Opus 2023-232: Design a Deity

The aphorism “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him” came to my mind as I was working to get my mind around His centrality.  I looked it up and it turns out to be a quote from Voltaire.  

Not true.

It is because God exists that man has found it so necessary to reinvent Him.  The reason for the exercise in creativity is that mankind does not like what they see in the God of the universe.  He does not put them in the place they think they deserve so they want a designer god instead.  It is the same difference between a Timex and a Rolex.  One says you want to know the time.  The other says you want to be known.  One is a tool and the other is an ego-enhancer.  

Pagan religions are all the results of human creativity.  When the Greeks put together a pantheon it was made up of all the personalities and broken characters that they saw around them.  The only difference was more powerful.  It was the nightmare of a toddler being given an adult body and superpowers.  This is the general case in western paganism.

Eastern paganism looks at the unsurmountable world around them and develops a philosophy to deal with it.  My understanding of Buddhism, which is far from perfect, is that Siddhartha saw a world of pain and misery and came up with a thought process that would free people from it.  Thus the ultimate goal is a Nirvana in which you lose all personal awareness and are freed from the prison of existence.  

The God of the Bible is different.  For one thing, the Bible teaches that God has revealed Himself to mankind.  Historically He did this through speaking to individuals such as Moses, through people called prophets and ultimately through Jesus who claimed to be equal with God.  Our job is to take what He has given us and study it so we can know about Him and His plan for the world.

The reason Voltaire and others reject the God of the Bible is because it He refuses to allow any human to become a god.  We are creatures.  We are above the animals but we were created to glorify God not compete with Him.  That humbling detail drives the arrogant and self-centered away.  Since they can’t take their football and go home, they invent an entirely new game with them as the Masters of the Universe.  

If that works for you, there is little I can say to change your mind.  If it doesn’t then you might consider actually reading the Bible instead of just listening to what people tell you about it.

homo unius libri