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I think that the ability to percieve "The Mechanical God" is like being able to see God's body. A Nihilist sees the mechanism but doesn't see the operator, so they naturally assume that God is dead. Sure, in theory, you could randomly hallucinate the exact words of a Deterministic God without autonomy, but an autonomous God is hardly predictable.

I also figure an autonomous God can't predict the future beyond a certain point, because knowing what one is going to decide later in advance is impossible. There can be a plan that's bound to be set in motion, sure, but beyond that plan's execution there's nothing that's absolutely certain. Knowing what you're going to decide is against autonomy itself.

(It'd be cool if this was looked back on as important philosophy. I'm writing this stuff because it's fun to imagine a world where it actually affects positive change. Someone in some classroom years from now talking about how they'd be dead if they weren't taught some of my philosophy... They're teaching it with fun and clever visuals...)

Meanwhile the stuff that's transcendent to The Body of God, the real essence, is also what makes all of us. (This is where the metaphysics get a little spooky.) If it were predetermined that you'd believe something, like a chemical reaction, then it isn't actually you doing the believing -- it's your body. All that you actually do is autotelic.

I've only got two more minutes to write the rest of this so bear with me. Someone does what they do as them, devoid of circumstance. Sure circumstance plays some effect, but it isn't synonymous with the individual. All that capital Y You have done has been for zero reason whatsoever, and I'm pretty sure capital G God wants to touch base with You.

Why do I believe this? No reason. I felt like the Dao one day.