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Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Why does God work through fallible humans?

Why would an omnipotent and omniscient God use beings of such limited sensory and cognitive abilities to communicate his will to those beings? Wouldn't it make much more sense for God to do everything himself? In fact, doesn't all of the confusion, contradiction, and failure associated with religion and its scriptures suggest that there really isn't any such God behind it all - that it is entirely the product of human reasoning? Think about the many and varied sects/denominations extant within Christianity. And what about all of those obvious errors and contradictions which are present in the Judeo-Christian Bible? Wouldn't it have made more sense for God to have personally written an error-free instruction book and presented it to humans? And why wouldn't that God have simply and straightforwardly answered all of our questions? Why all of the mystery?

If there really is a Creator of humankind, then that entity is of necessity intimately familiar with the sensory and cognitive abilities of those creatures. In short, a Creator would understand how those creatures communicate with each other and learn. A Creator would comprehend the mechanics and evolution of language - both written and spoken. A Creator would fully grasp the process by which humans formulate and interpret messages. A Creator would get all of the nuances and importance of nonverbal cues - the body language of communication. A Creator would understand that humans have varying cognitive/intellectual abilities, and that they respond to a wide range of educational methodologies. Indeed, my own training as an educator has made me acutely aware of just how complex human communication and learning can be.

Successful educators quickly learn that some teaching methods are better suited to certain students and circumstances than others. Teachers know that reading is sometimes preferable to lecture. Instructors understand that some topics are better handled with things like group discussions, writing assignments, experimentation, field trips, storytelling, games/competitions, research projects, etc. Educators know that using experts and debating can be the most effective means to present some topics. Teachers also employ many different kinds of media in their programs of instruction (e.g., film, slides, computers, books, magazines/journals, overhead projectors, erasable boards, copying machines, television, audio recordings, etc.). Educators also understand that there are very different dynamics present within a group learning environment compared to an individualized program of instruction. Teachers are also very much aware of the impact that a student's homelife can have on his/her performance in the classroom (things like sleep, nutrition, housing, parental and sibling modeling, etc.). In short, humans respond to a wide variety of learning methods and environments.

Take just a moment to also consider the many different types of both oral and written communications available to humans. We employ formal and informal conversations, meetings, presentations/lectures, speeches, and interviews in communicating with each other. Moreover, just as there are a wide variety of ways to orally communicate with each other, there are also a number of literary genres available to us. We know that we can choose to express ourselves through prose or poetry. We understand that folks can read works of fiction or nonfiction. We know that authors can choose to employ devices like satire, metaphor, allegory, narrative, dialogue, etc. We understand that writers can use humor, romance, history, science, horror, etc. to communicate their story to others. In other words, humans have developed a diverse and wide-ranging means of exchanging information/ideas with each other.

Having considered all of this from the perspective of human communication and learning, a number of questions come to mind: Is it unreasonable to assume that a Creator would be aware of all of this? Does it make any sense to suppose that this awareness might have some impact on how a Creator would choose to present itself to its creation? Does it make any sense for a teacher to incorporate the needs of their students into his/her lesson plans? Is it illogical for an educator to involve his/her students in the learning process? Wouldn't a wise instructor use a variety of messages and methodologies in the presentation of his/her lesson(s)? Don't all good teachers and storytellers tailor their messages to the audience before them? Does one size fit all? What do you think?


1 comment:

  1. Over 13 years ago, I noted the following in the introduction to a piece I wrote about the Bible:

    Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, God has chosen a number of different ways to reveal himself and communicate his will to mankind. Moreover, the Bible clearly delineates the various means God has used to achieve this end: The Creator has revealed himself to humankind through his creation (Psalm 97:6), Romans 1:20); God has spoken directly to people, as he did when he spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-11); God personally wrote those same laws on tables of stone and gave them to Moses (Exodus 24:12); God has communicated to mankind through angelic messengers, as he did with Daniel and Mary and Joseph (Daniel 9:21-23, Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-21); God has used dreams and visions to reveal his will to humankind, as he did with Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel and with John at the close of the Apostolic Age (Daniel 2:1-45, Revelation 1:9-20); God has directly implanted his message into the minds of individuals, as he did with the seventy elders, Jehu and Ezekiel (Numbers 11:25, I Kings 16:1, Ezekiel 15:1, 16:1, 18:1, etc.); God has also communicated his will to mankind through his Son, Jesus Christ (John 15:15, Hebrews 1:1-2); As we have already mentioned, God has led and moved individuals to say and write things directly through the agency of his Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:20-21); and Finally, God has enhanced our understanding of his will and message through the meditation and study of what was previously revealed to others, as in the case of David and Timothy (Psalm 119, II Timothy 3:14-17).

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