Should We Fire God? (Part 3a)

My approach
When I initially thought about this post, I wanted to list the major points that I felt were Jim’s strongest from the book along with my reaction(s) to them.  After further consideration, I decided to diverge from my initial approach.  I will be breaking this down into what I see (from a 21st century American’s eyes) as some of the major different perspectives from which we can address these questions about God, pain, suffering, and the like.

I realize that I can’t catch all the fish with the nets I am casting (my generalizations and stereotypes encapsulated by each section below), but I am going under some assumptions based on experience and exposure to the below world views that will help convey different ways I see that one can approach these questions.  I also realize that in areas it may seem incomplete or oversimplified, either due to the fact that this is a blog entry and I can only do so much or perhaps because I simply am not well versed in it.  One can and may indeed float between the different sections of thought I discuss below, because this can be a very complex undergoing of exploration for the human mind.  One cannot simply avoid the full spectrum of observances and perspectives if they wish to take this on in its entirety, which by no means do I subscribe I am fully doing here.

Let’s proceed.

Should We Fire God? (Part 2b)

The beginning of questioning and doubting
At the end of 2007, I began my first real questioning of God, my faith, and what I could trust as real. This questioning was moreso in regards to factual truth and whether what I knew was reality and not something just in my head or thought up by humans thousands of years ago. It never really reached a questioning of the character of God, his goodness. Those six months or so were a painful time for me as I wrestled through questioning the basic tenets and assumptions in my faith. Is God the way I know him? Does he even exist? Can I trust the Bible? Is it all in my head? What is real? How do you determine truth? Have I been somehow deceived?  Can I ever know?

Should We Fire God? (Part 2a)

Punishment from above
Up until perhaps the last few years, moreso the last few months to a year, I had never really considered some of the questions presented in the previous post (Part 1) concerning God and pain and suffering. Had I been presented with those same questions then, it wouldn’t have bothered or shaken my view of God because although I could see pain and suffering around me and in the world, God was good, merciful, and love. I thought, our suffering and pain is due to the effects of sin since the beginning of time.  Not that your sin has a direct cause and effect relationship like the Jews of Jesus’ time believed, but in the sense that we live in a broken world tainted by sin, and the only hope we have of eradicating this would be the full return and glory of Jesus Christ to end all pain.

Should We Fire God? (Part 1)

The Characteristics

Hatred.  Evil.  Neglectful.  Merciful.  Maliciousness.  Uncaring.  Love.  Selfish.  Lazy.  Vengeful.  Compassionate.

These are all words that can easily be ascribed to people throughout time including our own here in the 21st century.  But what about God?  Or gods?  If there in fact is a God and we can know anything about him, do any of the above words characterize him?

Millennia ago, adherents to a specific set of gods certainly would have attributed those characteristics to them.  Generally each god had their own unique niche, such as the Roman gods and goddesses: