What Kind of God?

David Pack, of one of the many organizations that seek to prove creationism or intelligent design or the truth of scripture, writes:

What kind of God would write an Instruction Book about how to live, command that it be followed as His Word and then offer no PROOF that it is? It insults whoever is God to even believe Him capable of such inconsistency—and unfairness! On what basis would He—or even could He—require obedience to such an Instruction Book, if He left no proof that it was authentic?

While he meant the question to be rhetorical I think it deserves an answer. Perhaps a God who created us with minds and wants us to make a choice for him would create a Scripture that demands faith rather than evidence. Perhaps a God who gave us free will wouldn't want to put something in the way of our exercising that free will by making the evidence proof.

And, perhaps, what Peck is doing is making God in the image of what Peck expects and wants God to be. And what we should be doing is let God come in whatever fashion God wants to come to us. And, perhaps, scripture is the way it is so that we can come to God with our heart and mind and body and soul. And we should be asking what does scripture call us to do and be rather than can I prove every jot and tittle.

What Peck does is make a false dichotomy. The Bible has to be what he wants it to be or he cannot believe it. The Bible must be true in every aspect or it is false. But those oppositions that Peck has don't ring true for every believer. The inconsistency that Peck mentions doesn't seem to be inconsistency to everyone and I suspect even a simple majority of Christians would say that his inconsistencies are of his own making.

Perhaps, what God wants is not blind obedience. And that is what would happen if the Bible could be proved and if everything was literally true. Perhaps what God wants is faith that is beyond proof and a living experience that changes and grows. Perhaps what God wants is thinking service and enjoyment of the creation. Perhaps what God wants is a people who can grow and mature. Perhaps.

I see the Bible in very different terms than Peck and I don't find it unfair or inconsistent. Whether or not Sodom and Gomorrah existed is irrelevant to my faith. I look for what the stories have to teach me about living a good and faithful life rather than whether they have historical accuracy. Somehow I think I'm happier doing that than if I spent my life dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't' (jot and tittle) to see if I can prove the Bible is true.