Theology Thursday, Part Two. God: Architect or Pipe Bomb

Part Two, God is like...

In the first Theology Thursday (August 17) I argued that God might be like a shepherd, a scout master, or a bread baker. Here are two new-to-me analogies. Songwriter (24 Frames) John Isbell wrote:

"You thought God was an architect, now you know 

He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow"  

wikipedia.org

It seems the narrator wants God to be in control of all, and that life-bombs are unjust. The lyricist and the theologian would differ in whether God plays both roles. 

Gaudi's "Holy Family" in Barcelona,

I can relate to God as architect. Especially if He creates places I like. On the other hand,  I've blamed Him for events that instantaneously wrecked my happy world.

Sometimes our bad choices and habits are self-destructive.  Skewed brain and body chemistry wreck both the addict and her loved ones.

It gets more complicated when the IED is a combination of natural events like hurricanes, others' poor decisions, and failing bodies. 

But wreckage has causes other than God.  Just as the London terrorist left a bomb on the tube, often chaos and pain are result of others' actions. 

 Logically, it's not fair to blame God for the fallout humans cause.

Every person who believes that God is, has a theology.  So some of us Christians-as-theologians would say that God created mankind but does not mandate every person's actions. Thus He's not responsible for life's disasters. Does God-the-architect create cancer? I don't think so. But if God is all powerful, we would like Him to be all-powerfully good  in a way that we recognize.

An account from St. John about illustrates this tension. Lazarus' family wanted Jesus to come heal Lazarus. Although He knew Lazarus and loved him, Jesus intentionally stayed away until Lazarus died. 

He confounded his disciples when He said "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (This sounds like an architect, there's a plan.) Two days later He said to them "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Whoa, the detonator on the pipe bomb went off and Jesus said "I am glad for your sake." 

He went to Lazarus' sisters, made the point that He had the power of resurrection, and called Lazarus to rise up and come out of the tomb. Lazarus did.  People recognized His divine power and put their faith in Him thus Jesus was glorified. 

The next time rockets, missiles and projectiles explode in my life, I want the Architect at my side. Even if He chooses not to interrupt the explosion,  He can rebuild the rubble into something useful, maybe even beautiful.  

How do you see God? Is He both architect and bomber, or one or the other? Does that tension matter to you?