Quoted:
When/How did the transformation occur, from god being vengeful and jealous "i'll drown the whole world" in the old testament, to the loving and caring god in the new testament.
And I think it was St. Paul (i may be wrong) who spoke of humans being disgusting crap again.
I don't mean to start a flame war or be offensive, but thats a question thats been on my mind, and since there are other treads about religion on, I thought, why not?
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The answer to your question lies in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament sin was still occurring, and the only way for a person to be forgiven of their sins was to follow the Mosaic Laws set down in the Talmud (first 5 books of the Bible). These laws stated that a sinner (everyone) that is looking for forgiveness must sacrifice his best animal on an altar built to God under specific guidelines. There was no direct connection between people and God.
Fast foreward to the New Testament and God giving His Son, Jesus to serve as the sacrificial lamb to be sacrificed for ALL of the sins of humankind (Jews and gentiles both). This sacrifice allowed the laws of the Talmud to still be followed but offered the additional benefit of a new, direct connection with God via the Holy Spirit. With this direct connection, God was able to interact with His people individually. And since we have the Bible's New Testament that further explained the way God would like us Gentiles to live our lives, we do need to be treated like errant pets that need a slap on the nose with a rolled up newspaper to learn a lesson.
Another contributing factor is the Covenant God made with the Jews (the Ten Commandments) that basically said that if the Jews follow these rules, God would protect them from any other people that would do them harm. So the Old Testament is full of battles where God helped the Israelites kick butt on most anyne threatening them, but it is also full of episodes where the Israelites stopped following the Ten Commandments and were allowed, by God, to be captured as slaves (think Moses in Egypt). With the death and resurrection of Jesus, the previous Covenant was updated to include ALL humans, not just the Jews. This updated Covenant meant that punishment will now be meted out to the individual (spend eternity in Hell, away from God), not an entire nation (allow the entire nation to be captured as slaves).
Hope this helps.