The Reality of God in the Universe
“God is a concept created within the human mind” Bedrich V. Hettich writes. “…The human mind tries to understand and give meaning to the basis upon which we as humans came into existence. Our minds strive to find answers from the environments that surround us. We postulate our own ideas as to how we came into existence and what our purpose is for being here.”
In The Reality of God in the Universe Hettich relates his understanding of how God is working toward uniting the diversity of mankind. According to Hettich there is really only one power in the universe—God. All humans try to figure out and relate to this force either empirically with science or intuitively calling it God or spirit. As man created deities in the past as a response to his environment now man should see that his environment demands cooperation and the deity is the spirit of that unity.
For Hettich salvation is about reconciling man with man not man with God. “If there is to be any unity of humankind’s diversity in the future religious and other metaphysical dogmas must eventually fade away” he writes. “…There will be no peace and harmony on Earth until religion’s unique perceptions and conceptions within their faiths can be integrated into a common purpose for all humankind.”
Hettich couches his thoughts in theistic language but his views actually seem to be those of an atheistic evolutionist. He asks if we have really advanced “out of the primitive world and our origin from the animal world” unless we embrace God’s purpose and are spiritually civilized by living in harmony. When he mentions specific religious doctrines he repudiates them or reinterprets them in his atheistic perspective. He also argues against the existence of miracles writing that since God was created out of man’s mind “there is no evidence that God can arbitrarily change anything that already exists.”
Although the organization of chapter topics is strong the work is redundant in phraseology and also self-contradictory. At times Hettich argues that there is a power called God at work in the universe but then he denies that God is anything but a man-made concept. He talks about God’s purpose but then says we can know nothing about God’s own purpose. The language is vague and difficult to decipher and Hettrich uses undefined terms. While it doesn’t present new ideas and is difficult to understand the book may be of interest to those who hold the view that mankind is determining its own destiny.
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