Book 1 - God Before Creation. A Pre-Creation Theology

Introduction — 

The process of "thinking theologically" is applicable to every God-oriented religion, whether Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism, Islam, or Christianity.  Most God-oriented religions have a theology, a way of thinking about God that supports the beliefs of that religion.  Yet, none has a theology that begins before creation that leads the believer from that moment to the present time, with the ability to explain issues and situations with clarity and simplicity.  Because of that neglect, traditional theologies are unable to logically and reasonably explain the difficult situations, problems, issues, and circumstances that have confronted believers over the centuries.  To have a holistically consistent God-related religion requires us to logically and rationally explain the chain of events beginning before the creation of the universe to the present time.  This is the most definitive place to start!  If each God-centered religion began its theology from a point before creation, intra-faith and inter-faith dialogue would become far more effective.  

Older God-centered religions have changed many of their beliefs over the centuries for one reason or another.  These changes reflect a changing understanding of God and the universe, or changing needs of the church by theologians and leaders.  More importantly, they reflect an incomplete theology that does not accurately portray God's nature.  Until that void is filled, there will always be ongoing changes and inconsistencies of beliefs within and among religions. 

From a broader perspective, while God does not change, God continues to expand our understanding of God through revelation, if we are open to new ideas.  Growth and the development of concepts of God are continuing processes because God is infinite and our growth potential is infinite.  We may not get it right the first time, but with continual effort on our part and the Presence of God within leading us on, we will eventually arrive at a more complete conceptualization of what and who God is, particularly in relationship to us, individually.  Then, we will come to know that God's true divine nature is consistent, constant, and unwavering in character. 

A consistent, constant, and predictable theology would aid several issues in our contemporary and future societies:  inter-faith dialogue of all Godcentered religions; the interpretation of social, ethical, and moral issues of our societies, communities, families, and personal lives; the enactment of reliable social laws and policies; and finally and foremost, the individual's understanding of his or her personal, intimate, and unique relationship with The Creator. 

The following pages describe a "Pre-Creation Theology" — a way of thinking about the universe and all human-related activities — beginning where The Creator began, before creation.  Any theology that has its beginnings after creation, in early Hebrew times or the life and death of Jesus, for example, has blind assumptions about God, God's situation before creation, creation, the universe, and all that follows, up to the era where that theology begins.  These blind assumptions are the cause of the great difficulties contemporary Christians have in explaining contentious social, religious, moral, and ethical issues today.  By beginning before creation we will leave no era unexamined.   

If by some way we were able to witness and observe all that took place before creation to the present time, the development of the universe and God's actions and lack thereof would make sense to us.  But because we are latecomers in the universe, (scientists tell us that we are about 13 billion years too late!), we do not have any record of what actually occurred.  Because of that, we must ask questions that place us at that "time" and strive to answer them, much as Detective Sherlock Holmes would to unravel a complicated case.  Some questions will yield great wealth of knowledge while others will yield little.  The important thing is to ask questions and strive to answer them. 
  
Let us begin by asking a series of important questions.  

  • Why did The Creator create the universe if The Creator was complete and whole before creation? 
  • What does the universe give God that God could not get without it? 
  • Is there a limit and, if so, what is it that limits The Creator's ability to experience the universe? 
  • Why did The Creator create imperfect, short-lived, material human beings? 
  • What is the role of individuals in their relationship to The Creator and the reasons God created them and the universe? 
  • What is God's relationship to the universe? 
  • Am I supposed to take the creation of the universe personally? 
  • What is God's relationship to me?
  • What is my relationship to God? 
  • What is my relationship to the universe? 
  • Is there some sort of agenda or purpose for my life? 
  • Does God have a plan for my life?  If so, what is it?! 

These may sound like very weighty and tedious questions to answer, but they are necessary to help us understand what our experience in the universe is all about:  existence is a personal experience for The Creator and for The Creator's human children.  It becomes even more personal and intimate when we consciously invite The Creator to share in our experiences of living. 

As you can see, I have already jumped ahead of myself.  We tend to take for granted that experience is concomitant to existence.  Yet, we have not begun the explanation of experience and its purpose for The Creator.  In this treatise, we must begin at that point.