Would He?
If god were real, he would have made the Bible clearer. — Atheist Tweeter.
This was a response tweeted to a Christian who upheld the #Bible as the Word of God. The atheist who commented this is far from alone in his belief that God would have made the Bible clearer if only He were more than a mental illness. It was a response I found amusing and rose a few questions. Not least of those questions was “Would He?” How does someone who vehemently denies that God exists suddenly become a leading authority on what God would or would not do? The very claim that an atheist would have any idea what God would or would not do is ridiculous. And then to base an argument for God's non-existence on this spurious idea merely adds insult to their self-injury. Christians, likewise, should be more careful before pontificating about God's supposed choices.
Let's have a look at what God says about His own actions in the world.
“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed[a] in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” — Ecclesiastes 11:5
Science has advanced a bit since Solomon's day, so the first part might be replaced by something more puzzling to our time. However, the principle still stands.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” — Isaiah 55:9
In a culture that prefers to think of every human as special and entitled, even Christians are prone to forget that the Lord God is God. That means He can do pretty much what He wants and is in line with His character. He may be omnipotent, but His own character cannot be denied. In the two verses above, The Lord is informing people that they cannot use their own human standards to judge Him or His actions.
Some might make the claim that Jesus had a different take on all of this. After all, most people seem to like His love-focused approach, so-called. In Malachi, (below), God is talking about the day of His coming, but lets the reader in on something about His nature. He does not change. Therefore, God is just as different to us now as He was to Isaiah and Solomon. Jesus' ministry and resurrection have done nothing to change that ontological fact.
“I the Lord do not change.” – Malachi 3:6
Jesus shares that same quality (below). The key word is 'forever', which is not merely “from now on”, but includes eternity in both directions (Colossians 1:15-20). While the resurrection of Christ has enabled us to be imputed with righteous and thereby create a path to be reconciled with God, God as Trinity has not changed His essential nature to anything closer to our nature. He is just as far above us as He ever was.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8
My point here is that no one can make the claim that God would or would not do anything based on their own limited, anthropocentric perspectives on what reality is.
Even Jesus Himself weighs in on the question of making his teachings clearer when He quotes Isaiah 6:9:
“ He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]” — Luke 8:10
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself directly contradicts the tweeter who felt the Bible would be clearer if only God were true. The bottom line is that the Biblical revelation is the way it is because God chose it that way (the debate of divine inspiration is another topic). As humans, we need to suck it up and get over it. The Bible is clear enough for “anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear”.
I see such claims as part of a wider phenomenon that atheists indulge in, though hardly have the monopoly, as many Christians indulge in similar displays. “God would never condemn someone to an eternity in Hell” is a classic example from the Christian camp. People seem to throw a tantrum about God when the world does not match up to their expectations of how things should be. Through Isaiah, God sets the record straight:
“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it. “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’? Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’” — Isaiah 45: 8-11
It is not a popular idea in our culture or time that God might just have a different agenda to what we think He should have. The Lord might ask the original Tweeter, “Who are you to judge me?”