The nature of God

'What is surprising is that the minster-god is not more common in the minds of humans. In the first section of this book it was noted that when we are children our parents are godlike figures to our child's eye, and the way they do things seems to the way they must be done throughout the universe. Our first (and, sadly, often our only) notion of God's nature is a simple extrapolation of our parents' natures, a simple blending of the characters of our mothers and fathers or their substitutes. If we have loving, forgiving parents, we are likely to believe in a loving forgiving God. And in our adult view the world is likely to seem as nurturing a place as our childhood was. If our parents were harsh and punitive, we are likely to mature with a concept of a harsh and punitive monster-god. And if they failed to care for us, we will likely envision the universe as simply uncaring.'

- M Scott Peck, 'The Road Less Travelled.'