Rethinking God as perfect being

Traditionally, the concept of God is that of an eternal, perfect being, who serves as an unmoved mover, and preserving cause for the universe. However, I am not convinced that this Sunday school version of God is right. Could not an eternal, but imperfect being be the cause and overseer of the universe? If that were the case, would it not answer many of the questions about why things are the way they are? For me, there are too many problems with the idea of an absolute perfect God in every way.

Furthermore, I'm not sure that I want God to be perfect in every way. I kind of like the idea that like us, he struggles with things, and has to make choices. I'm okay with a God that makes mistakes…I'm pretty sure that I would forgive him. Maybe I get to heaven and God says to me, with a smirk on his face, things like, "Yeah, I did a pretty good job with the earth, but I am really sorry about that whole platypus thing…that's my bad."

At one point in time God must have been the only thing that existed. If he is indeed perfect then why would he create other beings? It seems that a perfect being would be self sufficient, and would not need anything else. For me, the fact that he did create other things implies boredom and/or loneliness, which are two qualities that could be linked to imperfection.

Also, God's imperfection would explain things like how there can be a hell. A perfect, all powerful God who has limitless mercy would surely show mercy on those damned to hell. I know that I would not let anyone burn for eternity for anything they could have done on their finite time here on earth if I had the power to stop it. With that said, I'm pretty sure that God is more merciful than I.

However, if God shows this mercy, then he is no longer perfectly just. Justice and mercy are both good qualities, but they are contradictory to one another. Justice involves making sure that one gets what one deserves, or pays the price for one's actions. Mercy involves someone taking away the punishment regardless of whether or not one deserves it.

At this point in the discussion a theist would likely bring up the notion of free will. I would argue that if God is perfect, and in control of the universe that there is no free will. God already knows what will happen to every human being, and furthermore, since he is the first cause, he is the ultimate cause of everything that does happen to them, which includes sin, which may lead to damnation.

Not only do I think that a human having free will is a stretch under this perfect God, but I would also like to say that if God is perfect, then even he does not possess free will. If God is perfect, then in any given situation he can only make one possible choice, which is of course the perfect choice. He is limited by his own perfection, because even if he wanted to make an imperfect choice he couldn't. How can God have free will, if inherently there is only one path he can take?

In your bible, which you are no doubt taking out of its case right now as you read this, in order to form a response in defense of God, flip to the part where it talks about Jesus being betrayed by Judas. Jesus tells Judas he will deny Jesus before it ever happens. How does Jesus know? At this point does Judas have any choice in the matter? If Judas does not deny Jesus then what implications does that have for God's omnipotence? More importantly maybe, since Judas actually does deny Jesus, then where does Judas end up in the afterlife?

Also, one would like to say that God is a changing God. We see God's moods and mind change in the bible, we see him wipe out entire civilizations, make promises that he will never do it again, and send his son down to earth to make even more changes. If God was perfect before, wouldn't any change from perfection yield imperfection? It seems so.

God is also described as a being which none greater can be conceived. Therefore, since I can conceive of a more perfect being to be in charge of this universe does not that suggest that the preserving cause of the universe is not God, but instead something else under God?

God as this perfect being may very well exist, but for me that would mean that he wouldn't have any direct involvement with this universe. Maybe an appointed imperfect being was given earth to rule however he saw fit. This being could have free will, (just like we suppose that we all have free will) and could rule over this universe in any way he saw fit, just as you or I could rule over a group of isolated beings from childhood on a deserted island. They would have no way of knowing anything outside of what you or I let them know. (which could include telling them that you or I are God)

A possible answer to these problems is that God is indeed not perfect; at least not in the way that you and I think of the word perfect. In the bible there is a passage where Jesus says "be perfect, as your father is perfect." The English word perfect comes from the word telos which is often used in philosophy as an end purpose or potential. What this means is that when we are asked to be perfect as our father is, we are asked to actualize our full potential as God does. This way of looking at perfection means that God can be perfect because at all times he actualizes his full potential. This leaves room for error, yes, but it also answers a lot of questions and leaves room for our own errors in this journey that is life- and isn't that what we all want?