My picture of God Part 1

I thought it would be helpful to the general discourse we have going here if I wrote up a little positioning statement regarding what I'm actually advocating here. So far I've gone to great lengths to illuminate why I cannot accept the Atheist option, but I have done very little to show what I actually propose in place of it. As I continue this conversation with the thoughtful few who regularly contribute I think it would be best if they actually understood where I'm coming from. There are many pictures of Christianity floating around in this world. I would like to start by giving a somewhat stereotypical representation that I feel (at least in the U.S.) haunts me.

Scenario 1

God is Omnipotent and Omniscient. Therefore all our fates are directed and sealed with no hope of alteration. Some people were created to be objects of God's love, others were created to be objects of his wrath. He has the right to do this because He created everything so who are we to question his judgment?

What we get form this is that God is petty, spiteful and a total control freak. Nice.

In order to be Christians we are to believe that the field of Science is run by a pack of arrogant Godless elitists who's sole goal is to prove there is no God by forcing their supposed "theory" of evolution down the throats of the general populace.

What happens here is that once you realize that science has shown very real evidences of this process you are forced to concede that either God makes no sense (his mysterious ways, you know) or that he wasn't there in the first place, or all scientists are liars.

The Republican party is the Christian party. The greatest threat to our nation is Gays getting to claim marriage. We as Christians must mobilize to defeat the liberal Democrats and stop this from happening at all costs. Unitarians, Liberals, Gays, Smokers, Hippies, Catholics, Calvinists, Muslims, Pro-Choicers, Porn Addicts, Bar Hoppers, New Agers, Atheists, Agnostics, Evolutionists, Fornicators, Anti-War Activists, French People and ELCA'ers are our enemies. We must defeat them.

That sounds crazy I know, but whether verbalized or not, many American Christians hold these views.

As we look around that the world and see the injustice, hate, and death so widely spread, then reflect on God's Omnipotence we must conclude that he is rather sadistic to be working out his 'good' plan by the use or allowance of these barbaric conditions.

I don't know about you but I'm not feeling inclined to bow down in worship to this sort of god. My next post will attempt to explain a picture of God that I believe is worthy of worship. It is also a picture that I believe to be more solidly rooted in His revelation. Stay tuned...