If There Were a God

It is possible that there is no God.

In many ways, invoking one can feel like answering a mystery with an even larger mystery.

If the universe is complex enough to require explanation, then a being capable of creating it would be even more complex - and harder to explain.

But it is still worth asking a different question.

Not whether God exists, but: if there were a God, what would it have to be like?

If such a being created life, it would seem unlikely that life itself was something to be discarded. Creation suggests value.

If that same being created a universe, it would seem to have the ability to understand the outcomes of that creation. The system would not be accidental.

So what would we expect to see? A system where most of its creation fails? Where the majority are lost? Where belief determines outcome more than understanding or behavior?

I find it difficult to reconcile that.

Not because I reject the possibility of God, but because I am trying to understand what kind of God would be consistent with what we observe.

If there is a God, it may not resemble the one we commonly describe.

And if there is not, then perhaps the universe is not something that was designed, but something that emerged.

Either way, the question remains the same: What is true?

Previous in the series:
Wonder and Explanation

Next in the series:
Power and Worship

Series index:
A Map of the Questions for Civilization -- Table of Contents