"The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all."
-Paul in Acts 17 verse 24 and 25
When Paul, in the center of Athens is being challenged, he begins to speak about the one GOD, Who does not allow Himself to be served by human hands. Just imagine: the city swarmed with idol images, created and displayed by people. Images that had to be taken care of and needed repairs from time to time. The word Paul uses for "attended" is in Greek "therapeuo", in which we easily recognize our word "therapy". Paul shows the absurdness of the idea that GOD would need anything from man. It is exactly the other way around: He is the One who "gives to all, life, breath and everything".
Dear reader, do not think that the idea of a dependent and, therefore, a handicapped god, in the meantime, belongs to the past. To this very day, in theology, the idea of man having a "free will" dominates, which implies that god is helplessly dependent on the choices of his own creatures. You figure: in the past, God made (as is being taught) a perfect creation, but unfortunately, one by the name of Lucifer became disobedient and threw a spanner in the works. Then, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but once more, things went wrong, so that sin and death appeared in the world of man. Also that was not intended and God is trying(!) ever since to save what can be saved… All this may be called "orthodox theology", but it pictures a God who is no less handicapped than the idol gods Paul talked about on the Areopagus; someone namely, who, for the success of his intention, is entirely dependent on the response of people. In advance, the end result of his work will be indelible blemished, for countless numbers of his beloved creatures will definitely be missing; abiding in (what is called) "eternal death". Besides, the end result is still to be seen, because who can guarantee that, in the future, nothing else will go wrong, again?
Diametrically opposite to this portrayal is the one GOD, Who "gives to all life and breath and everything." So Paul proclaimed Him. He is the Potter and each creature is formed by Him, so that a perfect end result is guaranteed. Never does anything go wrong in His "workshop", because everything goes according to His plan. Does anything happen, it is because He gives it time and place to happen.
"For God locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful to all.
(…)
seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!"
-Romans 11:32, 36
———————————
Translation: Peter Feddema
