"DEAR GOD, YOU SURE DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE ALIVE" - Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Before we begin the second leg of our journey, let me relate a conversation I had with my mother about the first. Shortly after she read 5 Reasons: Why I Still Believe in God, she told me that God’s existence had never been an issue with her. She had always assumed, never doubted, that He was real. Her experience, I am convinced, is the way it is with the majority. Although the number of people who doubt God’s existence is far greater than it appears (due, of course, to their reluctance to make such reservations public), these silent skeptics are outnumbered by those, like my mother, who have had little or no doubt during their lifetimes.¹ 

For this reason, my first volume was very much a niche book. Its target audience was limited to doubters seeking to answer and believers needing to defend the question, “Is there really a God?” If you are in neither of these groups, you may have wondered as you read it what all the fuss was about. What I ask of you here is a little empathy. Trust me (for I have been there), it is imperative that those with such doubts first and foremost come to grips with His existence. Without assurance regarding this subject, any other theological endeavor is at best half-hearted.

In a real sense, then, my first book can be viewed as an attempt to get everyone on the same page. People with doubts about the existence of God and those without them should at its conclusion be able to stand together and chant in unison, “I believe God is real!” From this common platform a focused and meaningful discussion of God’s nature can then ensue.

During that same conversation, my mother did confess to me occasional struggles with the nature of God. While holding fast to God’s reality, she sometimes found herself wondering what kind of God He really is. She told me that, in particular, all the pain and suffering in the world caused her to pause and think. Here again, I think she is in the majority. People who seldom, if ever, question God’s existence often find themselves scratching their heads over His character. Rare, indeed, is the individual who has never harbored doubts about the nature of God.

Most of us, therefore, stand with similar emotions on the plateau that marks the end of the first leg of our religious journey and the beginning of the second. Looking behind at the slope of God’s existence, we acknowledge that the universe around us makes the most sense if there is a God. Gazing ahead, we long for His nature to make sense to us as well. Included among us are people who silently wrestle with tough questions about this God they have come to believe in. Also standing with us are those who dare to voice their questions aloud:

I’ve always been inclined to believe that there must be some sort of “higher power” behind everything, but I don’t see any evidence that it’s a personal being who is all-powerful (in any sense) or gives a rip about humanity.²

I have no trouble believing God is good. My question is more, What good is he?... Really, what can we count on God for?³

I don’t see what difference it makes what characteristics God has: He still doesn’t seem very interested in us!⁴

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to make contact with God! All I get for my efforts is a sense of cold, disapproving silence.⁵

When [your mother] was dying, we all prayed till we were blue in the face. Even you kids prayed. Maybe God doesn’t listen to the prayers of sinful adults, but He should have at least heard the cries of you kids!⁶

Dear God, You sure don’t act as if God is alive...⁷

Why should we care about the existence of God, with all the evidence that our interest is not reciprocated?⁸

This book will attempt to address these questions and to provide some answers. As your guide during the next sixty days, I must admit to you at the outset my limitations. I am no professional theologian. I have no earned masters or doctorate in religion or philosophy. Nor have I been granted unique insight into the nature and character of God. Even when it comes to writing, I am still a novice with so much to learn. Yet something (or should I venture to say Someone?) compels me to offer my assistance to you. It is true that I could give you a resume that lists my undergraduate studies in religion and history, my lifetime obsession with theological reading, my giftedness and experience as a teacher, and my bent toward logical analysis as a physician. I consider these, however, to be secondary. At the top of that list, underlined and in bold print, would be an awareness of an inner voice—mysterious, yet almost palpable—that urges me to take up the task. If I failed to listen to that voice and make this journey with you, it would seem to me like turning a deaf ear to God Himself. This sense of call, more than anything else, should be assumed from beginning to end.

My book on God’s existence consisted of sixty readings suitable for daily reflection but also amenable to a single sitting. In addition to its versatility, this format has also proven to be aesthetically inviting and easy to follow. For these reasons, I have elected to continue the same structure here. Regarding the necessity of reading the first volume before tackling this one, let me provide some words of advice. I have tried my best to make this a stand-alone book. As you will soon discover, my discussion of God’s nature relies heavily on the five arguments for God’s existence given in book one. Without rehashing them in total, I have attempted to summarize them so that no one will have to do any remedial reading. This should especially be comforting to those of you who have never experienced the slightest doubt about God’s existence and would find book one somewhat of a bore. If you want more of the five arguments than just a summary, feel free to secure a copy of 5 Reasons. But do so only if it serves you some good function.

Thank you for accompanying me on this leg of our journey. And thank You, God, for joining us, too. If I am right about Your nature, You will be there every step along the way.   

Quotations

¹To many, God’s existence is as self-evident as their own. Questioning the existence of God never crosses their minds. To them, “[t]he nonexistence of God has become an impossibility, not in the sense of something illogical (such as a square circle), but as something unthinkable (such as my nonexistence).” –Winfried Corduan, No Doubt About It (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1997), 49.

²Edward K. Boyd and Gregory A. Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor, 1994), 49.

³Quoted in Phillip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 21.

⁴Edward K. Boyd and Gregory A. Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic, 58.

⁵Quoted in Phillip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, 99.

⁶Edward K. Boyd and Gregory A. Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic, 59.

⁷Quoted in Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, 17.

⁸Mitchell Winthrop, “Letters to the Editor,” Time, November 11, 2004, p. 11.