does a good job of overcoming some of the difficulties, while at the same time realizing that somethings just must live in tension. Further, the author also brings out Scriptural evidence that is often overlooked as we deal with the troubling passages. Overall this book is well worth the read.

[Sarah Frobisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. I did not feel like the reasoning given was adequate, and there were a few instances of circular logic which was frustrating. I was hoping for a more convincing argument for some of the things presented, and it just wasn't there.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lamb's book tries to address the more troubling aspects of God as He appears in the Old Testament: the seemingly random acts of violence, the killing, the apparent misogyny, and so forth. While Lamb doesn't try to excuse everything, when we consider the context of those stories, both in terms of known history and within the story itself, we see a more complex character.

I like the author's attitude in particular. Rather than dismiss critics as misguided or hateful, he's willing to consider what they have to say and see if he can learn something from the process. For example, he opens the last chapter with a quote from one of Phillip Pullman's evil evil atheist recruitment books, namely where Ms. Coulter asks if God's real, then where the hell is he? As tempting as it would be to just shut her out as a blasphemer, Lamb points out that that's also how dozens of the Psalms begin. Lots of people in the Bible have crises of faith.

[Eli Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing a book with this scope and not addressing slavery is tomfoolery of the highest order.

[Lars · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Lamb's discussions on difficult Old Testament passages combined with his persisting assertions that Yahweh and Jesus is one and the same God makes this a brief, yet relevant book for believers and seekers alike. I doubt Dawkins and Hitchens would ever pick up a book like this one, but Lamb does a great job at responding to their criticism of the Old Testament God nonetheless. In addition, the book is rather funny and also personal, and honest. I'm definitely recommending this one.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

So here’s the backstory: I was asked to read and review Dr. Lambs new book (2022) entitled The Emotions of God. I was happy to do so because he is a friend and a very engaging teacher of the OT, though we have our quibbles. I knew from a conversation we had that he didn’t affirm impassibility, as I do, so I was eager to hear his case against classical theism. But, six whole pages in, he writes, “even though the issue of divine impassibility is relevant to this discussion of God’s emotions, I will not discuss it in depth. Discussions of the topic quickly become highly theological, philosophical, and abstract, which may be fascinating to theologians and Bible scholars, but not to so much to folks who don’t read Hebrew, Greek, or Latin.” Needless to say, I was disappointed. But he footnoted his first book (this one) claiming to have a whole chapter on the subject! Which leads me here.

I read the entire book, and many chapters are really good and thought-provoking. Dr. Lamb is a punchy and comedic writer at times which helps the delivery. Some defenses of God’s character are stronger than others, but I was mainly interested in the chapter on impassibility!

Technically, chapter 7, entitled “Rigid or Flexible” was on immutability, but the topics are connected. The chapter does a great job identifying the problem of the OT explicitly teaching that God doesn’t change his mind and then describing him as doing that very thing. His conclusion is that God is “predictably flexible, constantly changeable and immutably mutable, at least in regard to showing mercy toward repentant sinners” (147). What disappointed me was only engaging two thinkers from the classical theism tradition: Thomas Aquinas and a sermon from Jonathan Edwards. Rather than engaging their arguments, he simply records the sources Thomas cites and accuses both of not having all the data or letting their systematic theology impact their exegesis. Needless to say, I left more convinced of the historic/creedal position. In my opinion, this is a case of the biblical scholars needing the systematic ones and vice versa. I don’t get the sense Dr. Lamb has quite a clearly defined doctrine of Scripture (archetype/ectype, doctrine of analogy, etc.) that would be really helpful for wrestling with these passages. I hope to have the opportunity to talk with him more on the topic!

[Allie Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Lamb examines some of the most confusing, challenging passages of the Old Testament. As an OT scholar armed with a deep understanding of culture and context, Lamb is able to engage these difficult texts and seeks to help his readers gain a greater view of the goodness of God's character. He is not afraid of unanswered questions or the complexities of God's character. While this book is introductory, it caused me to engage with the concerns of the culture around me and reflect on the opposition I typically fly over or dismiss.

Overall, this book warmed my heart toward Yahweh all the more. Lamb shows how God's anger, while slow, often presents itself in response to evil and oppression and how his violence is often in defense of the weak. He demonstrates how vividly God values women and foreigners, considering the surrounding norms of the day. The most impactful chapter for me was chapter seven, where Lamb articulates how God is unchanging in his commitment to bless his people, yet flexible and relenting when it comes to showing mercy and compassion.

This book would be great for anyone genuinely repelled by what they read of God in the Old Testament. It's also a great book for Christians who would prefer to avoid these difficult passages, feel distant from or embarrassed by God based on these stories, or are in search of language to help them articulate the goodness of God to others. Based on Lamb's writing style, it's clear to me that I would enjoy him as a professor. He is able to communicate a deep understanding of the Old Testament in a way that is accessible for all. He is unwavering in his ability to find a pop culture reference, and his sarcastic asides make for a fun read.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of “God Behaving badly” is the God of the Old Testament angry, sexist and racist. David Lamb decided to expand his 2011 edition, he has updated it to include the problematic behavior of God, especially for college students. Issues like #MeToo, Black lives Matter and added more on the story of Noah. I personally didn’t like the title but after reading the book I think David makes very strong points with many movie references, which would appeal to college age students. For the serious students there are discussion questions which really are challenging. Very strong notes, bibliography, and additional reading and scripture lists are just some of the outstanding elements of this fine book. David Lamb is the dean of faculty of Missio Seminary in Philadelphia and taught with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and taught extensively in various cross-cultural contexts.
If we avoid teaching troubling texts, then our students as they head off to college are not prepared to discuss the hard texts with agnostics, skeptics, family. This book will really make you look at the way certain passages were avoided or not explained to the questioning young minds and how you might help strengthen their beliefs rather than weaken them. Lots of great examples of discussion topics will be found. Calvin and the Simpsons are there along with theologians of old, you will not be discouraged but intrigued to get out the commentaries and relook at those sticky passages and situations we avoid.

[Allison Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. I like that the author is trying to break down/look at/give context to "problematic" passages in the OT, however, this book is short and leaves readers with a lot of questions. I think his goal is sincere in addressing people's assumptions of the characteristics of God and he writes in a way that is easily digestible, but I think it was definitely lacking in some chapters.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book more than anything proves that God is loving. One of the things I've learnt from it is to avoid reading scripture through 21st century eyes. It has helped clear up the questions I didn't even know I had about scripture.

[Simon Wiebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sehr freches und anschauliches Buch. Fand es im Kontrast zu anderen apologetischen Büchern, die sich mit dem AT beschäftigen, am besten.

[Daneen Maretski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loveee this book! This is a perfect read for those who want a deeper understanding of Gods love throughout the OT. It gives fresh perspective on the old law and the heart of God.

[Josh Withrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that addresses some relevant arguments against the OT with a combination of humor and logic. Not a technical or academic read but accesiable to a wide range of readers (high school and up).

[John Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely worth reading! The task of this book was both a noble and difficult one, and Lamb did not shy away from even the wildest Old Testament passages. Because of that, some of his arguments feel forced or just shaky; there’s never really going to be a satisfactory explanation of the slaughter of the Canaanites. With that said, several sections of the book provide new insight into pieces of scripture we Christians tend to brush aside.

[Josh Olds · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” – The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

Anyone who reads the Old Testament has to grapple with the subject sooner or later. Why is God portrayed like this? You may not come to the hyperbolic extremes of Dawkin’s conclusion, but a plain reading of the Old Testament will leave you wondering. Is the God of the Old Testament angry, sexist, and racist? Old Testament scholar David T. Lamb attempts to answer that question in God Behaving Badly. This is an expanded edition, based on the 2011 original, and while the overall thesis of Lamb’s answers are retained, this edition has more nuance and is written with the major cultural upheavals of the last decade in mind. After a chapter of introduction, Lamb takes readers through seven different types of competing attributes:

• Angry or Loving?
• Sexist or Affirming?
• Racist or Hospitable?
• Violent or Peaceful?
• Legalistic or Gracious?
• Rigid or Flexible?
• Distant or Near?

New to this edition is a chapter in the appendix that specifically discusses Noah’s flood and all the ethical/moral implications of God’s great reset of humanity in Genesis 6–8. While I appreciate that addition (why do we decorate church nurseries with Flood imagery???), what I appreciate more is that the rest of the book doesn’t take the style of examining a narrative but examining a theme. That thematic overview gives God Behaving Badly the feeling of a blanket, covering over broad swaths of the narrative, rather than narrowly trying to cover specific texts.

I also appreciate that while Lamb digs deeply into the Old Testament and its historical/cultural background, he also brings contemporary application and cultural relevance. You might think that reading commentary on ancient texts would be dry and boring (and those books do exist!), but Lamb deftly uses cultural references and conversational language to make God Behaving Badly a compelling, page-turning read. Lamb is just as likely to quote an academic commentary as he is Calvin and Hobbes and that makes things easier and more fun for everyone.

That does mean that some of the answers Lamb gives aren’t as academic rigorous as it might be if he was addressing a different audience. There were times where I wished an answer was a little deeper or held a little more nuance or addressed some obvious follow-up question (or at least one I thought was obvious). But the tone, the specificity, and the content are perfect for the audience God Behaving Badly is trying to attract.

I’ve read a lot of these OT apologetics and this is the strongest one that I’ve found. Lamb is clear that tensions still exist, that answers aren’t clear or easy, that sometimes we must simply sit in the tension. But where there is clarity, he offers some. Where there are insights, he provides abundantly. Most importantly, he offers a way of interpreting the Old Testament so that it has relevance for readers today. More than just an ancient text from an irrelevant covenant, the OT has a lot to say about what a God-structured community looks like and how God-followers are to act when in power. As such, God Behaving Badly holds great relevance for readers today, not just to defend God’s integrity (as if God needed apologists), but as a way of guiding readers into experiencing and living out God’s goodness.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

How could God command genocide?

Why does God endorse slavery?

God is a sexist monster, isn’t he?

These are the sorts of questions that frequently come up in discussions about the Bible, whether those discussions are with skeptics or sincere Christians working through the Bible for the first time. Such questions have always been there, the first Christians had to spend much time, and spilled much ink, seeking to answer them. But it seems such questions are becoming continuously louder in our culture as more people move away from faith. At the most extreme, the fact that God in the Old Testament commands such barbaric actions is proof such God, any God, does not exist.

I think this question is much more challenging then issues related to science, for example. Whether Darwinian evolution is true or not seems, to me, irrelevant to the question of God’s existence. But a God who commands the extermination of whole people groups or institutes laws that make women second class citizens? Such a God as portrayed in the Bible makes us question the validity of the Bible and its God.

That said, there are many great books out there that provide answers to these questions. I think “answers” is better then “answer” because the seriousness of these questions shows there is no easy answer that simply takes all questions away. This is one thing I most appreciated about David Lamb’s book God Behaving Badly – he takes the question seriously and though he offers many answers, in the end he admits this remains a difficult issue. Lamb’s book tackles many of the common questions such books address, such as the genocide of the Canaanites and the apparent sexism of the Old Testament God. But he goes on to address other issues, such as whether God is near or distant, which are not always addressed.

There are a lot of books out there on this subject. Lamb’s is a welcome addition and a must-read for any who have questions on these topics.

The only problem I found in the book is when Lamb refers to another scholar, Eric Seibert. Apparently Seibert argued that if the Bible says God committed such atrocities we can simply say God did not do such things for the God revealed in Jesus would not do such things. I have not read Seibert, but his argument reminded me of Peter Enns whose recent book I did read. Lamb says he is not comfortable with “rejecting” the Old Testament accounts. This does not seem fair of Enns (or Seibert) for I do not think they would say they are rejecting anything. Reinterpreting? Yes. Enns emphasizes the human aspect and says that God wants such stories in scripture even if they portray him wrongly. A minor issue to be sure, but it seemed to misrepresent those who hold such positions.

Finally, If you are interested in this topic, definitely check out Peter Enns’ recent book that takes a slightly different take on the issue – The Bible Tells Me So: How Defending the Bible Has Made Us Unable to Read it.

Also, Paul Copan’s Is God a Moral Monster? and Christopher Wright’s The God I Don’t Understand.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good, popular level book which wrestles with the ways the God of the Hebrew bible is maligned in both popular Christianity and by its critics. Lamb produces a compelling vision of the God of love, who is not rigid, angry or sexist. He does this by wrestling with difficult texts (i.e. gang rapes and genocide). Sometimes he offers alternative readings of texts, more often he places these texts with in a wider and more generous view of the God of the Old Testament, offering a hermenuetic for reading difficult passages in the context of the whole.

Much of the information in this book is stuff that I wrestled with in several classes in seminary, but I can't always recommend my seminary texts to 'normal people' because they wouldn't read it or know what it says. This is an accessible and engaging volume which tackles many of the issues and helps ordinary readers regard the Old Testament as scripture.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up with the author, David Lamb. I will point out that I co-authored a junior high report on sedimentary rock with David. The influence is clear. OK, David probably doesn't even remember me, but it is fun to read books written by your childhood contemporaries.

I am Jewish and God Behaving Badly was an interesting look into a Christian perspective on the Old Testament, and the personality of our Lord God. Dave's casual, relaxed writing style, replete with contemporary and even personal anecdotes, made this an easy read. Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? No! explains David.

[Moni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lamb presents some great theories that really do connect the Old Testament Yahweh with the New Testament Jesus. As someone who has struggled with some of God's choices (specifically with the Old Testament), I will happily subscribe to Lamb's justifications. He uses a lot of Hebrew text in his explanations. He also has a comfortable, yet still academic writing style that makes reading the intense information much easier.

I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever doubted God's love after reading the Old Testament.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent defence of the God of the Old Testament, and shows how He is consistent with Jesus in the New Testament. I personally felt Lamb's style was slightly too conversational and the witty remarks started to grate towards the end of the book, however the content is very thorough. He clearly has a love for God and the Old Testament in general, and the author's passion for this is infectious. Highly recommended for all who struggle to see the consistency between God and Jesus.

[Violinknitter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a more serious engagement with the issues and the texts, not a restatement of arguments I've heard lots of times before. I ended up just skimming the book, since there wasn't enough new thought to make it worth slowing down.

[Clint Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started off enjoying this book and its context related stories, but I quickly lost interest. While I don't attribute that directly to the author or the book, I can say it failed to keep me. All in all it was a good, informative book.

[Zack Kattwinkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several weeks ago, author David T. Lamb was a guest on the Holy Post podcast, where he talked about his work. Lamb has made it a mission to take a close look at hard Biblical passages for the purpose of understanding them better and has published a couple books on the subject. This year, he released a revised and expanded edition of his 2012 work GOD BEHAVING BADLY: IS THE GOD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ANGRY, SEXIST, AND RACIST?, which includes the original text as well as new chapters that address events of the past few years. It was ready to go as both an audiobook and an ebook from Hoopla, so I started listening, and wished it had been longer since it was so well-organized and explained.
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The chapters are presented as a series of dichotomies: “Angry or Loving?” and “Sexist or Affirming?” and “Rigid or Flexible?” are a couple. The book reads more like a magazine article than a doctoral thesis, meaning that Lamb accomplished one of the goals that he set from the beginning: “Fortunately there have been many books released in the past decade that address God’s problematic behavior. But unfortunately many of these tend to be too academic for a broad audience.” The word choice and examples certainly made it suitable for that broad audience.
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The book is pretty short, so it will do things like pose big questions, such as “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and then give a hint of a potential answer - but really, it’s unlikely that any singular book can definitively answer those big questions. (Although I did appreciate the flashback to my sophomore year philosophy class at JMU…) What the book does do, though, is take some of these passages that seem to depict God as angry, petty, etc, and set it up against other patterns in both the Old and New Testament to show that many of those are the exception, not the rule, and that many of them actually still demonstrate character traits that we’d WANT God to have (slow to anger, defense of the foreigner, respect for the Word, and such) that left me more in awe of God than wary or suspicious of Him.
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The book also has plenty of humor (the author certainly isn’t opposed to self-deprecating jokes) and interesting facts and sidenotes; in particular, a great list of the passages that mention unicorns at the end. (You’d be surprised how many there are.) But even that list fits with a preponderance of really great scripture references throughout. Again, highly recommend.
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#nonfiction #apologetics #reconciliation #holdthemintension #ZackReads2022 #book7of35

[Chasen Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The popular problem when reading the Christian Scriptures is “How does one reconcile the loving God of the Old Testament with the harsh God of the New Testament?” (9). Lamb addresses the question bluntly: “While the God of the Old Testament does get angry, what characterizes him is love.” (15) This answer is found throughout the book. Love is central to Lamb’s reading of both old and new testament texts.

God Behaving Badly’s simple answers make it an easily accessible for readers hoping to engage in the what 21st centruy commentators call the prickly passages of the OT: Uzziah being struck down for grabbing the ark, the Canannite slaughter, and the punishment of Adam and Eve. The simple answers also make this text a primer not a final comment on interpretation. I would not suggest this book as the final say on any of the OT texts but a good starting place for those doubting the goodness of the Christian God.

One of my favorite parts in the book involved God’s unchanging changing mind. Multiple times throughout the Old Testament, God relents of anger when people repent—see Jonah 4 or Moses’ interecession in the Exodus narrative. How does this reconcile with popular Christian theology? It doesn’t according to Lamb who answers, “When our systematic theology comes into conflict with the Bible, the former needs to be modified, not the latter.” (145). While I am appreciative of Lamb’s doggedness to the Old Testmant text, I think his interpretation is too wooden and too inflexible, leading him to conclude “According to the Old Testament, God is predictably flexible, constantly changeable and immutably mutable, at least in regard to showing mercy toward repentant sinners”(147). While this sounds nice, I think it pays too much homage to the finite understanding of humans. I don’t think God changes, I think humans understand God better when they align themselves with his plan.

Once again, I would recommend this book without a problem. It’s a great start into Biblical theology, but it should not have the final say.