Who Defines God?

The major difficulty with humans is that we are so ignorant. When is comes to God doubly so. When we look to know God or understand Him, the fact is that if we are left to our own devices we will, because of ignorance or prejudice, get it wrong. We would define God in terms we would like or understand.

When someone says to me -- "I believe in God but I am not sure of the God of the Bible. I don't like him and he does not fit what I think God is." I understand the dilemma, but I also think they have a major problem -- they fail to see their own ignorance and prejudice.

Let's take an example to illustrate the point. Say I have a friend named Bob, I want to introduce to Larry. Bob asks me what Larry is like. The reality is that Larry is an extrovert and opinionated. I tell Bob this. Bob does not like opinionated, outgoing people so Bob says -- "I don't think so, I bet Larry is a shy, quiet guy." Does Bob's belief change who Larry is?

The problem is that this is what people do with God. They read the Bible and don't like that God so they come up with one of their own. For the sake of the unbelievers out there, let me put it this way: If the Bible is a true representation of who God is and what He says He is, then it does not matter two dingos kidneys what you or I believe or think He is. The God of the Bible is the reality and our belief or opinion will not change that. God would be who He is described to be no matter what.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that individual experience with God does not matter much either. People can claim to experience something but be lying; they could genuinely experience God or hear his voice, but interpret it wrongly. Human ignorance an prejudice again.

Ultimately we are left with one inescapable conclusion the only one who could accurately define God - who He is and what He is about - Is God Himself. God must come down and say, "This is who I am and what I want." Without this, no true definition of God would be possible. In addition when God does this, it must be witnessed by many people who all agree that is what God said and did, otherwise it falls back on individual religious experience.

Ultimately this is why the Bible is so hot a subject. It claims to be this record of what God said and expects; as well as, a record of what people did an thought about it. Others claim that this is not true. There are a million plus opinions so take your pick. The point is that the ultimate issue is can believers in the Bible prove that it is an accurate record of what God said and did. If the can, it means this is who God is so deal with it. If they can't then we are left searching for some true record of God or the divine acting or speaking that fits the same criteria.

One thing is for sure, we cannot define God for ourselves. This is what the prophets and philosophers both identified and dismissed as idolatry. We would make Him into our image of what we want Him to be. I am not saying that God may not have similar qualities as our own, but that we are simply not in a position to make the judgment of what those are. God must define Himself or no one.