Recreating God in the author’s image?

It seems we can learn something about God by viewing him as like the author of a novel, and we are his characters in his created world. But as much as we are like God, we are not God and our character only has the capacity to be like is. It isn’t his. What this means is, be careful projecting human images (like that of a literary author) back onto God. You can come up with some bad theology.

Whatever we may think of the possibilities of direct divine intervention in the affairs of the universe, it is quite evident that the writer can-and often does – intervene at any moment in the development of his own story; he is absolute master, able to perform any miracle he likes.

I do not mean that he can invent undiscovered planets or people the world with monsters unknown to natural history-that kind of thing is a tale about marvels, not a tale abruptly modified by marvels. I mean simply that he can twist either character or plot from the course of its nature by an exertion of arbitrary power. He can slay inconvenient characters, effect abrupt conversions, or bring about accidents or convulsions of nature to rescue the characters from the consequences of their own conduct.

He can, in fact, behave exactly as, in our more egotistical and unenlightened petitions, we try to persuade God to behave. Whether we mock at miracles or demand miracles, this is the kind of miracle we usually mean. We mean that the judgment of natural law is to be abrogated by some power extraneous to the persons and circumstances.

-Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, Ch.5