God is Not All Powerful

March 1st, 2008

Well, if that title doesn’t get me burned at the stake, I don’t know what will. Nice knowin’ all you fine folks!

In the recent post of musings on reincarnation, I stated that “the divine is persuasive, not coercive.” This understanding was another huge shift in my thinking with major implications. And this is where my inner theology geek comes out to play…

When a lot of people think of “divine power,” the power they’re thinking of is coercive force. I’m bigger than you, so I can exert my will over yours. The old ideas of god/ess/s held that the divine was inherently coercive, and acted unilaterally, smiting the wicked and blessing the righteous as he or she pleased. This paradigm was useful for enforcing a society’s moral code (and more cynically, centralizing power with “God’s chosen mediators” — priesthoods and governments), and interpreting powerful natural phenomena whose true causes weren’t well understood, but it just doesn’t stand up to logic or experience. If God does or can have complete control over any given event, then some of the things that happen on this planet raise some uncomfortable questions about exactly what kind of deity we’re dealing with here. Even more worrying is the fact that people tend to become like the gods they worship, and so many cultures and people have used this idea to force their will on others under the guise of “doing God’s will.”

After much self-reflection, pondering over my experience, the state of the world, what little I know about the nature of reality, I can only conclude that the divine is not all powerful. At least not in the way people think. Control is not power — control is the illusion of power perpetuated by people and entities insecure about their own lack of internal control, and afraid of change. The need for control arises from the fear of loss. If the divine has nothing to lose, then where is the need for control?

I submit that the divine’s power lies in the power of persuasion, not coercion. All control structures eventually fail, because the human spirit (or should I say the divine aspect of human nature?) longs for freedom. But the divine has all of eternity to achieve its end; it doesn’t have to force anything, and if its creation chooses to ignore its influence and destroys itself, it can simply start over. It’s that “still small voice” nudging us toward being our best and doing what we came here for — but it’s not going to force the issue, because love, learning and true self expression can’t be forced — only chosen.

Unfortunately most people are reactionary, and are simply drawn toward whatever is the loudest influence in any given moment, which is usually something offering to take away some of your personal power in exchange for the illusion of security or some temporary comfort. They don’t truly know themselves, let alone express the nature of their souls; they’re told who to be by any number of influences they perceive as having the authority to decide for them. Not that they’ve given the matter enough thought to realize that this is what’s happening. Often it’s only when those illusions are shattered and this course becomes too unbearable to continue, do people start looking for ways to free themselves from the cacophony of competing influences and look for that other, quieter, but infinitely wise Source of guidance and inspiration. It knows what you came here for because it IS the part of you that wants to create, express and become self-aware within its own creation. It will guide you into your soul’s true fulfillment if you would only re-learn how to listen.

For further reading, I would suggest some research into process theology
. I don’t consider myself a process theologian, but it did influence a lot of my thinking, and is where I first came across the idea of divine persuasion vs coercion. The Basic Introduction by C Robert Mesle is a great intro and a pretty short, easy read.