Belief in a bad God

I have sympathy for all the atheists who have a bad God in mind. When I hear their description of God, I don't believe in that God either.

What makes a "Good God" or a "Bad God?" By what criteria do we determine that? For me, I start with God is love. The Bible defines God is love, as is written in 1 John 4:16, "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them."

This is an oft-cited verse and the standard retort is "God is also just." 

On its face, qualifying "love" with "just" seems straightforward, until you hear how it changes love. In fact, it changes it so greatly as to completely alter the meaning of "love", so that we're actually describing a "Bad God", but calling it good or loving.

The most eggregious example that I've come across are those that incorporate predestination and eternal conscious torment. The Reformed churches that embrace it rely on the writings of John Calvin and Martin Luther (where he wasn't slamming Jews).

What's so offensive about it? What's not offensive?

Let's restate the problem. God knew, from the beginning of the world, who would have faith and go to heaven. God also know, from the beginning of the world, who would lack faith and go to hell, which is viewed as an eternal conscious torment. To make it worse, the vast sea of humanity, billions upon billions of people, who never even heard the name of Jesus are condemned into eternal conscious torment.

Why would God create people only to destroy them? How is this either loving or just? This paints a horrible picture of God. 

God designed the world with the goal or knowledge of putting people into eternal conscious torment. 

The Calvinist gets around by this by also incorporating the "total depravity of mankind." It is an extreme form of Original Sin which believes that humans are well, totally depraved. If this is the starting condition of humanity, then it is just to throw them into eternal conscious torment.

Why is that objectionable? 

First, it's wrong Biblically. People were made in the image of God, which occurred before the Fall (if that were literal). The starting point for humanity is the image of God. Love. Something beautiful.

Second, it's wrong experientially. Have you ever held a newborn child? It is pure innocence and beautiful. Such is to an unblemished image of God.

A newborn child is not depraved, as Calvin's theory requires.

Third, God doesn't view us totally depraved, but worthy. Fixable. Redeemable. John 3:16's declare that God loved the world. God wants to redeem and help rehabilitate humanity. Why? Because we were all made in the image of God and reflect love.

Fourth, the line drawing between "totally depraved" (the outgroup) and "elect" (in-group) leads to all kinds of horrible applied theology. Wars are started. Land is stolen. Minority groups are persecuted. Persecution is justified. 

Think of all the bad things that happened in the name of religion - crusades, witchburnings, and planes flying onto buildings. It stems from a misguided that God approves of your group, but hates those outside. That your enemies are the same of God. Since God wants to eternally punish them, then your actions are minor in comparison.

In other words, a devil that we create is worshipped as God.

No, I don't believe in that God,