A Distasteful Diety

Dear Mr Bossman,

  Thank you very much for asking me to have a look at Bob Ripley’s “Life Beyond Belief”.  I can't tell you how honoured I am that you value my opinion on matters of faith and doubt enough to consider me for the task.  Please know that I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you these past 14 years.  I appreciate the way our company is run, building its foundation on integrity and quality workmanship.  These values are a big part of why working with you is a fit for who I am.

  I’m into the second chapter and at this point, one thing is clear to me.  After looking at how God interacted with humanity apart from a Saviour, Bob doesn't like Him.  That is plain.  Why he finally made this observation at 55 is uncertain.  In fact, he asks that very question himself.

  He is obviously a very intelligent man.  I also believe he is a better writer than I am.  My take on what he refers to as his deconversion, is that he hadn't really investigated the full nature of God prior.  Even after a life of professional ministry and extensive theological education, looking closer at God in the Old Testament revealed things to him; distasteful things.  He sees something very different than I do when I read the same pages.  I see a God with incredible patience towards His people, and mankind in general.  

  How about you?  Have you taken the time to really look at who God is?  I'm not sure how Bob would have expected life to look like without Christ.

   Bob thinks that God is mean, vengeful, distasteful and hypocritical and has done very well to verbalize those sentiments.  At the same time, he seems to think it mean that non believers would have to spend eternity without Christ.  I find that to be completely odd.  For a person who sees God in that light, why would they want to spend eternity with Him anyway?

  Think what you want about God.  Call Him what you will; mean, merciful or otherwise.  At the end of the day, our opinions of His nature have no sway over whether or not He is.  My view on His interaction with mankind during the Old Testament is as follows.  Without a Saviour, we are not going to make it with God.  I know this flies in the face of what a lot of people think.  We want to think, “I should be good enough.  God should just get past the wrongs I've done.  I'm not as bad as other people.  I do enough nice things.”  

  I'm not good enough to make it with the Toronto Maple Leafs let alone an almighty, perfect God, and they aren't even that good.

  Bob has certainly gone beyond this.  He is not thinking that he’s good enough for God.  He clings to the hope that God is little more than a nightmare having made it to print.  At this point, I think he has to be an atheist.  I’m certain that it would be too painful for anyone who views God in that light, to consider the possibility of answering to Him at the end of this life.

  In any manner, he doesn't like God anyway, so it won't be too disappointing if he doesn't spend an eternity with Him.

   For a man who sees God as he does - knowing Him to be an unappeasable Deity, Life Beyond Belief is probably the only way to continue living with some semblance of sanity.