This satire is an expression of a time oft repeated wherein I felt incredulous and scornful of the thinking of so-called “theologians.” They shape and size God, formulate the things they think He does, analyze Him, dissect Him, figure Him all out, put Him back together again according to their desires and tastes and put Him in a neat box, gift-wrapped and stamped, ready to be reproduced and mass-marketed to the ignorant masses the world over who swallow their doctrines as unsuspecting fish swallow bait, hook, line, sinker and rod.
By the way, God hates the term “theology.” How presumptuous is man that he should dare try to study God!
It is commonly believed by small and great
That God dwells in Heaven in royal estate,
That Satan in Hell lives in darkness and hate,
That this will never change.
God IS in Heaven and also in Hell,
The psalmist does declare
And with sons of God in Heaven, says Job,
Satan too is there.
God is in Hell and Satan in Heaven
The Scriptures testify
And only the sincere seeker of truth
Will faulty doctrine defy.
God in Heaven, man on Earth
And Satan in Hell is the creed,
Yet Satan walks to and fro in the earth,
And Emmanuel is “God with us” we read.
The Christian is seated in heavenly places,
The heathen dwell in Hell,
Yet both walk the earth with Satan and God
And where who is who can tell?
To know the truth is to shed the lie
And born full of lies we are;
It therefore takes a shedding of self
And to all we’ve been taught we must die.
The answer lies in the Spirit of God
Who leads us to know all things
And once we’ve discovered the answers we’ve sought,
To our souls peace and freedom He brings.
Dauphin, MB; 1978-79