My concept of "God" changes over time and experience. It doesn't seem possible that, with the whole known universe in flux, God can be a fixed entity. "God" is the sum total of everything. All the cosmos, every atom, every plant and every animal including humans are God. Since everything is evolving then "God" must be evolving too. Perhaps the end point of evolution is known but I doubt it. There is much trial and error.
When I try to picture God sometimes he is a monster high on testosterone or a small boy with a DNA chemistry seeing see how many awful smells and explosion he can create. When I am feeling mellow he is a grandfather with a benign and relaxed attitude. Sort of "Que sera. Sera" and wondering, like we do, how it will all turn out.
Evil maybe only good; expressed by the wrong person or to the wrong person or at the wrong time or wrong place or expressed in the wrong way. Or evil may be the things that a Darwinian universe eventually deletes. Sometimes I think Christ is an example and model. The beginning rather than an end point. The future lies ahead and it is up to us to make it work. Frank
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ReplyDeleteGene, this is an edited version.I think belief is based on faith. Belief is a temporary working hypothesis subject to constant reevaluation and update as new data, experience and paradigms are incorporated. "Truth", in the absolute sense, is impossible for humans. Faith and belief are possible for us. When we claim TRUTH with a capital T and especially absolute truth, I suspect this is at best a wish and at worst a delusion.
ReplyDeleteWe, and I suspect all creation, are in a constant co-evolution. I wonder if God isn't part of this co-evolution. If God was/is a perfect finished entity and always was, why bother with us? And if we are the creation of a perfect God how did we get to be so defective? As a teenager I heard a joke that I have pondered ever since. A little boy asks the preacher is God all knowing? Yes! Is he all wise? Yes! Is he all powerful? Yes! Then says the child, "Where did the Devil come from?"
You might find Jack Miles book that Reinhard referred to an interesting read. Miles' second book "Christ a Crisis in the life of God" is also interesting. I have both of them and would be happy to lend them to you. Frank
Hi Frank - Just to repeat the essence of what you accidently removed: I don't choose to believe in a changing God. (Note that "choosing to believe" is not the same as "believing" for me.) Those that do believe in a changing God, essentially accept what I said was the problem. The gods we know are not our creators but rather are created by us. While our best but nevertheless deficient and faulty logic can not give us a reliable answer to the source of creation, I certainly prefer it to the unreliable and dangerous religions of revelation in which some men claim authority. As for where the Devil and yes even Evil come from, I appreciate William Blake's poem about the Tiger in the jungle of the night. I do believe a few read the blog; however, it will not function until the congregation contributes. Its potential is not understood. Gene
ReplyDeleteGene, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI guess my problem is that I keep trying to integrated what I see and feel with the concept of a perfect God. Everything seems in constant flux as though there is an ongoing experiment without any discernible end point except our death and maybe the death of the Universe. I can understand why there is death and why there is love but why there are both seems cruel. How ever as Martin Luther said. "If I knew the world was going to end tomorrow I would still plant an apple tree today".
Mostly this world suggests that this world is a competitive dog eat dog arrangement but it equally suggests that love and cooperation are essential to survival and happiness.
Why don't we start talking about the meeting
7 March 2010? That seems to be as important as theology. Frank