One God

The question of one God....

I think the question of one God vs multiple Gods sometimes becomes an unhelpful semantic barrier.

I do believe in one God. I know some people believe there are multiple Gods. Those people might not be satisfied by the perspective I'm about to give. In fact, I'm a bit concerned that it may not be respectful of me. I'd like the opportunity to discuss the issue with people who believe in multiple Gods. I'd like the opportunity to learn from them. But to the best of my knowledge, I don't know anyone with that belief.

In my perspective, belief in one God does not preclude recognition of what may be understood by others as multiple Gods, or even competing Gods. God is big enough that we use multiple metaphors for God. In my thinking, multiple Gods (past or present) may be considered a partial representation of God. Each of them are, if you will, one of many relevant metaphors for God. Metaphors (whether used for one God, multiple Gods, or anything else) in some way represent the thing for which they are being used as a metaphor, but can not completely represent or contain it, nor can they represent it with completeness or full accuracy.

In some ways those of us steeped in monotheism might benefit from thinking in terms of multiple Gods, or at least by taking diverse metaphors for God more seriously.

Too often I think we have an image of God that is neatly packaged, defined and contained. We miss too much of God that way. We tame God too much that way. We try to keep God fitting into our theology, our religion, our society, our comfort zones. But of course God isn't so easily limited. It's our theology and ourselves that we're limiting. We're keeping parts of God at a distance when we could be drawing near. Sometimes those are the parts of God we or others may need to keep our spiritual lives engaged and growing.

We Believe In One God

This is the first phrase of the Nicene Creed.

I suspect that the writers of the creed assumed belief in God and meant to make the point that they believe in ONE God. But before I tackle that part of the issue, it seems relevant to consider the question of belief in God. It can not be assumed that people believe in God or not, or what they mean by that.

However, while the question of belief in God may often be relevant, sometimes I think it gets in the way.

I've had people indicate that they don't believe in God, only to go on to express what sounds to me like belief in what I understand to be God. I think my understanding of who or what God is may differ from theirs.

On the other hand I've had a person talk about things they don't believe (things they apparently think church represents that I strongly disagree with), then go on to say they believe in God. That's fine. But I'm not sure what they mean when they say they believe in God. Their understanding of the meaning of church seems so far removed from mine that I'm hesitant to make assumptions.

Furthermore I have a co-worker who, because of statements they've made, I perceive to be atheist. Yet when I've referred to them as such, they've objected. I don't think they object primarily (if at all) because they wish to claim some belief in God. They indicate they object because they see the label as a way to unduly define and categorize.

I think they may be onto something. Statements of belief in God or non-belief in God call for more explanation. We might find we have more in common with those across the divide of our labels than we think. Sometimes we might find we have less in common than we would expect with those who use the same terms as we do. Either way, the labels and terminology shouldn't be allowed to stand in the way of supporting each other's pursuits in developing and nurturing our spiritual lives and connections. I wonder how often they do.

Me and the L Word

I've been thinking about some of the things I might say about what I believe. I think some of it will sound troublesomely liberal or even heretical to some people. Some may think I've been led astray and lost my faith. To some people, what I'm likely to say will make me one of "them" instead of one of "us." I know that kind of perspective from experience.

But I don't see it that way anymore. Though I might not believe some of the specifics I used to believe, I find that the changes in my beliefs have expanded and strengthened my spiritual life and relationship with God. You don't have to see everything the same way I do or agree with everything (or anything) I say. But at least I want to let you know this.