God vs. Love

By Faithfool ~

Message: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

God is love. This well-known passage in the Bible describes love:

”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

If God is love, he must consistently display these attributes. Let’s pick out just a few attributes of love and see if God measures up:

• Love does not envy. So to envy is to not love. But wait a minute. “I, the Lord your God am a jealous God.” (Exodus 20:4-5). That sounds like envy to me.

• Love does not boast, is not proud. Yet when God speaks to a traumatised man (Job 38-40) whom He has allowed to suffer terribly so He could win a bet with Satan, God offers not one word of comfort, choosing instead to talk about himself in a way that would make anyone feel small and wretched, ie “Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?” (Job 40:9). The whole three chapters sound a lot like boasting and pride to me.

• Love keeps no record of wrongs. Hang on. “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) That surely requires keeping a ‘record of wrongs’.

Optional conclusions to choose from:

1. The Bible is wrong about love


2. The Bible is wrong about God being love


3. The Bible is wrong about both

Whichever way, the Bible seems to be an unreliable source of truth on the topics of love and/or God.