Tag: God: qualities attributed to Him

Under the heading of qualities that do not befit God, the first is that he whistles. Isaiah 5:26 has him whistle for a nation from the ends of the earth, Zechariah 10:8 has him whistle for his people to gather them in, and Isaiah 7:18 uses the same image. The argument finds the picture too homely for the Almighty.

He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!

Isaiah 5:26

“I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before.

Zechariah 10:8

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).

A God who roars. Isaiah 42:13 has the LORD cry out and shout aloud like a man of war, and Jeremiah 25:30 says he will roar from on high against his fold. The images are set down as unworthy of the divine.

The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

Isaiah 42:13

“You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: “‘The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

Jeremiah 25:30

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).

Isaiah 7:20 says the Lord will shave with a hired razor, the king of Assyria, taking the hair of the head and feet and the beard. It is listed as the picture of God as a barber.

In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

Isaiah 7:20

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).

A God who repents. In Genesis 6:6 the LORD regretted that he had made man and was grieved, and in Jeremiah 15:6 he says he is weary of relenting. The argument holds that regret implies a lack of foreknowledge, which is not a quality of God.

You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Jeremiah 15:6

And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Genesis 6:6

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).

2 Samuel 22:11 says he rode on a cherub and flew. The picture of God riding a creature is another entry in the list of descriptions the argument calls unfit.

He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind.

2 Samuel 22:11

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).

1 Samuel 6:19 says the LORD struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked upon the ark, and the people mourned the great blow. The argument objects to a God who kills people merely for looking into a box.

And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow.

1 Samuel 6:19

Source: see Credits and references (no. 10, p. 8).