What is your God like?

Is God nice or stern? Involved or distant?

In a book published last September, Paul Froese and Christopher Bader posit that Americans worship four distinct types of God: "The Authoritative God--who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; The Benevolent God--who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God--who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God--who stands apart from the world He created."

 I'm wondering what you think God is like. The authors state that although Americans have these four distinct views of God, most of them are pretty adamant that their view is the right one!

In my life, I started out with a "Critical God." He was always looking over my shoulder to catch me doing something wrong, and there would surely be "hell" to pay (in the next life). As an adult I came to believe in a "Benevloent God." This God was full of mercy and grace, always wanting to help us with our sins, troubles, and failings. He was a best-friend, good-buddy. He was caring, loving, and in control of the big picture. Lately, I have come to experience more of a "Distant God." When I look around at the world and my life I wonder where God is. There are a lot of good things that happen. There are a lot of tragic things that happen. Things I used to attribute to God may be better explained as natural processes, or coincidence. Sometimes the universe seems like a dark, cold place. It's like God created everything and set it in motion, and then stepped away.

So what about you? Which personality do you think God has? Click on the word "comment" below to add your voice to this dialog.


To check out the book on Amazon, click the link to the left.

To hear the authors interviewed go here.

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