-I-
(God's Existence)
It is futile in any
theological argument to spend a great amount of effort in trying to prove the
existence of God. We can debate God's existence and argue most eloquently for
or against, Her existence and never begin to prove, or
disprove, our position. God has been, and will continue to be for the
foreseeable future, purely a subjective matter of faith. If we are to be honest
with ourselves, we must tend to agree with Carl Jung that in our perceived
reality God is an unknowable in terms of our conscious intellectual capacity.
Yet, even the most ardent of non-believers must concede that a Divine Force (if
real, or created by us) is part of our reality, in that, She
affects the destiny of humankind.
It is doubtful that any
theological argument will prove the actual existence of God; therefore, we will
not cover the long winded (some very good and rational) arguments about God's
existence. At one level the actual existence of God is not important. People
believe in a God - which creates an influence in our reality; therefore, She Is! The modern and responsible theologian needs to be
more concerned with the way that belief affects individual and our world; thus,
God's actual existence is
not as important as the way we view the God, which is believed in.
Such logic may sound kind of
disrespectful to some but in reality it is not. If God does exist, Her
revelations should be about improving the quality of life for all His children;
about, helping us live in the creation - at least this is what most believers
should be encouraged to pursue! If God does not exist, it would still be
beneficial to humanity as a whole if the believers were encouraged to use their
faith to improve the quality of life, for otherwise, their faith would be in
vain. It would seem that either way God's will is served - ironically, even if
there is no God.
Historically, theology and the
religions based upon it, was very intertwined with the
knowledge, culture, and everyday lives of the people. Farming, hunting, or
nomad societies each sought a relationship with the Divine, which helped them
in their everyday world. Beliefs, rituals and religious icons were closely tied
to the way of life. To the hunter it was the hunt, to the farmer it was the
planting and the harvest - nomadic peoples asked for guidance or gave thanks
for their fortunes. In this way the religions always remained meaningful, and God
was an active participant in the lives of men and women. Such is one of the
cornerstones of a sound theology; but aside from that, one could speculate that
God's inspiration and revelations are deeply tied to the intelligence and ways
of the peoples who seek to know Her. God communicates
with us according to our ability to understand Him; thus, the existence of God
is meaningless if it has no affect upon the realities of everyday life. If God
is not relevant to the realities of the creation, the faith is empty words.
Responsible theology is not so
much concerned with God's existence, or the realm in which God would exist as
an entity (if we can use that word); but rather, what God is trying to
communicate to us, and how our beliefs in this so called communication affect
the realities of our world. Responsible theology must seek the revelation of
God in terms of the society and culture, which it serves, for it appears this
is the way God chooses us to know Her.
God may not as well exist, if
our faith in Him leads us to judge, persecute, oppress, or become indifferent
to the problems of our world. God's existence is not relevant if our belief in
Her has no meaning or affect upon our everyday lives; which includes, business
and social responsibility and the ethics concerning them. God is removed from a
society when people "pay Her lip service"
but the faith is not credible in terms of the reality we know and understand -
in terms of the everyday lives of common people. If God is
not recognized as an active participant in the reality of creation, then
theology and religion have failed in its task.
Please email us with your
thoughts!
NEXT CHAPTER-2-Theological Limitations