Why think that (4) … God would reveal himself in words

Have you ever wondered why God created the universe? What his purpose is? We’ve already explored some reasons for thinking that God cares about us but does that actually mean? What purpose did God have in creating us? And what part do we have in God’s plan? One big clue is our ability to form relationships, not only with other people but also, in principle, with God. So if God intended there to be creatures like us, capable of forming relationships with him, then it seems a fair bet that this was his purpose in creating us (or at least part of it).

But relationships don’t just happen. They require communication. Imagine trying to form a relationship with someone without any communication. How would you know what they like or dislike? How would you know which things make them happy and which things really get on their nerves? How would you get to know them and share things with them without some form of communication? And the same is true of a relationship with God. If God wants us to have a relationship with him then he needs to reveal information about himself. He needs to tell us what he is like and what his expectations are and what sort of relationship he is interested in. Without this information it is simply not going to happen.

So God needs to reveal information about himself. How’s he going to do it? One possibility would be to reveal himself directly to everyone. Now perhaps the sheer immensity of his glory prevents mortals perceiving God directly, perhaps mortal minds would simply go kaput if faced with the true reality of God. But there are other ways God could have revealed himself, say, sending an angel to visit everyone personally and explaining that God exists, explaining that God wants a relationship and performing whatever miracles that would be needed to convince each person. That, we must presume, is something God could do but it is obvious that he hasn’t.

Here’s the problem: if the existence of God is obvious then it would severely limit our free choice as to whether to enter into a relationship with him or not. If we were faced with an angel who proved to us irrefutably that there was a God of unlimited and unquestionable power it is likely that we would feel compelled by fear to serve God. And that won’t do. Because what God wants is a loving relationship, for people to choose freely whether to enter into that relationship or not. And therefore God needs to be subtle so that people have a real choice: to trust in God, if they choose, or to deny God and go their own way, if they prefer. So we would expect God to reveal himself to mankind, so they can form relationships with him, but we would not necessarily expect to reveal himself directly to each person individually.

So whilst we might reasonably expect God to reveal information about himself, we should not expect God to do this in a coercive way. More likely God would reveal himself through an intermediary – someone or something that could speak on God’s behalf without forcing people to enter into a relationship with God. One option would be a spokesperson – like a prophet or religious teacher – but their impact is going to be limited. They can only speak to a limited number of people at one time and once they died the message would be gone. A better alternative would be a written message. Something that could be copied multiple times and sent to different parts of the world, and something that would outlive any one individual. It could contain enough information to form the basis of a relationship but would not be intimating or imposing; it would only be influential over those who accepted it. In the ancient world (when there was no radio, television or internet) a written text is the only form of mass communication.

From the 1933 edition of the Bible in the Southern Min language (specifically in a Taiwanese dialect influenced by the Amoy (Xiamen) dialect of the time), written in the Latin script. The text itself is in the public domain. This photo is of a recent reprinted edition and is released into the public domain by A-giâu 09:19, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC). The pages shown are of the Book of Proverbs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are limitations to any piece of writing. In a world of many languages, any book would need to be translated and interpreted to make it accessible throughout the world. Any book, if it was to be accessible to its initial readers, would be written with the cultural assumptions of that society. As societies change over time, newer generations might find the cultural assumptions made the book to be unfamiliar or even peculiar. But none of these limitations would be insurmountable as long as readers we focused on the purpose of the book: to build a relationship with God.

The book I have been describing is, of course, the Bible. The point is that it is not unexpected that God should use a book like the Bible to reveal himself. The reasonable next question is whether there is any evidence that the Bible is a revelation from God.

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Preceding articles:

Why think that (1) … Jesus existed?

Wy think that (2) … Jesus claimed to be something special

Why think that (3) … Jesus rose from the dead

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Related articles:

1. Science and God’s existence
2. Did the Inspirator exist
3. Does He exists?
4. Morality, values and Developing right choices
5. It is a free will choice
6. Christianity is a love affair
7. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
8. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
9. Nuturing a close relationship with God
10. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
11. A time for everything
12. Life is too precious
13. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies
14. Around pre-existence of Christ
15. Preexistence in the Divine purpose and Trinity
16. Jesus begotten Son of God #9 Two millennia ago conceived or begotten
17. How is it that Christ pleased God so perfectly?
18. The Song of The Lamb #2 Sevens
19. Christ having glory
20. Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant
21. Kingdom Visions of a Man, Throne and Great crowd
22. He may found a kingdom and empire which shall be literally ‘universal’
23. In the death of Christ, the son of God, is glorification
24. A Living Faith #10: Our manner of Life #2
25. Miracles of revelation and of providence 1 Golden Thread and Revelation
26. Miracles of revelation and of providence 2 Providence
27. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
28. Dignified role for the woman
29. Many Books, yet One
30. Fragments from the Book of Job #7 Epilogue
31. Isaiah’s Book of the Messenger of Glad Tidings
32. Bad things no punishment from God
33. A Plan spoken of in long past times
34. You God hold the future
35. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #9 Prayer #7 Reason to pray
36. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
37. Zionism comments and the place of Jerusalem in the world
38. Bible Book of books
39. The Word of God

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