Good News - October 2019

en GAGE 32 OCTOBER 2019 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition The word “religion” is derived from Latin and means “to tie or to bind together.” In popular usage religion means the web of be- liefs that inform how a worshipper under- stands God. Religion “ties together” how we think about God and how we behave as a consequence. Last month we asked the question, “What is God?” We asked the most funda- mental questions about God. We asked these questions in a search to identify the most basic theology. We concluded that the best conjunction of reason and revelation finds expression in the word to Moses on Sinai, “I Am that I Am” (Exodus 3:14). This word describes God as eternal (“I Am” is a stative verb not bound by time) and divine (“I Am that I Am” is a noun equivalent that is self-determined). The eternality and divinity of God is fun- damental to the revelation evident to everyone, according to Paul the apostle, “For [God’s] invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made”(Romans 1:20). Both biblical Testaments agree that reason applied to the creation reveals God’s invisible attributes. But God’s revelation of himself to Moses goes far- ther. God tells his prophet, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… and have heard their cry…I know their sorrows.” Here we learn much more about God. He is aware of human suffering and is compassionate toward the oppressed. He sees and hears. Then he says to Moses, “I have come down to deliver them… and to bring them… to land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). This reveals a God who knows all things, who is compassionate toward us, who is willing to intervene to save us. God reveals several amazing attributes to Moses in his love for Israel. After Israel’s deliverance, “I Am” reveals more of his attributes. Showing his glory to Moses, “I Am” says, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in constant love and faithfulness, keeping covenant love with thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 6:4). Wow! God is eternal, divine — but he is also merciful, gracious, loving, faithful, kind, forgiving sin, and just. How can our heart not respond to a God like this? Who could imagine (note the word!) a greater God! One who sees and hears us when we cry out to him! One who is moved by his great love for us to intervene to save us! It should be evident that God has made the human heart to respond to him, to want to be like him. As the Apostle Paul said, “We are his workmanship!” The literal Greek of Ephesians 2:10 reads, “We are his poetry!” We were made to be in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). The Hitchhiker’s Fellow Traveler* Speaks Up *(fellow traveler: a congenial but sometimes pesky Christian who thinks our destination is heaven [hopefully].) Last month we began to think about God from what can be known about him by reason. We imagined that we are all hitchhikers who awoke one day not knowing how we arrived on this rocket ship planet, hoping there is a Driver at the wheel. We examined what we as a human family have learned about God—primarily through reason. Along the way we discovered that there is a Christian passenger among us, whom we kept safely tied up in the back. This Christian can be a be a bit of a know-it-all and we didn’t want to have our con- versation hijacked, much less our planetary rocket. But now it is probably safe to let the Christian loose for a bit. Now perhaps we can invite her to join our conversation and tell us how wrong we are and just how far off course we now find ourselves! Dare we ask? OK. What would the Christian religion tell us about our mus- ings (note the word!) about God to this point. 1. What is God? (If God is impersonal). Christian: “So good to be untied! Thank you. And that duct tape! I had so much to say. Glad to be able to speak again. You guys really do need some help! “Well, your question is strange enough. You already recognized that it makes no sense to pray to a God who is a “what”—can’t hear or see. But you didn’t seem to consider that everyone has an instinct to pray during times of trouble. Where do you think that behavior comes from? 2. Who is God? (If He [or She or Both] is personal). “Moses revealed that God made us in his image (Genesis 1:27). That means God is the first Poet! A poet, like an idol-maker, creates images of God. “Moses wrote, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them’ (Genesis 1:27). This state- ment, in Hebrew, is poetry. And this couplet says that it takes both male and female to constitute the image of God. Both are equal and both are necessary to reflect the nature of God. “The Bible uses masculine pronouns for God, but the Bible also describes God by feminine imagery. Moses depicts God like a woman giving birth to the earth in the creation (Psalm 90:2). Jesus likewise describes himself like a mother hen in his love for Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37). These ‘images’ pow- erfully express God’s nature. In fact, when we cry out to God for ‘mercy,’ the very word in Hebrew describing his kind inclination toward us (rachemim) is derived from the word for ‘womb’ (rechem).” We have to admit, however haltingly, that Christian has helped us here to understand her religious tradition. What about our next question? 3. If God is Good, by the same logic, isn’t Evil also a God? “If Good and Evil are both divine,” says Christian, “there can be no hope. All our aspirations are in vain. We can never prove by reason that Evil is not just as eternal as Good. Yet mankind is instinctively hopeful. Why? “The Bible affirms our hope by revealing that evil is not eternal. It had a beginning and will surely have an end. Evil began with a fallen creature (Ezekiel 28:13-15; 1 Timothy 3:6). There is a day when evil will end—being ‘swallowed up’ by good (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).” This too, is an agreeable answer, we admit. At least it gives us a reason to hope! 4. Can God be known? What are our capacities to know God? “If God is our Creator and wants us to know him, isn’t it reasonable to as- What is Religion? Dr. Warren A. Gage, Th.M., J.D., Ph.D. The Alexandrian Forum, President (Continued on page 34)