Many people have their own idea of God. One of the most common misconceptions is that God is OK with whatever we do as long as we do not hurt anyone. This subjective view creates a god who is defined by the person, and the definition changes according to time and place. If the culture approves of something, then god does; conversely, if it’s customary to proscribe certain behaviors, then so does god. This is a most dangerous and erroneous way of believing in God. It is really a denial of God because the divinity is merely a projection of ourselves. This kind of god is the creation of man.
The reality is that God is the Supreme Being Who created us and everything else. Man has not dreamt this up; rather, human beings have learned about God through reason and Revelation. We can reason to the existence of God Who had no beginning and Who created out of nothing. There is Intelligent Design in creation. Moreover, it is through Revelation that we know much more about Him. This Revelation is both the written word of God which is called The Holy Bible or The Holy Scriptures and the unwritten word of God which is called Sacred Tradition. Sacred Tradition, here, is not the standard behaviors or customs of human society. Sacred Tradition “...transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the Apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 81) It includes all those things that God revealed which were not written down. All Divine Revelation ended with the Apostles; there is no new Revelation.
It would be easy to have a god who would follow our lead. It would be comfortable but not challenging. It would not be real. God created us out of love. He does not abandon us and has communicated Himself to us. He has told us about Himself, about us, and about what brings us fulfillment. We always find that happiness is doing what God wants and not what we want.
Fr. Stanley
