I was recently challenged for my skepticism with respect to the existence of God.
On this wintery Sunday morning (in what technically should be spring), I thought I would attempt to explain my views.
I do not write these words to proselytize. If God is important to you, I have no desire to change you or affect your belief. All I ask is to be afforded the same courtesy.
Having reviewed all the evidence available to me, over many years, I have formed the opinion that it was not God who created man, but man who created God.
In fact, mankind has created thousands of gods. Throughout history and around the world, people have contrived deities to fill gaps in their understanding. In ancient times, natural phenomena like the rising sun, thunder, and the moon were attributed to gods, like Ra, Thor, and Luna.
More than a hundred gods exist to explain the single phenomenon of wind.
Ilmarinen – Finnish God of Wind, Weather and Air
As scientific knowledge progressed and mankind came to understand more about the world, most gods attributed to natural phenomena were abandoned. They endure only in legend and mythology.
Thor, Norse God of Thunder
Despite rapid advances in science, many mysteries continue to elude us. How did the universe come into existence? When did life start, and how? What happens when we die? Where do morals come from? These questions remain mysterious – science has yet to fully explain them.
Wherever gaps in our understanding exist, mankind tends to insert gods.
Depending on where you live in the world, and in which time-period, the God attributed to creation might be Allah, Brahma, Pangu, Elohim, Yahweh, or some other variation.
Every group of people who ever created and perpetuated a god defends those creations by every means possible. Tribes demonise the gods of other tribes and ostracise anyone within the group who rejects their chosen deity. Once firmly entrenched, tribe members will fight, often to the death, in the defence and perpetuation of their interpretation of what God is.
All the Gods out there cannot coexist – they can’t all be right.
But they can all be wrong.
Most of the WellWaterBlog audience is in my physical and cultural demographic, so I assume that many people reading this have a Christian heritage, it’s where we live. Most readers probably don’t believe in Allah, Vishnu, or Brahma; they are sceptics with respect to those gods.
I just take it…
…One God Further.
Terry
I enjoyed and concur with your view on God, Russ. I grew up RC but have numerous questions about the church, God & JC that continue to go unanswered. It seems the “cradle Catholics” just carry on, often out of obligation or because they attach themselves to the “parish priest”, which is a whole other issue. Thanks for sharing your position.
Russ Paton
Thanks Terry, The fact that so much good comes of religion, and yet it is so obviously flawed,is to me further evidence that God and religion are man-made. They have very human characteristics, not what you would expect of an omnipotent deity. Big questions to ponder….