Part 371. Omnipotent, not on your Nelly.

'God is Love' it is said. Let's be clear: this is an assertion, a clsim; it is not a fact. The divine right of kings simply was a means to claim authority to rule supposedly granted by an omniscient supernatural entity.  It is nothing of the sort. It is entirely a human construct to justify claiming and retaining power.

In the teaching ascribed by the authors of the synoptic gospels to Jesus the writers determined to give authority to their work by claiming it was of God.  To my mind the message of Jesus does not need a supernatural underpinning to shore up its authority.  It is compelling in its own right.

I recognise the message of Jesus is but one of a range of philosophical ideas concerning how humanity might think and live as individuals and collectively. I dispute the idea that god is love is somehow hardwired into us. We choose to love, or not to.  There is no supernatural imperative to love.  We do so as a consequence of our experience in life, not because we are obliged to by the bidding of a supernatural being.