# Does God ever lie in the Bible? Secondary: Does he ever laugh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2014, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478 "2014-04-19T08:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/1 "2014-04-19T08:42:35Z")
One thing I’ve always loved about the Grecian gods. They love, they laugh, they screw, they fight with each other, they party like it’s 1999. If Man is made in the image of the gods we can recognize the kinship immediately. The God of the Bible? If Man is made in his image the only one we can see any likeness to is that pain-in-the-ass old neighbor up the road, who’s always scowling out his window, shouting at all the kids and generally acting like he’s had a gigantic rod up his ass since birth. This is not a god I feel like praying to. But OK, I haven’t read 90% or more of the Bible so let’s not make any hasty judgment calls. Maybe I’ve missed a bunch of his qualities. Hence the question: Does God ever lie or laugh in the Bible? I’d have a little more respect for the guy if he did. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/2 "2014-04-19T08:54:54Z")
See: [http://carm.org/god-send-deceiving-spirit-1kings-22-22](http://carm.org/god-send-deceiving-spirit-1kings-22-22) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/3 "2014-04-19T09:10:35Z")
I don’t know about lying or laughing, but Jesus wept. (And He is God, you know, if you are a Christian.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/4 "2014-04-19T09:15:08Z")
About a prostitute that God rewarded for lying: > **[Meet Rahab: Spy for the Israelites](https://www.learnreligions.com/rahab-the-prostitute-701175)** > > Rahab the prostitute is an unlikely character to be honored in the Bible for her faithfulness to God, yet she appears in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith. ---
**Author:** ![RoboticDreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RoboticDreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboticDreams)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/5 "2014-04-19T09:36:00Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > One thing I’ve always loved about the Grecian gods. They love, they laugh, they screw, they fight with each other, they party like it’s 1999. If Man is made in the image of the gods we can recognize the kinship immediately. > > The God of the Bible? If Man is made in his image the only one we can see any likeness to is that pain-in-the-ass old neighbor up the road, who’s always scowling out his window, shouting at all the kids and generally acting like he’s had a gigantic rod up his ass since birth. This is not a god I feel like praying to. > > **But OK, I haven’t read 90% or more of the Bible so let’s not make any hasty judgment calls. Maybe I’ve missed a bunch of his qualities. Hence the question: Does God ever lie or laugh in the Bible? I’d have a little more respect for the guy if he did.** And yet you are referring to God as acting like He has a huge rod up His ass. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/6 "2014-04-19T09:40:20Z")
I remember Sarah laughed. I always liked her. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/7 "2014-04-19T09:45:06Z")
Raining toads is pretty funny if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/8 "2014-04-19T10:04:18Z")
Here is Jesus being humorous: Matthew 7:3-5: > [@](#): > > Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/9 "2014-04-19T10:38:05Z")
Supposedly, the bit about the camel and the needle is a pun in Aramaic. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/10 "2014-04-19T10:40:49Z")
Why would he laugh? He knows what’s coming. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/11 "2014-04-19T10:46:50Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Why would he laugh? He knows what’s coming. What about: Genesis 6:5-6: “When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/12 "2014-04-19T10:57:38Z")
So he laughed about it? What an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/13 "2014-04-19T13:06:26Z")
Well, God does let the Devil play games with Job. “He’s my most faithful servant? OK, I’ll take your bet. You torture him with boils and pestilence, death and calamity, and we’ll see if he curses my name…” Our religion teacher once mentioned how bland the gospels were - when Jesus is a child and gets lost at the temple, do you really think his mother says “son, thy father and I have been looking for you…”? Of did she say “You little schmuck, where the hell have you been for three days???” Moses had to strike the rock twice to bring forth water, instead of commanding the water like the Lord told him - therefore he was barred from the holy land forever. God appears to be a holy dick. God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and then stops him at the last moment. So technically this would have been a lie, telling someone “you have to kill your son, I order you” and then “never mind, I was just f\*\*\*ing with ya!” ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/14 "2014-04-19T13:09:19Z")
Supposedly, in the Quran, when God made Sudan, He laughed. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/15 "2014-04-19T13:18:39Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Here is Jesus being humorous: > > Matthew 7:3-5: I heard better jokes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/16 "2014-04-19T13:48:41Z")
If you want God to laugh, make a plan. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/17 "2014-04-19T13:50:56Z")
This god has to be exalted above all others, truer god Perfect so as to have no personality, yet authentic A laughing god is too human ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/18 "2014-04-19T14:15:20Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Here is Jesus being humorous: > > Matthew 7:3-5: It’s not clear to me that the use of puns in Jesus’ discourse is even meant to be humorous – it might have simply been a rhetorical technique, an easy mnemonic. Certainly nothing else suggests he was being funny. The idea of humor and holiness seem to be at odds in most people’s minds. Way back in the 1960s, **Playboy** ran an illustration accompanying an article about Jesus that showed him laughing. They later reported that it was their most-requested image reprint: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;\_ylt=AwrB8pWyg1JTaiUAXjuJzbkF;\_ylu=X3oDMTIydGFmcGM1BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAMzZGI4YTQyYmIyYTNhZWZjZThjMzRmZTE5YjYwMjRkYQRncG9zAzIEaXQDYmluZw--?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F\_adv\_prop%3Dimage%26va%3DJesus%2BLaughing%2BPlayboy%26fr%3Dyfp-t-901%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D2&w=706&h=1000&imgurl=flirtingwithfaith.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F04%2Fart\_laughingjesus\_pb1989.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fflirtingwithfaith.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F04%2F06%2Ffinding-playboy-jesus-on-a-good-friday%2F&size=104.6KB&name=Backstreet+Faith&p=Jesus+Laughing+Playboy&oid=3db8a42bb2a3aefce8c34fe19b6024da&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-901&tt=Backstreet+Faith&b=0&ni=320&no=2&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12p3hjk2d&sigb=13k6t1ai6&sigi=12a75q6t4&sigt=10gcqls48&sign=10gcqls48&.crumb=KUwSJKlOEDk&fr=yfp-t-901](https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pWyg1JTaiUAXjuJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIydGFmcGM1BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAMzZGI4YTQyYmIyYTNhZWZjZThjMzRmZTE5YjYwMjRkYQRncG9zAzIEaXQDYmluZw--?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3DJesus%2BLaughing%2BPlayboy%26fr%3Dyfp-t-901%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D2&w=706&h=1000&imgurl=flirtingwithfaith.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F04%2Fart_laughingjesus_pb1989.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fflirtingwithfaith.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F04%2F06%2Ffinding-playboy-jesus-on-a-good-friday%2F&size=104.6KB&name=Backstreet+Faith&p=Jesus+Laughing+Playboy&oid=3db8a42bb2a3aefce8c34fe19b6024da&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-901&tt=Backstreet+Faith&b=0&ni=320&no=2&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12p3hjk2d&sigb=13k6t1ai6&sigi=12a75q6t4&sigt=10gcqls48&sign=10gcqls48&.crumb=KUwSJKlOEDk&fr=yfp-t-901) This, from a magazine that runs nudes and cartoons. I suspect it’s because the image of Jesus laughing was practically unknown back then. The **Buddy Christ** and **Dogma** were _years_ in the future: > **[Buddy Christ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Christ)** > > Buddy Christ is a parody religious icon created by filmmaker Kevin Smith, which first appeared in Smith's 1999 film Dogma. > In the film, Buddy is part of a campaign ("Catholicism Wow!") to renew the image of (and interest in) the Catholic Church. Viewing the crucifix image as "wholly depressing", the Church, led by Cardinal Glick (George Carlin), decides to retire it, and creates Buddy Christ as a more uplifting image of Jesus Christ. The icon consists of a statue of Jesus, smiling and winking w... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/19 "2014-04-19T14:18:12Z")
For what it’s worth, check out this page at ChristiaNet: ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478/20 "2014-04-19T14:19:25Z")
He lies in the first couple pages. He tells Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge will kill them. They eat it, it doesn’t kill them. Oddly, Satan (or at least, the serpent, whose often associated with Satan), tells them the truth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-god-ever-lie-in-the-bible-secondary-does-he-ever-laugh/686478.md?page=2)