5. God of The Gaps
Let’s start with a moment of honesty:
There was a time when thunder meant God was dragging furniture in heaven.
Lightning? That was divine anger, obviously.
And if someone got sick and started shaking? Demons. Case closed.
But then along came… science.
Plot twist: thunder is just air doing backflips, lightning is electricity showing off, and sickness? Germs, not ghosts.
Suddenly, God was out of a job. Like a government minister with nothing to do except take credit.
The Holy Placeholder
The term “God of the Gaps” describes what humans do when our knowledge hits a brick wall:
Insert deity here.
If we don’t know how something works, obviously it must be God.
“How did the universe begin?” God.
“Why do people fall in love?” God.
“Why does your gogo dream of fish before funerals?” …must be God.
It’s not even malicious — it’s human. Our brains hate uncertainty. They want answers. Even bad ones.
So, we build divine bridges over the gaps in our understanding.
But the problem is… the gaps are shrinking.
Science keeps poking light into the darkness.
What was once “a miracle” becomes “meh, biology.”
And with every new explanation, God’s office space gets smaller.
First, he ran the skies. Then just the weather. Now? Mostly parking angels and failed Tinder matches.
Fear Hires Faith
This whole system runs on fear.
People would rather believe in a mysterious force controlling everything than accept that life is messy, unpredictable, and often just… chaotic.
We want the universe to make sense. We want someone to be in control — even if they’re a little petty. (Looking at you, Old Testament God.)
It’s comforting to say,
“My child got sick because God is testing me,”
instead of,
“My child got sick because of a random, horrible roll of genetic dice.”
One gives you a narrative.
The other gives you nausea.
Historical Gaps: A Short Tour
- Lightning = Zeus having a tantrum
- Solar eclipses = sky monsters eating the sun
- Mental illness = demonic possession
- Diseases = punishment for sin (or witches being shady)
- Rain = ancestors accepting your goat sacrifice
Now?
We know better.
But has that stopped the God of the Gaps from making appearances? Not even close.
Today’s gaps are just wearing new clothes.
Modern Gaps (Now With Wi-Fi!)
- “How did the universe begin?”
- Cosmic microwave background radiation? Never heard of her.
- Must be God.
- “What started consciousness?”
- Neurons and electrochemical signals? Nah.
- Must be God.
- “Why do I feel a presence in the room when I’m alone?”
- Mild sleep paralysis and hyperactive pattern recognition? No thanks.
- Must be God.
We’re still doing it.
Just with bigger words and fewer goats.
The Problem with a Shrinking God
If your belief only lives in the unknown, what happens when it becomes known?
Does your God retreat? Evolve? Or vanish?
God of the Gaps thinking makes faith fragile.
Because the moment science explains your “miracle,” it’s no longer divine — just data.
And then suddenly,
“God made the sun stand still,”
turns into
“Actually, that was a poetic way of saying they won the war.”
So, What Now?
If God is only used to explain what we don’t know, then with time… we’ll need him less and less.
But here’s the twist — many believers don’t want a Gap God.
They want a personal God. A relational God. A God who sees them, not just fills in mysteries like cosmic polyfilla.
And that’s a different conversation.
But for those of us asking questions — those of us peeking behind the curtain — we must be honest about this:
Not knowing something doesn’t mean “God did it.”
It means… we don’t know yet.
And “I don’t know” is a beautiful, brave place to start.
Because that’s where curiosity lives.
That’s where discovery begins.
So next time someone says,
“We’ll never know how this happened, must be God,”
You can smile and say,
“Or maybe… we just haven’t figured it out yet.”
Then open a science book. Or five.
Because the real miracle?
Is that we can figure it out.
And I promise — you don’t need divine Wi-Fi for that.
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