I recently learned that Christianity has two WOGs. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the first WOG, which stands for the “Word of God.” I explained that even though the words sound very religious, they don’t mean anything to me because I don’t believe that God wrote the Bible. Human beings wrote it.
Maybe I could sell more books if I printed “The Word of God!” on the covers. However, people might scoff because one of the unspoken rules for such a claim is that the author must be dead. I’m not!
The second WOG I’m discussing in this blog post stands for the will of God. Some folks claim they know the WOG. Unfortunately, that brings out my inquisitiveness, and I start asking lots of questions like “Whose god?” and “How do you know his will?” and more!
In my travels around the world, I’ve heard about so many different gods. It’s confusing! I should know all about the WOG because I have a doctorate in theology, the study of God. To be honest, that study has only confused me further. Maybe I have overstudied God, because at this stage of my life, I can only say that I have no idea who or what God is.
So far, my best shot at describing God is the word Creation. I like that word because it has no gender, exists throughout the universe, and involves every living thing. It has no church, no doctrine or dogma, and no clergy.
I question those who suggest that the WOG is dressing people up in explosive vests, having them walk into crowds of innocent folks, and blowing them to smithereens. Nor am I drawn to a god whose will supposedly gives people the right to commit genocide. A god who tells folks to oppress and even kill those in the LGBTQUI community is one sick god.
The WOG that devises a plan to have his son murdered so people can be saved from their sins is not a healthy will. If I did that, the law would make sure I spent eternity in solitary confinement.
Years ago, a megachurch pastor wrote a book entitled The Purpose Driven Life. It reeked of predestination (the notion that our lives are all planned), which of course rejects free will.
Part of me likes predestination because it would make my life simple—eat, drink, and be merry. Since my life is all planned out, I don’t have to be responsible. It sounds great on paper, but reality tells me otherwise. So would a judge.
Predestination implies that the WOG is some great master puppeteer that constantly pulls strings to make bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. I don’t buy that!
I’m into total free will, where Bil is responsible for any and all of my decisions.
Fortunately, a guy by the name of Jesus has given me a moral compass (agape) and other tools to lead my life to the fullest. So far, these tools have worked great!
The WOG is simply a tool for the institutional church to control people. It loves to pretend it knows the WOG. But I’m going to share a secret with you: there is no such thing as the WOG!
What are your thoughts about the WOG?
Image courtesy of Jim McDougall (CC BY 2.0)