Webster's defines the word "god" as follows: (1) any of various beings conceived of as supernatural, immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature; deity, especially a male deity. (2) an image that is worshiped; idol. (3) a person or thing deified or excessively honored and admired. (4) in monotheistic religions, the creator and ruler of the universe, regarded as eternal, infinite, all-powerful, and all-knowing; Supreme Being, Almighty.

Webster's definition of "deity" is as follows: (1) the state of being a god; divine nature; godhood. The word "divine" means: (1) of or like God or a god. (2) given or inspired by God; holy, sacred. (3) devoted to God; religious; sacrosanct. (4) having to do with theology. (5) supremely great, good, etc.

"Sacrosanct" means "very sacred, holy, or inviolable." "Inviolable" means "not to be violated; not to be profaned or injured; sacred; indestructible. "Sacred" means "consecrated to or belonging to a god or deity; holy; of or connected with religion or religious rites; regarded with the same respect and reverence accorded holy things; venerated, hallowed; set apart for, and dedicated to, some person, place, purpose, sentiment; secured by a religious feeling or sense of justice against any defamation, violation, or intrusion.

Finally, we get down to basics with the definition of "holy", "dedicated to religious use; belonging to or coming from God; consecrated; sacred; spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless; saintly.

Holy suggests that which is held in deepest religious reverence or is basically associated with a religion and, in extended use, connotes spiritual purity; sacred refers to that which is set apart as holy or is dedicated to some exalted purpose and therefore connotes inviolability; consecrated and hallowed describe that which has been sacred or holy; consecrated, in addition connoting solemn devotion or dedication; and hallowed, inherent or intrinsic holiness; divine suggests that which is of the nature of, is associated with , or is derived from God or a god, and in extended use, connotes supreme greatness, or colloquially, great attractiveness.

God did say in the Old Testament that He was holy, therefore His people had to be holy in order to be worthy of His presence. If they did not live up to God's standards, then He would withdraw from them and leave His children defenseless. This means that God's love is conditional, correct? Then the New Testament comes along, after God left a fiery trail of death, destruction, and wrath, saying the exact opposite of what the original covenant did. If God can change His mind, and make mistakes, and have to altar the original agreement, then He is not the beginning and the end, and He is not perfect.

If He was perfect, He would have done things correctly the first time, right? How does a person who, if not believing in God per se but acknowledging His existence in this moment in time, make sense out of that contradiction? By definition, if God is perfect by His own standards as set down in the Bible, then He should have done things right from the beginning. There should have been no need for a New Covenant. Why did He purposely lead His children astray? And if He created the human race, why did He create us with so many imperfections? Is He enjoying Himself, seeing us suffer trying to evolve into the perfect beings He should have created us to be in the first place? Or is God Himself not worthy of His own godhood, and is just another egomaniac like Hitler, getting His jollies from another dimension?

Is God a sadist? This is an interesting idea, but one that does not connote perfection (unless you're a satanist). In order to make a square peg fit into a round hole, you have to make God fit into man's idea of what holiness is. That would mean that God is the perfect father and also the expert on evolution of any species through the universe, that we have to learn by our mistakes no matter what solar system or galaxy we live in. But what a different life most of us could have had, if only we had been given all the answers from the get go! Why is God withholding information from us? Why is threshing necessary? He could have created us all perfect, and then we would have all been one big happy family since the first day in the Book of Genesis.

I personally do not believe that God wrote any portion of the Bible, old or new. I do believe that the Old Testament is a contrived and highly subjective document, and therefore will not be held up to those criteria of perfection and holiness. I believe that the New Testament was subject to as much and more censorship and false authorship than the original covenant. I don't know why God allowed such perversion, but He did. The best I can do is educate myself (another criterion of the Essenes' definition of perfection) so that I can discern the spirits properly and do my best to answer to God, not man. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Instead of giving up on the idea of God altogether because man is determined to keep himself enslaved to himself. For those who just cannot believe in God, I ask you to consider the possibility that perhaps we as a species just don't know enough yet, that we are still in the process of evolving toward perfection. Can you let your final decision on the nature/existence of God just hang out for a while, and see what develops before you write Him off completely, and in the meantime, try to get to know Him better?

Most people have a hard time with that, because they want all the answers now. I have been accused of trying to bring things to a conclusion many times, of being very impatient, but I can turn that around on every single person that I know and accuse them of doing the same thing about their own pet peeves. I am not happy about the state of this world, but I also know that one day we WILL have all the answers, and until then, we are in a learning curve. I don't know exactly how the answers will be obtained, but I am positive that one day we will know everything that God knows. It is the natural course of things. If God does exist, then He understands what perfect parenthood means, and that means raising your children so that one day they are your equals. Anything less disqualifies us for inheriting the earth. That is why the Church Age is coming to an end. Those who are unable to cut the umblical cords, or apron strings, in both directions, for whatever reasons, will be left behind.

Why were Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden? Because, as so many older people like to say, "Youth is wasted on the young?" As children, we tend to take everything for granted, but then again, that's what it means to be a child. We're not supposed to have to worry about reality until we're much older. None of us were asked to be born, and for sure, if Adam and Eve had had it their way, they probably would have opted not to have been created, in hindsight. So why does God continue to do this to us? There is much talk about mysteries. Some mysteries are actually just secrets kept from those who do not understand, human to human, but others, if God really does exist, are things that He is keeping to Himself until we have either proven ourselves worthy of this knowledge, or have grown enough to understand it. By why didn't God just create us at that level to begin with? What in the world is He up to? Indeed, He is trying to bring us up so that we can inherit the Kingdom. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but it can be done before we die in the body. As Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is spread out all over the earth.