(This might be a bit long, so if it's too long, just move it to the coffee house, or somewhere else that is suitable)
Is God losing his powers?
Imagine you live in 100BC. Thanks to God, the sun rises and the moon sets. Thanks to God, the rain clouds gather and water your fields. Lightning, a wonder of God, lights up the fields. As day becomes night, a fireball cracks over head. God on his chariot of fire races over the skies above you, and you get a glimpse into heaven itself. Then, just as you could not have been any more privileged on this day, he makes the sun disappear and the day turns to night! Truly that would be a remarkable day!
Of course, in this day and age, we know that day and night is just because we revolve around a sun. We know what causes rain and we know that lightning bolts aren’t being sent down by Gods. We would see the same fireball race over head and think ”Wow, a meteor!’, as well as be aware that we just witnessed an eclipse on the same day. An amazing coincidence, but nothing in our day and age we would attribute to God.
In the days where very little was understood about the world around us, God was everywhere, and was the cause of everything. Didn’t know how birds stay in the air? God. Didn’t know why in the middle of the day, everything went dark? God. Everything that could not be explained, it was God, God, God.
These days though, very few of Gods mysteries are actually left. Where as nearly every daily ”oddity’ would be attributed to God, these days our understanding of the world around us has advanced to the point where suddenly, God disappears.
Was God really in charge of the events seen by the 100BC man, or was it his lack of understanding about the world around him that made him assume that the only possible explanation could be a God? At this point in society, why do we not still attribute a bird flying to God? We were convinced then that God was the reason, but when we found out enough about science, God seems to disappear.
In this day and age, what is left for God to do?
The two biggest unsolved questions would probably be how the universe was created (Pre big-bang theory I mean), and what happens after we die. And not surprisingly, the two biggest things we cannot explain in this day and age . Its God. Just like the eclipse and chariot of fire, we attribute our lack of knowledge to a higher power.
Now as for myself, I have always believed that everything was created by God. I know that Jesus was a myth, and think that only what Paul wrote about a spiritual Jesus and God was accurate (wether he was write or not is another question), but I have always figured there HAS to be God to create the universe, because nothing else makes any sense. All the complexities of the universe just seem so advanced, it can’t be by fluke. But, then I think back to that man at 100BC, and think just how little he really knew, and how in a thousand years, we will look back at this day and realise just how little we knew. My belief personally is that attributing anything to God, if history has taught us anything, is a cop out.
I’ve been thinking that ever since the dawn of man, we have always fallen back on this crux of God to put any fears of the unknown at ease. Anything we cannot explain is God, but when we figure that mystery out, well . God is just in charge of everything BUT that.
So, what’s the point of all this blabbering? Well I would like to hear from those who believe in God how they feel about God today as apposed to 2000 years ago. As we slowly figure this world around us out, are we slowly pushing God out of the picture? If we figured out how everything in the universe started from nothing tomorrow, and it was as solid as proof we exist on a round planet and revolve around a sun, what does that leave for poor God? The only area he might have left is the afterlife. So I'm wondering:
Is God losing his power?
Is there any place for God in the modern world?
If we know God is here because of what he does, is he seemingly doing a lot less that he used to?
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