A Consistent God

God has been a historically troublesome and often foolish idea. God has been an abstract label placed as an explanation for otherwise unexplainable things. Since we live in a causal reality (where reality is everything that can causally affect me and I can causally affect it), every event must and does have an explanation. Moreover all explanations of real events must be consistent. Newton's laws of motion explained the effects of forces on objects but inconsistencies were found between predicted and observed phenomena at high speeds. Therefore it was known that Newton's laws did not encapsulate all the principles of reality. Relativity has filled in the gaps. There is always a causal explanation for any real event. The explanation may not be known yet, but there surely is one. And the principles of the true explanation must be consistent with all other explanations for real events.

God cannot be an explanation for an inconsistency. It's inconsistent. The 19th century scientists did not attribute the inconsistency between Newton's laws and observed data to God tampering with the results, tampering with reality. If a God exists, he must exist within reality and be bound by the laws of reality. A consistent God cannot operate by other than natural laws: to bring about a certain effect the associated cause must be executed.

If anything in reality were inconsistent (including a God) there would never be any evidence for believing anything. I have flipped enough light switches in my life to know that a light will turn on when I flip the switch (assuming the light has not burned out, the electrical connections are sound, etc.). Because of my experience I have come to expect a light to turn on when I flip a light switch. I have discovered the cause and effect relationship through experience. If any principle or power in the universe could operate on inconsistent principles then we would never be able to expect a light to turn on no matter how many times previously we have flipped the switch. Without the law of causality we would not be able to function. Life would be nothing if not impossible.

The reason the many prevalent ideas of God have caused so much trouble is that these ideas of God attempt to remove us from reality or cloud our perception of reality. The only consistent idea of God is one in which his existence enriches our existence. A consistent God would be bound by reality, would have mastered the laws of reality and would endeavor to help us master the laws of reality. Our happiness is maximized when we live according to the laws of reality completely and without exception. If God were anything else we would be better off without him. An existent God that we would be better off without is not a God.