YHWH: God of Anger or Mercy?

Andrzej Sebastian Jasiński OFM

Uniwersytet Opolski

Abstract

The Old Testament knowledge about God has many aspects. The theological views of the Bible show both original concepts and some borrowings taken from the contemporary Middle East literature. They exerted influence on the textual expressions referring to Jehovah. Despite this literary dependence, there is a homogeneous message about God in the Old Testament. In various ways the Bible shows the active presence of God among the chosen people. There are texts presenting God’s anger or the God of war. Others describe Jehovah as a loving Father, caring for all people, not just for the Israelite’s. Still, there is no contradiction in these images because the variety of God’s depiction in the Bible does not come from any inconstancy of Yahweh’s conduct towards people but from different stages of the divine revelation which – within a longer period of time – has led the believers to meet the only God: the God of love.

Keywords:

Yahweh, God, Anger, Mercy, God of Love, Old Testament