The God Engines and the Old Testament God

I finished The God Engines by John Scalzi over Christmas break. It was a short read. At first, I didn’t like it, but I myself returning to it in a thinky sort of way. And here we are.

Scalzi’s book isn’t a pleasant read. The book is set in a faith-based society where one god has usurped and enslaved all other gods. The people in the society are ethnocentric. There actions are justified quite literally because God is on their side. When the machinations of the church become involved in conversion for the god’s personal purposes, and when our protagonist discovers that his god isn’t what he though it was, events unravel. We have a skillful tale of cultural examination, faith disillusionment, and at what cost belief is bought.

I’m not sure how much of this Scalzi set out to do on purpose. I’d love to ask him how and why this book came about, and what he is trying to say. What I’d really love is to have him come and sit in one of our Disciple Groups discussions about Old Testament God and add to it.

I’m in the most intellectual Disciple group. We’re liberal Christians. We don’t believe in hell. We do believe in evolution. And when we study the Bible, we have lots of questions about who wrote it and to what end. This semester’s course is an overview, and we’ve been looking at Old Testament Jehovah. He’s one contrary dude.

I’ll warn you that there might be some God Engines spoilers under here, and there are certainly some Bible spoilers. Also, if you tend toward a literal interpretation of the Bible, you probably don’t want to look under here.

One of the questions that people who examine their faith run across frequently is how do you explain the Old Testament God. Most protestants see themselves as Christo-centric. In Methodism, we tend to look at the Old Testament and find it difficult to reconcile the portrayal of God we find there with the way Christ describes God’s aims and goals in the gospels.

An approach we’ve been taking in our group is the idea that the Old Testament was written with an agenda. One possible interpretation, according to scholars, is that the Old Testament was written with a nationalistic eye. The monotheistic Jews were xenophobic with some reason–over the course of their history they were invaded countless times. Causality was not as well-understood. The ebb of victory and defeat could find their origin in a jealous god who expected his people to behave in a certain way, and was punitive when they didn’t. That’s one idea.

Another possible approach is that the oral tradition of Hebrew mythology has been blended together to attempt to present a comprehensive picture of one deity. That is to say that many of God’s inconsistencies of behavior can be blamed on the fact that these stories come from different traditions and don’t blend well.

In either interpretive case, what we end up with is a picture of a god who is spiteful, vengeful, recalcitrant, and petty. This god can also be forgiving, can admit his mistakes, and can be kind on a whim. Taken from this cloth, the Old Testament portrayal of God has more in common with his pagan cousins and their extremes than we like to think of him having.

I tend to discount the Old Testament. It’s an interesting historical study and a theological history, but it is the historical study and theological history of someone who isn’t of my faith. I don’t find the New Testament flawless. In spite of the claim that the Bible was inspired by God, and the words therein are divine, the heavy editing that the Bible has undergone suggest an agenda. There are pieces in the Old Testament that have been used to justify slavery, discrimination against women and gays, and so on. (You know, it never works to tell conservative literalists that the same section which condemns homosexuality also condemns the bacon sandwich they had for breakfast). And don’t get me started on Paul’s letters. I have enough trouble with Paul, let alone the sections which don’t seem like they were written by Paul. As with any text, a student should question and think.

I’ve got to turn the tide back to The God Engines. Here I am, picking and choosing my religion and remaking it in my image. I choose Christ and his moralistic teaches. His divinity doesn’t even matter to me. (I know, to some of you that takes me out of the whole Christian club.) However, The God Engines does get me to consider the provocative question: what if I am wrong about the nature of my god?

In Scalzi’s book, Captain Tephe is asked by people considering conversion to his religion what kind of god he worships. Could they be certain that this is a god worth worshipping? Tephe says that he is convinced that his god is as honorable as he himself is. And then the god is summoned. He comes with blood and carnage and devours the souls of the newly converted. The scene is horrifying and terrible. In the days to come, I find myself toying with an idea. What if I am wrong? What if the Old Testament has revealed the capricious god I really worship? What if I am re-inventing god in my own image, just like Tephe did?

These are heavy questions of the best kind. I’m not going to go out and hedge my bets by redefining my religion as a fear of God relationship. Part of the reason I’ve gotten to where I have in my faith is it’s essential for me, like it was essential for Tephe, to understand God as the mirror in which humankind can reflect itself. I would be disillusioned indeed if, like Tephe realized, it turned out that our God conceptually embodied the worst of us rather than the best of us. That would mean I would reject religion and faith.

I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything theologically. I believe that a faith unexamined is a shallow faith. I believe that faith and fear can not go hand in hand. I believe in the moral code that the socially progressive Jesus advanced, regardless of his divinity. But good fiction takes us to places where we ask what if questions. Scalzi’s book is an excellent examination of the issue, opening up the discussion of what the divine means to humanity just a little more.

Kudos to the author. It turns out Scalzi has probably written a brilliant book. It took me a few days to examine my thinking and realize that.

If you’d like to talk more about why you wrote the book, John, and where you’re coming from, I’d love to post a link or give you a spot here to do it. I’m sorry you didn’t win the Hugo or the Nebula. It was solid, important work.

Catherine

Author: Catherine Schaff-Stump

Catherine Schaff-Stump writes fiction for children and young adults. Her most recent book, The Vessel of Ra, is the first book in the Klaereon Scroll series. She is currently working on its sequel, as well as penning the middle grade adventures of Abigail Rath, monster hunter. View all posts by Catherine Schaff-Stump