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Posts Tagged ‘perfect’

How Can We Really Know What God Is Like?

Posted in Acceptance, Bible, christian living, Jesus follower, Love of God, tagged , , , , , on March 18, 2026|

by Mike Edwards

I write a lot about this topic as I named my blog over 15 years ago  What God May Really Be Like  So I often revisit what God may really be like. I used the word “May” because I was countering dogmatism growing up in church. Who knows what God is really like unless God talks to you directly? I am claiming that if you are told something about God that goes against universal moral intuitions, question it – such as is a literal Hell real? There are many interpretations of the English word “Hell” in the Bible. Would a loving God really create a torturous afterlife place for unbelievers? Intuitively, the only God worth believing in must be perfectly loving and moral. We can only assume what love is by comparing to perfect human love.

God must be good intuitively! 

Many of us left organized religion, not God, because claims about God’s character was contrary to our deepest moral intuitions. It doesn’t make sense why a Creator wouldn’t love the same way we humans believe we were seemingly created by a Creator to love (aka goodness vs. evil). Even those who try to defend God’s violent ways in the Old Testament agree, or they wouldn’t attempt to rationalize why a supposed inspired/infallible Book by God reports bad actions contributed to God. We can’t always understand what perfect love is – to help a drug addict or let them hit bottom – but even the Bible assume we can understand God’s perfect love/goodness through human lens – “be perfect, as your heavenly God is perfect.” (Mt 5:48).

God can only be understood through “goodness” lens anyway

If God is bad or evil at times, we can only understand such actions by comparing/exploring what is good. If God was supposedly unloving, we can only pursue such knowledge by discussing what true love it. It seems we can only rely on human reasoning to decide what interpretation of the Bible is more likely, what are loving human actions toward others, or understanding what God’s love is like. 

How do we know what “good” is? 

Parents create/have children to be loved and teach how to love others. An existing Creator surely creates desiring to love and be loved. God surely love how we know parents should love their children. We all seem to know the question we ought to ask ourselves – am I loving others perfectly? That is how God loves. We know how we should love and how God loves – are you loving others like you want to be loved? We may not always be certain the most loving action, unless my son or son-in laws mistreat women!  There is a reason anyone who justifies selfishness is often friendless.

Our inborn sense of good and evil, not an ancient Book, tells us sexual abuse or murder is immoral. Self-evident morals aren’t hidden in any Holy Book If one thinks their Creator loves contrary to universal moral intuitions (should infidels be destroyed in this life?), it is because of their interpretation of a supposed inspired Book by their God. When there is debate about laws we must have discussions.

Surely, perfect human love is the same as Godly love

The only God worth believing in must be perfectly loving as opposed to in any way hateful. God’s love surely is the same as supreme parents – other-directed not self-consumed. Love gets excited when we do well and make a difference in the lives of others. Love anticipates, hopes for my success, believes in me, pulls for me even when failing, because I do the same for my children. We doubt God but God still loves. Parents bring children into the world hoping their children freely reciprocate their love for authentic relationships. Why would God be any different.

Why wouldn’t God be most like what our moral intuitions suggest? 

God’s goodness isn’t just according to the Bible!

Ancient literature is subject to interpretation. Even if the writers understood their God perfectly, which we can’t prove, we can’t claim our interpretations are perfect. The truth is biblical scholars who have a deep respect for the Bible don’t agree what God thinks about gays, women, hell, and other moral issues. See here. See here. See here.  Gays are supposedly condemned, women’s leadership roles are limited, despite their gifts and a fiery torturous afterlife awaits infidels – all in God’s name

A Book cannot be the sole determinate of what God is like since the same passages are subject to different interpretations. Also, the majority of people born in this world did not have a copy of the Bible. We are left to wonder how a Perfect God, the only God worth believing in, truly loves. It is only intuitive that a Creator loves the ways their creations ought to love one another. We all seem to know the question we ought to ask ourselves – am I loving others like I want to be loved. It isn’t presumptuous to imagine what a loving God is like through our moral consciences. See here.

 What was Jesus’ thoughts on God’s goodness or love? 

Many, including me, are convinced to understand Jesus is to understand God. It seems Jesus came to suggest salvation is a current life of love, not a future destination to avoid Hell. Jesus told the woman who had committed adultery: “go now, and leave your life of sin” (John 8). Where was Jesus’ evangelical spiel? Jesus was asked by a religious expert how to have eternal life. He simply said to love God and your neighbor (Lk.10:25-37), since loving God leads to loving others. Jesus confronted the religious who kept laws but didn’t follow Jesus with their heart. Godly love surely seeks to empower us to be the unselfish people we deep down desire to be for a better world. See here.

Goodness or Godly love is exactly the same!

The Bible doesn’t always describe God in perfect human moral terms, so may God-believers resort to suggesting God’s actions are sometimes a mystery. Believers assume God must be perfectly good so rationalizations are made, since they assume the entire Bible is approved/inspired by God, They must explain why the Bible reports God acting violently or destructively. See 9 Reasons To Not Trust The Bible’s Claims About God! But a Book can’t be the definitive word about God since subject to different interpretations, and we can’t prove God always controlled what the writers understood and wrote about God.  

How you imagine God’s love can determine how you relate to God

  • The truth is we can’t know definitely what an invisible God’s love is like. But the only God worth believing in loves perfectly. What is perfect love?
  • I propose we can know what God’s perfect love is like but imagining what a perfect parent’s is like. We can’t always know what perfect love is – whether to let an addict hit bottom or force them into rehabilitation – but only the guilty don’t know sexual abuse or domestic violence is evil.
  • If we think God is hard to please and pissed off about sin rather than what sin is doing to us, we may judge others just as harshly rather than showing patience and mercy
  • If God is really a warlike God according to the OT, we will use such behaviors to possibly justify going to war when we should
  • If God condemns gays, we will condemn gays out of devotion to God
  • If God thinks men have authority over women in some positions, that will filter down to your wives, daughters, and friends and stifle their gifts.

I’m convinced belief in a benevolent God, according to common moral intuitions, makes you kinder. We often treat others the way we think God treats us.  How has God’s threats of punishment helped you break away from bad habits or behaviors you long to change? I guess fear God if helps to avoid consequences of destructive actions. But if struggling and need encouragement and mercy, a loving God awaits with open arms. Grace or authoritativeness doesn’t guarantee change, but I believe we best change because of a friend’s or God’s love and acceptance. See It Matters If Your God Is Nurturing Or Authoritative!

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. Mike also writes on his own site that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

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Can God Act However The Hell God Wants To Act?

Posted in Acceptance, Bible, christian living, tagged , , , , on November 25, 2019|

By Mike Edwards

God supposedly was the cause of Uzzah’s death for simply touching the Ark of the Covenant as it was falling to the ground (2 Sam. 6). The Ark was sacred in God’s eyes according to the Israelites. God supposedly orders the murder of men, women, children, and animals in war (I Sam. 15:3). One author’s respond to these OT stories was to suggest “we are quick to say things like ‘That isn’t fair because we deserve certain rights as humans.’ Yet we give little thought to the rights God deserves as God.”  

Who can we compare God to understand better?  

If there is only one God, who do we compare God to as a way to understand? The Bible uses the analogy of God as our Heavenly Father/Parent to help us understand God as best we can. God obviously isn’t exactly like human parents for I cannot be in all places at one time, but an analogy helps to discern what might be commonalities. What do God as a parent and human parents have in common when it comes to rights?

Isn’t God like the perfect human parent?  

All agree that if God exists than God must be perfect. The Bible agrees by encouraging us to strive to imitate or be perfect like God (Eph. 5:1; Mt. 5:48). If God can do whatever the hell God wants, should we imitate such an attitude? It is only natural to think a Creator would love us and others how we were seemingly created to love others. Human and God’s perfection are surely one and the same. We may only think otherwise because of what we think a Book says. We don’t always know what perfect love is, but I doubt God is the parent that says “do as I say not what I do.”

What are God’s rights?

God would only claim perfect, human rights. God loves us how we know we ought to love others. We aren’t clueless what perfect love is. Terrorists are evil because they would not accept being treated like they treat others. We can’t know if the biblical writers always understood God perfectly or whether our interpretation of what they write is correct. Interpretations that don’t seemingly lead to loving your neighbor more may be amiss because they are contrary to our moral intuitions of perfection. That is why we know Hell doesn’t truly exist. Such pain serves no lasting purpose. Humans wouldn’t even create such a place for their worst enemies.

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The Perfect Human Being Is God!

Posted in christian living, Word of God, tagged , , , , on February 25, 2019| 1 Comment »

By Mike Edwards

I admit choosing a provocative title. I could have said God is like the perfect human being. What is my point? I am not suggesting any human being is God or that an invisible, inaudible God is human. I am simply trying to find a way to write and encourage discussion of what God is like. We can’t claim to know exactly what God is like, but what ideas may be closer to the truth? 

It matters what we think God is like.

Our understandings about God shape our attitudes toward God. Our relationship with God cannot exceed our views of God. The more you respect your earthly parents, the closer you are to them. Some are atheists, not because they believe God can’t exist, but because what they imagine a loving God should be like isn’t what God-followers claim.

We can’t be positive what God is really like of course.  

I can’t even prove God really exist. I just think that millions if not billions are not insane for knowing or at least hoping there is a Creator who can provide worth, perspective, meaning, and hope of life after death.  We need a way to talk about what God is really like. It is often claimed we know what God is like – just read the Bible!

The Bible cannot be the definitive way of knowing what God is like.

The Bible is ancient literature that requires interpretation. Laypeople, much less biblical scholars who respect Scriptures as authoritative, don’t agree what the same passages mean. Some claim the Bible condemns homosexuality; other deny such claims. How do we decide which interpretation may be the best interpretation of God’s true nature? The majority born never had a Bible so a Creator may have thought of others ways to communicate what they are really like. 

Doesn’t God communicate through our moral intuitions?

A universal, inborn desire to treat others like we want to be treated could suggest how a Creator communicates what is good. When we read ancient literature such as the Bible and two plausible interpretations exist, we can’t avoid using our moral brains.  We are trying to determine what a perfect, loving God is like. An immoral God isn’t worth believing in. Even the Bible assumes we can know what perfect love is, because the Bible tells us to be perfect like God (Mt. 5:48). God’s love surely is what we imagine perfect human love is like.

Even those who play the mystery card assume perfect godly and human morality are the same.

Many claim God is a mystery sometimes because their interpretation of Scriptures suggest God appears evil from a human perspective. Such interpreters are using their moral intuitions and assuming God and human love are the same. It is certain that we don’t always know what perfect love is, but the mystery card short circuits discussions about God’s true character.

Doesn’t the Newer Testament through the eyes of Jesus give us the correct view of God?

Many theologians rightly question if Old Testament writers always had a complete understanding of God. In OT times it was sacrilegious to not speak of God as being all-powerful and controlling even through violence. This may explain violent warfare actions in God’s name. It is suggested Jesus, who claimed to be God in the flesh, had a more complete understanding of what God is like. We still though have the challenge of literature requiring interpretation. Turning the other check is interpreted to claim Jesus never advocated violence, but a possible literal translation of Mt. 5:39 is “do not resist by evil means.” Would Jesus agree violence is never desired but may be necessary sometimes? We can never claim certainty “because the Bible or Jesus says so.”

Lack of certainty about God does not mean anything goes?  

We don’t have to make laws against murder. Criminals don’t deny their actions are wrong; they deny they committed such a crime. It is almost universally accepted that it is morally wrong to kill someone out of revenge or for selfish reasons. It is universally accepted that it is morally wrong to behead people for their beliefs unless you are a terrorist. Claiming the Bible can’t be use to definitively tell us what God is like protects from those claiming their interpretation is definitive while demonizing views to the contrary.

God is like the perfect human being!

We can’t know what God is exactly like but we can imagine what God is like by discussing what human perfection is. Those who argue humans are created in the image of God usually accept that God created us to know and hate evil. If God sometimes is evil according to one’s interpretation of the Bible, should we hate God sometimes? We must question not rationalize such interpretations. A God who seeks a relationship is surely more understandable than mysterious. Don’t we get closer to understanding what Godly love is by accepting that loving others like we want to be loved is the same as how God loves us and others.

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