The book + free video series
Is God Mean?
Finding God’s Loving Motives in the Bible’s Most Brutal Stories
How could a loving God drown children in a global flood? Did He really command genocide, or endorse slavery? Chris Ulery takes on the Bible’s hardest stories and traces the love of God running through every one of them. No pat answers, and no explaining away what the text actually says.
Free study guide
Get the free Is God Mean? study guide
Nine sessions on the Bible’s hardest questions, free for you or your small group. You’ll also be the first to know when pre-orders open.
Why I wrote it
Is someone you love questioning their faith?
When my friends began deconstructing their faith, they started asking me the hard questions. Unfortunately, back then, I didn’t know the answers, and my responses were weak. Some of my friends ended up leaving the faith because they said the God of the Bible was mean.
I spent the next ten years diving deep into history, archaeology, and the original languages of the Bible to find real answers. Is God Mean? is the book I wish I’d had when my friends were searching. The answers I found left me stronger in my faith and more confident in the love of God than I’ve ever been, and I want to pass that gift on to you.
Chris Ulery
How Chris answers the hard questions
The verses as written
No skipping the hard parts.
The original languages
What the Hebrew and Greek actually say.
The history and archaeology
What it meant to the people who first heard it.
Chris is a man of integrity whose heart is to dive deep into difficult subjects and bring a clear biblical response.
Paul Andrews, Lead Pastor, Freedom Church, Augusta, Kansas
Free video series
Struggling with Bible questions you can’t shake? Get answers now.
Seven free episodes are out now, with more on the way. Start with Episode 1, or jump to the question you’ve wondered about most.
I have people in my life questioning their faith and I’d like to help them. But I needed your help! Thank you.
I listened to and read so many pastors and scholars with years and years of education and experience but they couldn’t explain these things.
How did you acquire this knowledge?! Awesome!
Laurie, YouTube viewer · Genocide in the Bible episode
7 free episodes · 29,000+ views · a free study session for every chapter
- Chapter 1
Old Testament vs. New Testament God
Why was God harsh in the Old Testament?
Chris investigates whether the God of the Old Testament really acted differently than the God Jesus portrays in the New Testament.
- Chapter 2 · Deep dive, part 1 of 4
Hybrid race in Genesis 6? Who were the “sons of God”?
The second angelic rebellion
Chris investigates who the “seed of Satan” in the very first prophecy in the Bible was, and discovers who the sons of God were in Genesis 6.
- Chapter 2 · Deep dive, part 2 of 4
Who were the Nephilim? Rephaim giants in the Bible
The race of giants recorded in the Scriptures
Chris investigates the different theories about the Bible’s mysterious race of giants and their possible effects on the Old Testament story.
- Chapter 2 · Deep dive, part 3 of 4
Nimrod, the Tower of Babel, demonic possession, and Genesis 6
Intro to the “fallen angels overtook men” view
Chris dives into angelology and demonology to reveal how demonic possession may have played a big part in Old Testament events, including Nimrod and the Tower of Babel.
- Chapter 2 · Deep dive, part 4 of 4
The history and hierarchy of angels, demons, and Nephilim
Celestial beings throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation
Chris pulls the whole series into one timeline of angels, demons, and the Nephilim, from creation to Revelation.
- Chapter 3
Noah’s flood: How could a loving God drown the entire world?
Did God actually drown innocent children?
The flood did bring judgment, but it was also a rescue mission to save mankind from extinction.
- Chapter 4
Did God command Old Testament genocide?
Unwrapping the accusations of Old Testament genocide
Chris explains how a gross misunderstanding of the language and culture of biblical times has led to great confusion about genocide in the Bible.
- Chapter 5
Did God endorse slavery in the Bible?
Revealing God’s heart for the oppressed
Hebrew had no word for forced slavery, and kidnapping a person was a capital crime (Exodus 21:16). Chris shows how God’s law protected the poor instead of licensing ownership.
- Chapter 6
Did God instruct the oppression of women?
How Scripture elevated women in a world that didn’t
The Bible has been used to put women down. Chris shows why it is the most powerful source of women’s worth anywhere.
- Chapter 7
How can a loving God send people to hell?
Hell isn’t what you were told it was
Much of what people picture about hell isn’t what Scripture says. Chris walks through what it really teaches, and why no one has to go there.
- Chapter 8
Does God pre-ordain people for destruction?
Free will, a hardened heart, and the choice that’s still yours
Does God create some people just to destroy them? Chris walks through Pharaoh’s hardened heart and Romans 9, and finds a God who wants everyone saved.
- Chapter 9
Why doesn’t God stop suffering?
Making sense of the problem of pain
Chris explains where we can find God in the middle of our pain and suffering, and offers a hopeful way of seeing the world and eternity.
New episodes are on the way. Subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss one.
Do not be afraid of the truth. You will not be disappointed by it, but liberated in the most beautiful way.
Chris Ulery, Is God Mean?
For small groups and churches
Take your group through the hard questions
- Get the free study guide. Nine sessions, one for each chapter of the book.
- Watch the episode together, or on your own before you meet.
- Discuss and pray. Questions that move from what the Bible says to how you live it, including a “skeptic’s question” to practice answering.
Ordering copies for your church or group? Ask Chris about bulk orders.
About the author
Chris Ulery
Chris is an evangelist, co-founder of Divine Romance Ministries, and a former bassist for the Dove Award-winning group FFH. A 2013 graduate of Rhema Bible Training College, he speaks to churches, conferences, and small groups across the country. He and his wife, Jessica, live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with their two daughters.
“Chris deeply loves the body of Christ and is a dedicated student of God’s word.”
Tracy Shelton, Senior Pastor, Living Stone Fellowship
“Chris is a gifted communicator who can speak effectively to both young and old.”
Scott MacLeod, Founder, Provision International and Thunder School
Be ready the next time someone asks about the Bible’s hardest passages.
Find real answers in Is God Mean? Start with the free study guide today, and be the first to know when pre‑orders open.