Yet God in the OT seems very different from the God in the NT.
It starts off with a God sending his chosen people on this conquerors path to claim a special land and that he wants animal sacrifices. He likes the smell of their corpses being roasted and demanded that they cut skin off of their infant males.
Genesis 8:21
New American Standard Bible
21 The Lord smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
We see many of these things common in all the Mesopotamian faiths and we see that he accommodated them by using the faith we see in the Tanakh.
Once you get to the New Testament you see all of those things being fulfilled. God does not want animal sacrifices and it reveals that he did not like the smells. Circumcision turns into a event occurring in baptism instead of with a knife. He turns away from directing them to take hold of special land and to know their true home will come as heaven overlaps with earth. We see “ eye for a eye” become forgiveness. Seems like he was accommodating them in all kinds of ways permitting several things, and even requesting several things, that he does not truly like.
So for ancient Norwegians who never heard of Yahweh we have to wonder how did he reach out to them for thousands of years? Was he silent to them? If not and he spoke to them then was it accommodating them within their own culture or was he directing them towards the Mesopotamian culture?
Peter told once ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him’ (Acts 10:35).
God knows all, so I assume that God has approached nations at the level of individuals. How and what percentage of people, that is something I don’t know.
Even within a local church, there are different interpretations and opinions about less important matters. People are held together because they feel that they share the core beliefs and belong to the same ‘family’ of believers.
Attitudes towards other denominations also vary at the level of individuals. Some focus on differences, some on core beliefs we share. Some differences in the interpretation of the Scriptures are such that it is better to form separate churches, rather than try to unite to one church organization. This does not mean that we need to be hostile against our brothers and sisters in the other denominations.
When I was young, my world was black and white. I had difficulties in accepting some denominations because of doctrinal differences I felt important. It was easier to accept that even these denominations included many believers, my brothers and sisters. As years have accumulated, I have learned that there are more that we share than what separates us.
I support the principle ‘in necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas’ = concerning the central tenets of the Christian faith, may unanimity reign, in matters of secondary importance give room for enquiry and questioning, in everything love.