Letter for August
I have been staring at a blank page for weeks with no inspiration – I am sure you all know the feeling! However the recent floods, not quite of biblical proportions but bad enough, caused me to go back to the uncertainties that have plagued my ‘faith’ over the years. The nature of God – am I theist or a deist and how to reconcile either position with what one sees happening in the World. I suppose for most of the time I may be described as a relational theist (Relational Theism sees relationship as the most essential aspect of Christ and Christianity. They embrace those doctrines necessary for Christian faith, while holding lightly to those doctrines which are debatable and non-essential). This is all well and very good but how does it fit into a World where things go wrong beyond anybody’s control? In that sense deism is a much easier philosophy (Deism differs from theism in that according to deism God does not interfere with human life and the laws of the universe.). God made us, we are here, it is now our problem not that of the deity – so get on with it. But that does not fit with my conception of ‘what a God should be’. Surely the function of God is to help humanity – or more to the point – to help us to help each other?
The definitions above are very stark, as with any philosophical ideas they have been altered, fragmented and changed to fit the time and the nature of the thinker but the basic dichotomy of the all powerful non- merciful God or an all merciful non-powerful God remains.
There is no answer (or if you have one please, please tell me). I wish I had the light of certainty that some people seem to possess but I think that for the rest of my life I will always be questioning – Why is this allowed to happen? – Why is there so much suffering? Etc. etc. I guess that it is a life long quest for nearly all of us to maintain a faith in the face of adversity. In the end I suppose it really does not matter into which camp you fall. The important thing is to try to behave as Christ wanted us to irrespective of our localised philosophies.
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Romans 13:9 (King James Version).
And the neighbour is any other human – even if we loath the sight of them and hate their views – difficult stuff but nobody said it was going to be easy.
Alison Garrett