Customer Reviews

God Does Not...: Entertain, Play "Matchmaker," Hurry, Demand Blood, Cure Every Illness

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The chapter "God does not deman blood" challenges us to view Christ's sacrifice on the cross and Paul's New Testament writings in a way not influenced by Hollywood movies where violence is upheld as the means the goodies defeat the baddies. Paul says in Phil 2:2-8 that it was Christ's obedience and faithfulness that saved us on the cross, not a blood sacrifice.

The author of this chapter Daniel Bell Jr, says that we are not let off the hook by a blood sacrifice to satisfy moral law and order. Christians follow another logic. We share in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-20). God does not find pleasure in the death of anyone (Ezek 18:32) and was willing to die on the cross because he desires live even for those who crucify him.

At first I thought the book would be a thoughtful dismantling of the mischaracterizations of God by the religious culture. I didn't realize that it set about to dismantle the faith as well. I Should have read the title more closely--"God does not demand blood"--because one contributing author sought to grossly downplay the role of blood sacrifice in the substitutionary death of Christ. Did he do this by circumventing the comprehensive testimony of the New Testament on the subject? No. Instead, he used large servings of human reasoning, and a certain human "visceral" dislike toward it. Perhaps the writer should have remembered that a sinner's "visceral" response to a lot of things related to God is negative. Sometimes Christians also have these reactions, especially when their standards come from theologically liberal camps of Christianity rather than from the Word of God. There might have been good points in other parts of the book, but I was so disgusted with the offending chapter that I went ahead and threw it in the trash. Maybe we could add a further thought to the title--"God does not... write books that diminish the importance of His Son's blood." Don't be fooled by the hip title here. Hold onto your money and your faith.