Man and god

A modern vision of man and god.

It is difficult for unbelievers to understand that believers attach so much importance to the judgment of their 'god' over their lives. The relationship between believing people and their god is difficult in Jewish, Christian and Islamic cultures. These religions are based on the following principles:

1. There is an almighty god with a personal consciousness, who can and will intervene directly and deliberately in creation.

2. This almighty god is very interested in every person, keeps an eye on every person individually and is willing and able to reward and punish people individually.

3. Although this god is omnipotent and omniscient, he makes mistakes. For example, he creates man in his own image and likeness. Then he is dissatisfied with the result and destroys man (or part of humanity) with a deluge, with epidemics, wars, fire from heaven, volcanic eruptions, famines, etc.

4. He appoints a few prophets and orders them to record his word in a holy book. Every faith has its own holy book, which differs from the other holy books in quite a few respects. Specifically: The Torah, the Bible and the Quran. Some of the supporters also state:

   Everything God has ever said or might ever say in the future is in our holy book. Everything that is not in our holy book is false and comes from the anti-god (Devil, Satan, Beelzebub, etc.) God cannot (and should not) grow or change his mind. Everything is fixed in this book and no letter (jot or tittle) may be changed.

5. Islam then states as an extra point: Our prophet is the very last prophet. Allah is not allowed to appoint a new prophet, because then our holy book will no longer be correct. So: Anyone who calls himself a prophet is, according to Islam, an emissary of the anti-god.

It is not only anti-theists who find these principles strange. I am a spiritual heathen, and I also find these assumptions strange.