I believe God's jealous nature is self proclaimed - Exodus 20:5; Ex 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deut 5:9; Deut 6:15. He declares that he will punish (possibly meaning to kill?) the 4th generation of children born to worshipers of other Gods. This raises 2 issues - firstly how moral is a god that punishes children for the transgressions of the father and secondly it appears to be an acknowledgement that there are other gods.
I think it takes a great deal of selective reasoning to put aside the personality traits clearly displayed in the OT to arive at a position that this is a loving god worth our worship. I think Dawkins description of the OT god is reasonable and based squarely on the evidence of scripture. There are many other far nicer gods to worship.
I believe God's jealous nature is self proclaimed - Exodus 20:5; Ex 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deut 5:9; Deut 6:15. He declares that he will punish (possibly meaning to kill?) the 4th generation of children born to worshipers of other Gods. This raises 2 issues - firstly how moral is a god that punishes children for the transgressions of the father and secondly it appears to be an acknowledgement that there are other gods.
I think it takes a great deal of selective reasoning to put aside the personality traits clearly displayed in the OT to arive at a position that this is a loving god worth our worship. I think Dawkins description of the OT god is reasonable and based squarely on the evidence of scripture. There are many other far nicer gods to worship.