Chapter twelve, Universe of God, is a view of God that’s very different from all previous ones, but no suggestion is implied that others should accept it. (The unstated reason is that very few people are ready for such a radical change.) The fundamental principle is that God is so far removed from space, time, energy, and matter (because God created them) that humans can never know anything remotely close to God stuff. The chapter proceeds to hypothesize a few possible characteristics of God stuff while simultaneously understanding that, like some scientific hypotheses, they might be wrong. The most basic hypotheses are that God is perfect and that a perfect God created a perfect Universe. Because the Universe is perfect, God does not influence its unfolding. Thus, prayers for God’s aid are useless except as a balm for the vicissitudes of life, which is certainly not unimportant. The chapter echoes Islam by suggesting that worship of God is the most significant thing a person can do, but leaves the way of such worship to the individual’s conscience.
