St John and the Militant Atheists

I've been revisiting the opening of John's Gospel these last few days and looking at it particularly in the light of comments by Richard Dawkins and his fundamentalist atheist pals regarding their view of the Christian God. In his eyes we worship some kind of megalomaniac, violent, vengeful and selfish god who is responsible for all the bad things that humankind do in the name of religion.

Put that idea together with some Christians who look at how God is described in the Old and New Testament and almost see two different Gods and how do we get to the truth? Do we worship the god  described by Dawkins - after all, the Old Testament is full of blood, warfare, slaughter and oppression? Why is there this apparent difference between the God of the Old and New?

John's Gospel maybe holds a key. In the opening passage we read:

John 1

 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.....
 ⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him....
¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth......
¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. 

Taking John's meaning of Jesus as 'the word' this passage can possibly help us to connect with the militant atheist, by showing that God does not change, only our understanding of God.
Jesus was there at the beginning of all beginnings, at one with the Creator, the One who can actually show us what God is like. The Word (Jesus/God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

If you want to know what God is really like then look at Jesus, his life and words.

The Old Testament prophets and kings knew God in part but it was an incomplete knowledge because it would only be when God stepped into human history as Jesus that humankind could more fully know him.

Prior to this the Jews reacted to all that happened to them and either thanked or blamed their God depending on whether it was a good or bad thing. They feared God because they did not know him in the same way that we can. 

Understanding the Scriptures in this way, we see them as a whole as a gradual revelation of the knowledge of God, finally revealed in the person of Jesus. I know that this is probably not a satisfactory explanation for conservative evangelicals, but it makes sense to me!

It may also help those who struggle to counter the arguments of non-believers.