This book started life as a series of lunchtime talks to non-Christians, and the author has taken on board further questions and discussions along the way. Here is an attempt to answer real, and often difficult, questions honestly. 'Most of the questions I get asked are about God himself, and not so much about his existence as his character,' explains Michael Ots. 'What kind of God is he? How can he be good when he authorizes war, allows suffering, represses our sexuality, punishes his own Son, and excludes people on the basis of their beliefs, condemning them to hell?'

Michael Ots

What Kind of God?

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Where to start...

1. Distant, uninterested and silent?

The world around us

Our conscience within us

God on planet earth

2. Outdated, out of touch and old-fashioned?

Irrelevant?

Universally relevant

One thing we can't say

3. Rape, child abuse and Aids

God allows suffering

God will end suffering

God has experienced suffering

4. Carbon footprints, global warming and climate change

God cares about the environment

We should care about the environment

5. Crusades, inquisitions and car bombs

The root of all evil?

What is religion?

A question of consistency

Bad representatives

Good representatives

The real thing

What is the root of all evil?

Hope for a broken world

6. Hypocritical, divided and judgmental

Hypocritical?

Divided?

Judgmental?

7. Petty, intolerant and exclusive?

Is God petty?

Is God intolerant?

Is God exclusive?

8. Repressive, restrictive and restraining?

Sex is great

Things work best in the way they were designed

Good things are to be valued

Sex is not everything

Sex shouldn't be our god

Sex should not be the main source of our identity

How can we know God?

9. Condemning, unjust and arbitrary?

A longing for justice

What about 'good' people?

What makes hell, hell?

Patient and loving

10. ‘Vicious, sadomasochistic and repellent’?1

A central message

Vicious?

Sadomasochistic?

Repellent?

Bear in mind the end of the story

11. Awesome, LOVING and amazingly gracious

A global smear campaign

Starting to see

Be suspicious of your suspicions

Facing up to the truth

12. Over to you now

What if you didn't?

What if you did?

1: Distant, uninterested and silent?

2: Outdated, out of touch and old-fashioned?

3: Rape, child abuse and Aids

4: Carbon footprints, global warming and climate change

5: Crusades, inquisitions and car bombs

6: Hypocritical, divided and judgmental?

7: Petty, intolerant and exclusive?

8: Repressive, restrictive and restraining?

9: Condemning, unjust and arbitrary?

10: 'Vicious, sadomasochistic and repellent'?

Books that look at a number of related issues:

Books that look more closely at Jesus and what it means to follow him:

Books for those starting out as Christians:

Courses where you can find out more:

Finding your way around the Bible

Notes

Chapter 1: Distant, uninterested and silent?

Chapter 2: Outdated, out of touch and old-fashioned?

Chapter 3: Rape, child abuse and Aids

Chapter 4: Carbon footprints, global warming and climate change

Chapter 5: Crusades, inquisitions and car bombs

Chapter 6: Hypocritical, divided and judgmental

Chapter 7: Petty, intolerant and exclusive?

Chapter 8: Repressive, restrictive and restraining?

Chapter 9: Condemning, unjust and arbitrary?

Chapter 10: 'Vicious, sadomasochistic and repellent'?

Chapter 11: Awesome, loving and amazingly gracious

12: Over to you now

This book started life as a series of lunchtime talks to non-Christians, and the author has taken on board further questions and discussions along the way. Here is an attempt to answer real, and often difficult, questions honestly. 'Most of the questio

"A great defence of Christianity as public truth from a brilliant young communicator." Marcus Honeysett, author and director, Living Leadership  
   
 " ... easy to read, relevant, enthusiastic and dares to confront common prejudices." Roger Carswell, author and evangelist

__How can God be good when he allows suffering, authorizes war, limits my sexuality, excludes people of other religions and even sends them to hell?__Michael Ots responds with clarity and warmth to these and other moral objections to the character of God. He shows that in spite of some common perceptions, God really is good and can be trusted.

An open exploration of real, honest and often difficult questions on God, his nature and existence, and the character that he shows toward his people.

The Good Book Stall

I liked this book very much and found it difficult to put down. The author is an evangelist who spends much of his time on university campuses, explaining the message of the Bible and answering students' questions. In this book he addresses ten popular accusations which are made against God. He points out that most of the questions the students ask concern the character of God - like, how can God be good when he allows suffering? The topics Michael addresses are serious ones yet it is not a 'heavy' book and in fact some of his illustrations made me laugh out loud. For example, in the first chapter which addresses the question 'What kind of God doesn't make himself clearer?' he talks about people who try to find the Creator God in the Universe, by looking for him through the telescope or microscope, then rejecting him because they don't find him. That, he says, is like looking for James Dyson in our vacuum cleaner and rejecting his existence because he is not there! I know that I will use some of the material here when talking to non-believing friends: it would be interesting to have the book reviewed by one of them.

What Kind of God? [eBook]

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This book started life as a series of lunchtime talks to non-Christians, and the author has taken on board further questions and discussions along the way. Here is an attempt to answer real, and often difficult, questions honestly. 'Most of the questio

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