© 2016 Bruce Johnson – Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore newsletter June 2016
by Bruce Johnson
The Biblical Book of Genesis is the source that many people world-wide rely on to accurately portray the appearance and nature of God. The God of Genesis can be seen as an example of an allegorical and anthropomorphic deity. Anthropomorphism is the interpreting of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics, and is the means orthodox religions use to describe God.
The human qualities attributed to God in Genesis are as varied as they are numerous. God is described as a being who is a male and a father, has a definite physical body capable of motion, can be heard when he walks, and enjoys gardening. God can think, speak, plan, sense temperature, and feel positive and negative emotions. Genesis 1:26 tells us that man was made in God’s likeness, and unlike earlier verses, this verse refers to God as us instead of he, indicating multiple gods, not one God. The Bible relates that man was made in God’s image, and given that man was originally naked, we can conclude that God is naked also.
The traits of separation, human duality, and emotionalism are visibly evident in the God of Genesis. Here God is an extra-cosmic creator, separate from and outside his creations, which he has no problem cursing and destroying if they displease him. Apparently, God does not love his children equally, but has favorites to whom he is generous and protective, and enemies who he treats with merciless cruelty. This shows that the God of Genesis is a transcendent God for a few, but not imminent in all people. The Janus-like God of Genesis can show kindness, love and forgiveness as easily as he participates in anger, grief, jealousy, killing and slavery.
The Lord God of Adam and Eve allegorically created man and woman whom he originally called good only to tempt, anathematize, and incorrectly prophecy their death if they ate of the forbidden fruit. Like many humans, the Lord God changes his mind on decisions he’d made, and errs in prediction and judgment at times. To punish the ancient builders of the Tower of Babel, he intentionally caused confusion and misunderstanding to all humanity by making the one language of the world at that time, unintelligible. Where there had been a world with the understanding, harmony and unity a common language brings, God replaces this unified world with one of division, lack of understanding, and the conflicts that flow when mutual understanding between humans is taken away. Here the God of Genesis demonstrates his questionable form of justice by condemning the innocent people of all parts of the world to punishment for something the followers of a small semi-nomadic tribe allegedly did thousands of years ago. Unlike Jesus and advanced humans, the God of Genesis apparently enjoys animal cruelty and sacrifice, and finds the smell of burning animal carcasses a sweet aroma.
Occultism teaches that God is not an isolated man in a giant body that thinks, feels, battles Satan, desires burnt offerings, and spreads discord at times and love and light at others, but rather an omnipresent, eternal, boundless and benevolent principle of life/substance whose infinite nature manifests physically through Natural Laws which can be studied. We can always learn more about the cloak of God.
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.
