The unwanted mystery
Continuing our series on The Apostles’ Creed, I suggest that what people covet in God is not so much mystery but certainty. God is what we seek to be sure about. So, how do we know God exists? Over the years theologians have advanced many arguments, which include:
- The Cosmological argument, which reasons the ordered universe around us has been caused by something going back to the First Cause, or God.
- The Teleological argument, which notes a purpose in the universe.
- The Moral argument, which basically means we have been created with a sense of right and wrong.
- The Historical argument, which recognises that in every age the great weight of publican opinion has been on the side of belief in God.
- The Practical argument, espoused by Gordon Powell who wrote in his book, The blessing of belief, “Those who believe in God have more harmony and more satisfaction in their lives than those who do not.”
There have of course been many other arguments for the existence of God from observation, deduction and experience. Although the Psalms, for example, refer to many attributes of God, the Bible does not actually give us a comprehensive definition. We cannot be unequivocally certain of any of the above arguments.
However, the Book of Genesis does tell us that we are made in the image of God. Think about this. Whatever we choose to believe about God will determine the rest of our life as His image. In our conception of the nature of God lies the kernel of our spiritual life. Made in the image of God, we grow in the image of the God we make for ourselves. As Joan Chittister, a Benedictine sister, wrote, “Until I discover the God in which I believe, I will never understand another thing about my own life. If my God is a harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy Nothingness, I will live a life of cosmic loneliness. If my God is taunt and bully, I will live my life impaled on the pin of a grinning giant. If my God is life and hope, I will live my life in fullness overflowing forever.”
Most of you reading this opening section of the Creed will have a belief in God, but some may have difficulty in subscribing to a belief in God the Father. We know that the Jews thought of God as the Father of their nation, but it is the New Testament where we are introduced to the fatherhood of a personal God, near to us as a Father is to his children. Now, within the wider Church there has been a growing feminist concern for the theological as well as social implications of making God male only, and it has been suggested our loving creator could replace father. What do you think? Finally, the word almighty. William Barclay says, “When we believe in a God whose infinite might is ever used in undefeatable love, we believe in a God whose love for us can never end.”
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