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Writer Collins explores the situation depicted in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible when Moses is the chosen leader of his people, while his brother Aaron, as high priest, is the ideal servant of God. Aaron constructs a golden calf, a classic symbol of idolatry. Yet he retains his priesthood, and Moses is commanded by God to tell Aaron to offer to God’s people a time-honored blessing, still widely invoked. Collins’ book centers on a conversation between God and Aaron, with God stressing that he himself is the greatest exemplar of righteousness. He loves unconditionally and forgives even as he abhors certain human actions. He has given humans free will and does not block it even when it results in acts of “monstrous evil or insane stupidity.”
Collins depicts Moses, in God’s eyes, as a flatterer and Aaron as truthful. Moses offers ten commandments, but God tells Aaron there is only one: to spread virtue, logic, and happiness. The irony is that if all obeyed this commandment, there would be no need for religions, which, Collins suggests, continually promote barbarism through disagreements among sects and creeds.
Collins, described as “an atheist who loves irony,” has clearly delved deeply into the subject matter he promulgates. He draws on biblical references and scholarly works by those both within and outside of the realm of Judeo-Christian worship. Through Collins, God speaks to Aaron and all of humanity to make his role known and understood using logical examples and proposing that those secure in their own happiness will share it with others. To bring this ideal into being, Collins believes, education stressing logic is required. This is a complex, fascinating thesis, redolent with rationality as well as good humor and is worthy of further study. It is designed to attract an open-minded and educated readership.