God in the Old and New Testament: One Unchanging Nature
This paper argues that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are one and the same, countering scholarly claims that the two portrayals represent fundamentally different divine characters. Drawing on scriptural evidence from both Testaments, the paper examines God's unchanging metaphysical attributes—eternality, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience—as well as His moral attributes of trustworthiness, righteousness, and goodness. A focused exegesis of Exodus 3:14–15, in which God declares Himself "I am Who am," demonstrates that the self-revealing God of Moses is identical to the Christ of the New Testament. The paper concludes that perceived contradictions between the two Testaments reflect interpretive bias rather than any genuine change in God's nature.
- Introduction: Thesis: God's nature is unchanged across Testaments
- Background: Competing Scholarly Views: Scholars debate God's differing portrayals in each Testament
- Metaphysical Attributes of God: Eternality, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience across both Testaments
- Moral Attributes of God: God's faithfulness, righteousness, and goodness remain constant
- Exegesis of Exodus 3:14–15: I am Who am links Old and New Testament God
- Conclusion: Interpretive bias, not divine change, explains perceived contradictions
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its theological argument in direct scriptural citations from both Testaments, placing parallel passages side by side to show continuity rather than asserting it abstractly.
- It engages real scholarly counterarguments (Seibert, Wright) before refuting them, giving the essay intellectual credibility and a genuine sense of dialogue.
- The exegesis of Exodus 3:14–15 serves as a strong organizational anchor, tying together the metaphysical and moral attribute sections and linking back to the New Testament's "I am" statements in John.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative biblical exegesis: it selects a single foundational passage (Exodus 3:14–15) and traces its theological resonance across multiple books of both Testaments, using the passage as a lens through which all other scriptural evidence is interpreted. This technique shows how a close reading of one text can illuminate an entire theological argument.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with an introduction that states the thesis and outlines the paper's plan. A background section presents both sides of the scholarly debate. The body is divided into two parallel analytical sections—metaphysical attributes and moral attributes—each internally organized by sub-attribute (e.g., omnipotence, righteousness). An exegesis section then applies the analysis to a specific text. The conclusion synthesizes the findings and returns to the thesis, noting that apparent contradictions reflect the interpreter's disposition rather than any change in God's character.
Introduction
The God of the Old Testament has been viewed by many scholars as fundamentally different from the God of the New Testament. This mischaracterization is often produced by placing emphasis on God's insistence in the Old Testament that infidels be dealt with in a bloody manner (Deuteronomy 9:4–5), whereas God in the New Testament appears to preach mercy, charity, and turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:38–40). Yet what these scholars fail to appreciate is that the God of the New Testament is equally insistent on due respect being shown to Him: after all, it is Christ who literally drives the money changers out of the Temple with a whip because they are desecrating the sanctity of the place (John 2:15). It is therefore inaccurate to suppose that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament.
The God of the Old Testament is just as merciful and insistent upon charity as the God of the New Testament.2 The Psalms are filled with a sense of God's love, mercy, and protective nature. The stories of Ruth and of Jonah—sent to preach to the Ninevites—are both examples of God showing a divine interest in supporting those who are not of the "chosen" people. This paper further explains how God is the same God in both Testaments. It first provides contextual information, presenting arguments from both sides of the debate. It then examines the metaphysical attributes of God, the moral attributes of God, and offers an exegesis of Exodus 3:14–15, with particular focus on God's declaration "I am Who am," which shows that God's nature is unchanging and eternal.
The findings of this research show that God's character has never changed from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation: it is complete but complex.3 God is love and has created the world because of this, but He also demands submission to His will and does not force His grace upon those who reject Him and His ways. Whether it is Job's friends questioning God's reasons for sending suffering to the righteous Job, or the Jews questioning Christ about His divinity—those who reject Him are always the same: full of self-love and pride.
Background: Competing Scholarly Views
Scholars who claim that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament tend to argue that the Old Testament God is violent, wrathful, uncharitable, and persecuting.4 Wright contends, for instance, that the God of the Old Testament is embittered against His enemies and that the language used to describe Him reflects an adversarial tone common to the literature of the times.5 In other words, the writers of the Old Testament were not so much representing the character of God as they were expressing their own animosity toward other tribes—or so Wright argues.
The other side of the argument holds that skeptics fail to reckon with what God actually demands of humankind: respect, love, and adoration. He is not a sentimental or new-age God. He is realistic and knows full well the evil in the world, which is why Christ gave the example of fasting and praying in the desert as a means of resisting temptation. Paul Copan argues that those who find God's attitude toward the Canaanites problematic likely fail to see how they themselves might resemble the Canaanites in their own attitude toward God.6 Craig likewise argues that God's actions are always dictated by His love, no matter how harsh or cold they may appear to some.7 In short, it is not always given to man to know the mind of God; rather, man should trust that God has his best interests at heart, and moments of suffering or seeming cruelty can be a test of faithfulness rather than a demonstration of God's lack of love.8
Metaphysical Attributes of God
The best way to understand that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament is to examine God's unchanging metaphysical and moral attributes. In both Testaments, these attributes are consistent. The most fundamental of these is eternality. From Genesis through to Revelation, God is presented as existing outside of any time framework. He always was and always will be, as shown in Genesis, wherein mankind learns how God brought the world into existence out of nothing—out of His own loving, creative nature. Creation was an act of love. The fall of man was an act of rebellion against God. The ultimate expression of that love was God's willingness to give man free will: the opportunity to love Him back or to choose himself. God then went on to show that He Himself would pay the ultimate price to redeem man—the Incarnation and crucifixion of the New Testament. It is the same God who runs through the one Testament to the other.
In the Old Testament it is stated, "The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). He commands His people and His enemies alike; He is Lord over all. Man cannot fathom His eternality, as stated in Job 36:26: "Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; the number of His years is unsearchable." Psalm 102:12 affirms the same: "But You, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations."
This same sense of an eternal God appears in the New Testament: "For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you" (1 Peter 1:20); and again in Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." In both Testaments, God's eternal power is never in question.
God's critics argue that He uses power differently in the Old Testament than in the New—that He is more violent and ready to destroy the enemies of Israel.10 But this is not the case.11 God has always been more than patient with both His own people and His enemies. Considering that He sustains all of existence by His very will, one should not marvel at the strangeness of punishment and suffering but rather at the fact that calamities do not happen more often.
The omnipotence of God is seen in the Old Testament in ways that inspire positive awe, story after story—whether in the life of Abraham, Ruth, Job, Jonah, or David. David's victory over Goliath was not the work of his own hands but an outcome God permitted because He saw David's trust in Him as the source of all strength.
It is the same in the New Testament. When Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, he heals in the name of Christ and sets about converting the world, whereas previously he had been afraid to be identified as a follower of Christ when the Lord was under arrest. God's power over death is seen in the raising of Lazarus and in the Resurrection itself. God's omnipotence was held in check when Pontius Pilate sentenced Him to death because He was offering His life to God as the new Paschal Lamb. God could have destroyed Adam and Eve the moment they broke His commandment; the fact that He restrained His power even at the beginning shows that His omnipotence is perfectly matched by His all-loving nature.
Another metaphysical attribute shared across both Testaments is omnipresence. God is everywhere, sees everything, and aids all who seek Him in distress.12 Jeremiah 23:24 states: "'Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?' declares the Lord. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the Lord." Proverbs 15:3 adds: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good." And 1 Kings 8:27 acknowledges: "Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!" The Old Testament is filled with the awareness that God is omnipresent and cannot be contained by heaven or earth.
This same conviction is reiterated in the New Testament: "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands" (Acts 17:24). Matthew 18:20 states: "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." And Matthew 6:6 confirms that God sees into every heart and mind: "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." The mystery of God's universal presence is accepted in both Testaments alike.
God is also all-knowing. His omniscience is never doubted by those who believe and trust in Him, though His critics never cease to question it—and this pattern holds equally in the Old Testament and the New. The Egyptian rulers who refused to free the Hebrews were confronted repeatedly with evidence of God's omniscience and rejected it; they were ultimately destroyed by the waters that God allowed Moses to part for the escape of the Hebrews.
In the New Testament it is no different. God's omniscience is demonstrated as Christ repeatedly reads the thoughts of His persecutors. 1 John 3:20 states: "For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." Likewise in the Old Testament: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).
Conclusion
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament, of that there can be no doubt. As Lamb notes, God can be seen in different ways by those who approach Him with different things in their hearts.16 That is one reason God can seem cruel or unjust in the Old Testament and kind and loving in the New. But man should be careful about how he goes about judging God, for he is not in any position to cast such a judgment. If one wants to be objective and seek to understand God's nature, that is an altogether different matter. One can look at the Old and New Testaments objectively and see that God's nature does not change from one to the other. Those who think it does are either not looking at God's works from the perspective of His complete metaphysical and moral nature, or they are looking at God from hardened hearts.
In God, one finds the source of all love and mercy—and this is seen in the Old Testament from the very moment God forgives (though He also punishes) Adam and Eve, promising them that a redeemer will come and that their exile will not be forever. This is a just God—a God who is both righteous and merciful. He will not endure forever the stubborn pride of those who reject Him, but He will also respond to those who seek His support. This is evident in the life of David and in the life of Christ in the New Testament. Seeing how God brings the Hebrews out of Egypt and declares Himself as "I am Who am," and seeing how Christ uses this same language to explain in more earthly terms what that should mean, it becomes clear: the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament.
Adams, Marilyn McCord, and Robert Merrihew Adams. The Problem of Evil. Oxford University Press, 1990.
Baah-Odoom, Dinah, and FrimpongWiafe. "The Importance of the Old Testament to Christian Spirituality." The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, Vol. 3.7, 2016.
Baker, David L. Two Testaments, One Bible: The Theological Relationship between the Old and New Testaments. InterVarsity Press, 2010.
Copan, Paul. Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011.
Craig, William Lane. "#16 Slaughter of the Canaanites." Reasonable Faith with William Lane Craig (blog), August 6, 2007.
Kaiser, Walter C. The Messiah in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.
Kitchen, Kenneth A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
Lamb, David T. God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? InterVarsity Press, 2011.
Mathewson, Dave. "Reading Heb 6:4–6 in Light of the Old Testament." Westminster Theological Journal 61, no. 2 (1999): 209–226.
Sedlacek, David. "Comforting God." Faculty Publications, 2017. No. 769.
Seibert, Eric A. Disturbing Divine Behavior: Troubling Old Testament Images of God. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2009.
Towns, E. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Canada: Scofield Ministries, 2002.
Wright, Christopher J. H. The God I Don't Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.
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