What Is The True Nature of God?

Being religious doesn't necessarily equate to being inflexible.

On the surface, the recent statistics that show more than 70 percent of all people in America are affiliated with some level of religious belief. It would appear that we're a nation of believers, but a deeper look at the numbers demonstrates that people of faith in the United States don't strictly adhere to the dogma of their religions.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 69 percent of people who consider themselves people of faith also believe that there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion.

Alan Richards, author of the new novel The Second Cycle from Emerald Book Company, believes that this phenomenon is directly related to our continuing search for the true nature of God.

"The simple truth is that most people are ignorant and blasé about the thing most important thing in life, that being the true nature of God," Richards said. "The Bible was written by men - holy men - but men, nonetheless, which makes literal, dogmatic interpretation of the Bible unpalatable to many people. It's not just about whether the teachings and dogma appeal to them or have a place in their lives or world view - it's about the difference between walking the walk and talking the talk."

Richards draws his conclusions from a series of observations he made in researching his book:

• History is supposition constructed from fragments of unreliable information.

• Religious belief has little to do with religious fact.

• The more distant in time that an event of religious significance supposedly took place, the more willing are people to accept the occurrence as fact.

• Although we are provided with more information than ever before, we are less informed, not more informed.

"The content of the Bible was more likely determined by the political considerations of men than by divine revelation from God," Richards said. "There is a famous Biblical quote in which Jesus tells the crowd to ‘Give to God what is God and give to Caesar what is Caesar's.' Now, given all the stories of the Bible during which Christ's followers rallied against kings and emperors and government, many Christians have trouble swallowing the idea that Christ would actually tell people it's a good idea to pay their taxes. Is it possible that feudal lords and governors had some influence in the inclusion of that passage during the Middle Ages? Who knows? But I wouldn't bet against it."

Richards' book, while a fictional account of how a number of people come to terms with their individual search for the true meaning of God is based on the true journey that lies before all of us, Richards said.

Alan Richards, 60, is a Chicago resident, and has been married to his wife, Meridee, for 39 years, and has two children - Kate, age 27, and Zachary, age 23. He was a practicing attorney for 30 years doing mostly court room work. He holds a law degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and an undergrad degree from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has been included in Preeminent Attorneys in America, published by Martindale Hubbell, the legal profession's most authoritative publication dealing with lawyer competency. He also appears in Who's Who in American Law.