Rotting, good to see you on this board. Re: God in holy books, I have what may be a possible way forward for you on that. I'm not saying its how I think (frankly, I've not given much thought to the matter @ all), but it may help you. @ least as re: the Bible, whether you're a Jew or a Christian, & thus accept only the 1st part or both parts, it tends to be the more violent parts of the Hebrew Bible w/ which people have problems. Some liberal scholars have suggested that the Bible isn't so much a book of God's word to us as it is a book of man's words about God to his fellow man. If that's true, than you can imagine how garbled the message might be by the time it gets from God to the original writer, through the editors, on to us! I'm not saying what I believe now. I'm just sharing what some Jewish & Christian scholars have suggested, particularly in re: to earlier books of the Hebrew Bible, like Joshua, w/ its incredibly bloody-minded God. Personally, I've got no problem w/ the God of Joshua, but I know that