Archive for Thursday 25th July 2002 - The god who abandoned his offspring

Last week we began looking at different approaches to the problem of God. We went through atheism and reached deism. Deists agree that there is a supreme god who created the universe. But that, they say, was the end of his involvement. Like an absconding father, he has nothing more to do with his offspring.

Philosophers like that view. It isn’t too sentimental. But even they admit that it is inadequate. No-one is interested in a god who is not interested in us, personally. If you say you believe in God, you are probably thinking of a personal connection.

For that, it seems, you need an intermediary. The ancients recognised demi-gods and local spirits. One of their functions was to bridge the gap between the unknowable godhead and the individual soul. For that purpose, modern religions have saviours, prophets, saints, martyrs and angels. Through these intermediary spirits, religious people feel the comforts of divine guidance. And great mystics have reached the state they call union with God. That, they say, is worth the devotion of a whole lifetime.

What is to be concluded from this brief survey of relationships between gods and humans? My own view is that we are completely in the dark about the deity and how to approach it. So whatever attitude you take, from cheerful atheism to total, life-long devotion, is as reasonable as any other. It is the results that count.

John Michell