Christians, does God Have multiple personality disorder?

God's personality has not changed. God has always been and always will be both righteous and merciful.

God gave man the law and through Christ Jesus the law is fulfilled.

the law was to demonstrate man's sin and his need for God.

It is through Christ man is changed and made new.

Many argue the continuity of the testaments. They say the God of the New Testament seems different that the Old Testament God. Many deny the trinity, the deity of Christ, not realizing that these things were taught in the first book of Moses. John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. John 5:47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? Jesus said Moses wrote of him.

The trinity they say was an invention of Paul. The deity of Christ and invention of Paul. The Old Testament they say does not teach these things. Gen.126 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

What is this image of God? Why is God refering to himself in the plural? We could argue about the "Royal We" or we could simply trust God and seek his truth. We know man was created above the animals in the image of God. Let's examine man's creation for the answer.

Gen. 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

We see that man was created different than the animals formed first from the dust (flesh) then God breathed a breath of life (spirit) and they became a living soul. man was made in the image of God above the animals with flesh and a eternal spirit and these became a living soul. so the difference in man and animals is man was giving more than mere flesh which perishs but also an eternal spirit and these are one soul. We are more than one part and we have an eternal spirit and this is the image of God who is more than one part and is eternal. We are made above the animals who perish with their flesh.

Did God reveal his plan to Moses? Did Moses write of Jesus, as Christ himself said?

We know God is all knowing therefore knew man would sin. Wouldn't an all knowing God know these things and have a plan of salvation? Many claim God simply forgave Adam for his disobedience and man can earn his own salvation and that the atonement was an invention by the writers of the New Testament. Let's examine what God passed down to Moses written int he first book of Moses the first scriptures God gave to man.

God's plan for man's salvation was given to Moses in the story of the Garden of Eden.

Gen.2:8 ¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

This story is both literal and figuritive with spiritual meanings. We see first their are two trees in the midst of the garden a tree of life and a tree of knowledge of good and evil. These trees are the first things God mentions about the garden. We should consider tha meanings of these two trees to be more than literal trees as we do not know of any such trees in this physical world. We have already considered that God is more than one and man was made in God's image made both flesh and spirit. We now should consider both physical and spiritual meanings. We now have a tree called the knowledge of good and evil and a tree called the tree of life and we soon see from the story one tree gives man knowledge of good and evil and one gives man eternal life.

Let's consider the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What gives man knowedge of good and evil? How did man receive knowledge of good and evil from God? Can we consider this God's righteousness? God's law? and the tree of life we see if a man eats of it he lives forever. What tree could this be that gives a man eternal life? It must surely be safe to consider the spiritual meanings of such incredible trees...The first is the tree of knowledge of good and evil God's righteouness the law, then the second could reasonably be assumed to also be a nature of God. God is both righteous and meciful could this be the meaning of the two trees?

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

We learn that eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil will result in man's death. Why would God's righteouness destroy man? Why would a tree that seems to be a good thing mean death to man? Does the law destroy man? It seems reasonable to asssume this tree represents God's righteousness and his law. Can a man live up to the righteousness of God? We see from this that man was going to fall and that God also knew this and had a plan of salvation for man this plan is the tree of life.

Gen. 3: 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The serpent? Yes the serpent also represents something else. In Revelation it tells us the serpent is Satan and it is he who tells Eve that she will not surely die. We have the first lie of Satan to man that God is not righteous you will not surely die God will overlook your sin...This is one os Satan's favorite lies that we do not need the tree of life, That God will simply overlook sin. We so have the truth in the first scriptures God gave to man, the first book of Moses, Genesis. It shows God knew man would fall and it shows that man would fall short of God's righteousness the law and that sin does cause death. We also see that though the law does condemen us God has a plan of salvation and that plan does include the tree of life our lord Jesus Christ who was in the beginning with God and is a part of the whole of God and who is our tree of life our salvation who is the true manna from heaven.

John 6

47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48 I am that bread of life.

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

It only makes sense that the scriptures first given to man by God gives this same message of salvation as the Gospel that God made man in his image and that God is made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that God is righteous and merciful and the two trees in the garden are the two natures of God and they are the law and salvation through God who came in the form of man Jesus Christ who is that tree of life that Moses did write of who did atone for sin for those who accept the atonement.

Edit to Naimh

The verse an eye for an eye is not contradicting turn the other cheek.

Neither is righteousness contradicting grace.

An eye for an eye is absolute righteousness.

This is the law.

It is the righteous God that is the judge and the reason Christ said let he without sin cast the first stone.

It is God who is righteous not man and it is his righteous judgment not mans.

The New Testament was to correct the Old Testament ie eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth - turn the other cheek... this could go on forever. As to whether God has multiple personality disorder my advice would be to ask Him when you say your prayers???

I have a sense of humour hence my above answer. Slan

Well.. like Jon M pointed out.. it wasn't sudden, took thousands of years between Genesis and the NT. -- I mean, from Mose to Jesus was 4,000 -- who knows how long between Genesis and Moses.

I'm not a theologian.. Yahoo Answers, R&S Section is not meant for scholarly answers..but "quick surveys' of typically simple issues. So if you REALLY want a good answer to this.. you'll probably want to post this on a Religious forum. ETWN, the catholic TV station hosts a Forum which is staffed by some "experts" to answer questions like this.

Here's my attempt at an answer.....

Realize that some of what God did had to be done to prepare the way for the Messiah and to teach the Jews to follow him. Some are an example of the Jews NOT following God's plan and sometimes it is God dealing harshly with other tribes who were treachous against the Jews as they made their way to the promise land. He also knew that he had to keep the Jewish religion free from foreign influence, which would happen if they had inter-faith marriages, especially since the Jew's were already struggling with following God's plan for them.

So a good portion of Exodus and the books after it.. tell how God prepared the way for the Messiah.

Also, I read on the EWTN Catholic Answers website..that people forget 1 thing. God alone has dominion over life and death. It is UN-natural for a human to murder another human..BUT is it NOT unnatural for God to take a life since he alone has dominion over all. ALSO, it is seen as going against natural law to kill without just cause (self defense) however, God, being the author of natural law and therefore PART of natural law.. IS in fact, because of the position he occupies in this universe, a just cause. So him commanding it.. is, in and of itself, a just cause to kill. IF it truly comes from God.. and we can see he RARELY does this.. in VERY special instances.

So it is not completely outside of his personality.

Some people just have a narrow view of what his personality IS...which is a problem with their understanding..not the bible.

So I agree that they appear to be in stark contrast....I can't completely explain it, because I am not a theologian.

The only shift in God's personality is the one in your mind. God is the same today as He was before He created the universe.

If you think God has "multiple personality disorders" you know nothing about Him at all. I suggest you go back to the Bible and study it with a view of learning more about God, about His love, about His mercy, about His Forgiveness, which is shown throughout the entire Bible.

There is n o explanation for what you are calling the changes in God's personality" because there are no changes. The only changes are the ones you are imagining.

I hope this helps you.

Go in peace.

And always remember: -- Jesus loves you!!

Sincerely,

Uncle Floyd

Those were different stages in His attempts to make man faithful. And He was never petty, and He always tempered His anger with kindness towards the ne'er faithful Hebrews. And, many of His genocides were when He semi-willingly helped the people do what they must.

First of all, it wasn't sudden. Do you know how many years are represented between Genesis and the New Testament?

Second, it wasn't so much that God changed, as man's perception of Him.

Jesus came along to complete the older human view of God: He said that God was love, and that if we love, we'll be doing God's will.

As stated, it wasn't sudden, nor was it God that changed, merely our perception of him.

The reason that Christ came and died was because God felt love, pity and compassion for us because at the rate and path that humanity was choosing we would ALL eventually burn in hell. He was moved with compassion and sent us Jesus as a method of redemption and avoidance of hell,... in layman's terms.

How do you know that? Even Pascal said there are two errors in reading the Bible:

1. To take everything literally.

2. To take everything spiritually.

The mission of Jesus was to explain the nature of God.

God is love.

God love you!

You can not merge pagan Christianity with the Old Testament because they have nothing in common so no.

No! Only you. Your doubts and misinterpretations from the Bible has led you to be bitter and psychologically inaccurate.

It is obvious that you have not done you Biblical homework.

He's just drawn that way. And that say God never changes. This seems like proof to me that there is no such thing as trinity.