Rambling Thoughts About God

After reading a post at another blog, where the blogger stated that he felt both fear and an ignorance of God, I felt inspired to respond, as I've never quite understood the point of fearing God. My response turned into several paragraphs, turning into quite a ramble, so I thought I'd post my response here today as a blog entry of my own.

As an agnostic, I neither firmly believe nor disbelieve in God's existence. I just don't think there's enough proof in either direction. I'm inclined to think not, but humility makes it so that I can't quite shut and lock the door on the existence of God.

One thing I am sure of, however. And that's that any possible God is quite different from how He/She/It is presented by many Christians today. If God is omnipotent/omniscient/and omnipresent, then I don't think it's possible to contain knowledge of God in a tangible object -- the Bible. To try to do so is to put the Bible before God. I see the Bible more as a history book of Christianity rather than an instruction manual. Illuminating and useful, yes, but inerrant, no.

I also don't understand this "fear God" thing. If God is Love, then there's no reason to fear God. God is spoken of in metaphor as being like a father, and though there are some fathers on this earth that are feared, they aren't the same ones we love and respect. I loved my Dad and I respected him, but I never feared him, because I trusted him. It would seem as if those who trust God should never have any fear, either. Maybe it's just me, but I'd not have use for a God that I'd have to fear.

And as far as sin and Jesus having to die so that we could be forgiven, well, that leaves me scratching my head, too. If God wanted perfect, mistake-free (sinless) people, then we would have been created that way. God is supposed to be omniscient, so God should have known that the people He/She/It created would make mistakes. So, it would seem as if mistake-making(sinning) was intentionally part of our nature and we shouldn't have to be forgiven for our basic natures. Being made imperfect would have been intentional, as only imperfect people can learn and grow and make more of themselves than they originally were. It's a good thing. Perfect people would have been stagnant and boring, never learning a thing

Note: I refer to God as He/She/It because I believe that such a God could not be contained by any one human category. That is, God would be both male and female, and neither all at the same time. Calling God just "he" is to limit God, and one cannot limit an infinite God.

Thoughts?