Origin of the Concept
How in Heaven's Name...
. . . did you ever come up with the idea for this book?” Many people have asked this question. Truth be told, I think the concept for How Did God Do It? has been floating around in my mind for sixty-some years. Even as a little guy sitting in church or Sunday school, my techno-geek mind was evolving. I’d listen to scripture readings and lessons presented by my teachers and wonder, “How did this all really happen? This creation? This world of ours? Us?” I guess I never bought into the proverbial party line of mainstream Christianity that implies that God has a “magic wand” that allows Him to perform miraculous deeds.
Sure. I (perhaps like you) was taught that God is all-powerful and can do anything. No questions need to be asked. Techno-geeks, however, (even precocious little techno-geeks-in-the-making) must question. It’s part of our DNA, I believe. It wasn’t until I began to develop an understanding and appreciation of science that the question began to emerge. Having a respect for science, I wondered why God would create such marvelously ordered cosmic laws and then violate them (which He’d have to do if He is, indeed, a God with a “magic wand”).
As the years passed, I discovered fascinating thinkers/authors such as Erich Von Däniken and the Rev. Barry Downing who added more ideas and concepts to my lingering question. And soon the why became almost as significant as the how. Why did God do it? Why would a loving God direct Joshua and his army to kill every living thing in the city of Jericho? Why were the early Hebrew people ordered to present burnt offerings to God? Why did God’s covenant with Abraham include circumcision?
The more I studied the Holy Bible, additional questions formed in my inquiring mind. Soon I had more questions than answers. And, not enough time to address them all as I had a full-time job in IT (Information Technology) and a second career as an Army Reserve officer—not to mention a wife, four sons and hobbies, including singing in our church choir. So the lingering questions concerning a harmony/symphony/melding of science and religion continued to linger in the recesses of my mind.
Finally—Time to Pursue the Questions
Fast-forward to 2009 after retirement. One day I sat down at the computer and decided to brain-dump some of the ideas that had been rolling around in my head for decades. I had no specific purpose in mind, not even a book. I just felt moved to get some of my thoughts on paper (or at least on the screen). The more I brain-dumped, the more I had to go back to the Bible (and other biblical references) for yet more reading and research. The more reading and research I did, the more the ideas flowed. In fact, they’re still flowing; but my resident editor insisted we wrap up this project.
As the chapters started to come together, suddenly the why question, indeed, seemed to be just as important as the how question. In fact, I soon discovered the two questions were tightly linked. At one point we even considered titling the book: How and Why Did God Do It? That, however, just didn’t seem to flow; so our speculations on the answers to many of the why did God do it questions are woven into the manuscript.
Now here we are, more than four years and hundreds of hours of reading, researching, questioning, debating and writing later. I’m not sure which is more remarkable—the fact that I’ve been able to crank out more than 100,000 words or that my wife and I are still together after all our opinionated conversations about the Holy Bible and, of course, the editing process as Rose admits that she’s the editor from hell.
We hope you find this book to be more heavenly than hellish. Blessings as you continue your journey of exploration regarding the perplexing question: How Did God Do It?
