God Throughout The Old And New Testament

[CatholicCid]

I have been trying to respond to a question and feel any response I have come up with has been lacking. So, I'm seeking out assistance and resources.

God seen throughout the Old and New Testament seems quite different. One could say God gets 'nicer'. How do we reconcile these differences? Also, is there any literature (shorter books preferable or church documents) that one can use to address these concerns?

In my responses, I've discussed how our relationship with God has grown through the OT to the Incarnation of Christ, and how that might make the OT seem a bit strange if we do not look at in context. How God is both just and merciful, and we may not fully understand His actions through our human limitations. Yet, I do not think I have adequetely responded yet.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

[CatholicCid]

Also, any book recommendations on improving one's understanding of the OT would be great.

[AccountDeleted]

[i][b]God: A Biography [/b]is a nonfiction book by Jack Miles. The book recounts the tale of existence of the Judeo-Christian deity as the protagonist of the Hebrew Tanak or Christian Bible Old Testament. The Tanak and the Old Testament contain the same books, however, the order of the books is different. Miles uses the ordering found in the Tanak to provide the narrative on which his analysis is based. The book's conceit is that God's character develops progressively within the narrative. The accounts of God's actions in the various books are then used to deduce information about God's nature and motivation. The book won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize[/i]. (from Wikipedia)

I found this book to be very interesting - it is written as a biography of God based on what was written about Him, not from a theological perspective so much as from a literary perspective. It does talk about how God appears to change from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

I was not as impressed with the follow up book which was a continuation of the biography and was called [b]Christ, A Crisis in the Life Of God[/b] but it did explain (in the author's reasoning anyway) why God 'changed'. It was good, just not as good as the first one, but I think that is because the New Testament is a different kind of writing than the old and isn't as easy to interpret some events. It is still good though and I think both are needed t get the full picture of the reason why God appears different in the NT vs OT. It is not specifically theologically Catholic though so if that worries you, don't read it.

Edited March 2, 2010 by nunsense

[CatholicCid]

Actually, I just got that book a few weeks ago as a 'gift'. I haven't had a chance to read it yet so I'm hesitant to lone it to a friend. I will pull it off the shelf and start looking at it though. Thanks!

Edited March 3, 2010 by CatholicCid