god for grown-ups: sample preview
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God forgrownups
Something happens at about ageten to twelve that causes people
to stop asking questions or seekingserious answers when it comes to
religious belief and faith.
TimAtwell
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Abou t the author
Since he was a small boy im Atwell has always asked
quesions: Why is here somehing and no nohing?
When is somehing rue and wha does rue mean
anyway? Wha is God and why is God so compellingly
atracive?
He is as obsessively curious abou naure as he is abou
hinking: Wha ower is ha? Is ha a sound argumen?
Wha kind o rocks are hose? Wha is ha concep?Reired aer ory years in rural, urban, suburban and
academic Mehodis Minisry, he broadcass religious
hink pieces on radio, is an acive member o he Mounain
Club and he Boanical Sociey o Souh Arica and is a
eld and mounain guide.
Married o Barbara, hey live a Scarborough a litlevillage on he wilder side o he Cape Peninsula, souh o
Cape own.
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Gd f Gn-ps
Tim Att well
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God or Grown-ups imohy B. Atwell 2009
ISBN: 978-1-920218-40-9
Published by Elecric Book Works, elecricbookworks.comElecric Book Works, 87 Saion Road, Observaory,
Cape own 7925, Souh Arica.
http://electricbookworks.com/http://electricbookworks.com/ -
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Cnns1Wha is God? 7
2Does he Bible mater? 21
3Wha is he Church? 414Te Poery o Faih 55
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1W s Gd?Why he course ile: God or Grown-ups?
Beore we ge on wih he quesion Wha is
God? I ough o jusiy he course ile God or
Grown-ups. O course children are welcome, bu
here are wo reasons why his course is specically
inended or aduls boh o hem having o do wih
personal developmen ino responsible adulhood.
Te rs reason has o do wih he developmen ocogniive and concepual abiliy. In almos every eld
o human enquiry i is assumed ha our knowledge and
cogniive and concepual abiliy develop as we grow older.
Under he broad heading o operaional hinking we
develop in our abiliy o reason hings ou, ask quesions,
make observaions, experimen, es working hypohesesand come up wih ways o undersanding a ever more
sophisicaed levels. I say almos every eld o human
enquiry because one eld o hough where his doesn
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God for Grown-ups
happen nearly enough, i a all, is religion. Somehinghappens a abou age en o welve ha causes people o
sop asking quesions or seeking serious answers o hose
quesions when i comes o religious belie and aih.
Te mos common o hese soppages happens a
pre-adolescence. A ha sage we resolve he quesion
o where and wha God is by creaing wo paralleluniverses: he maerial and he spiriual. Tis maerial
world and God are assigned o each one respecively
and he link beween hem is no horoughly hough
ou. Ten we live he res o our lives wih an
inadequae dualism in which he wo realms are never
quie reconciled. For everyday, pracical purposes
he only way he spiriual or God dimension or
parallel universe can impac on he maerial, his
worldly realm is by magic or he supernaural.
Tis is plainly absurd, even when considered in purely
religious erms. Eecively we are saying ha God, hedeermining acor behind he whole maerial order,
can only have access o ha order by suspending is
regular operaion, which God originaed! Clearly his
is an example o he ailure o operaional hinking.
So, o be even parly successul in exercising our
adul operaional hinking when i comes o religiousbelie we have o push beyond he capabiliies o our
pre-adolescen years and beyond he oversimplied
dualism ha divides realiy ino wo irreconcilable pars.
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What is God?
We have o hink, in oher words, as aduls i we are ogive our concep o God and our religious convicions
any cogniive and concepual credibiliy a all.
Te second reason why his is called God or
Grown-ups has o do wih he developmen o well-
rounded personaliy and mauriy. Volaire, Ludwig
Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud rejeced religious
belie and aih as unworhy o maure aduls on he
ground, hey argued, ha he concep o God is a
projecion o human insecuriy ono he cosmos.
People eel inadequae, hey argued. As a resul heycreae a kind o cosmic paren whom hey inves
wih all he powers o omnipoence, omniscience,
omnipresence as well as immoraliy, inniude,
immuabiliy and impassiviy ha hey hemselves and
heir all oo allible parens don have. Tis cosmic
paren hen supplies wha hey are unable o supply orhemselves rules o live by, knowledge beyond heir
capaciy, problem-solving skills hey don have and so on.
God, says Volaire, is made in mans image. Well,
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10God for Grown-ups
a leas in he reverse image o human raily. Ten,according o Freud, we remain aally and neuroically
dependan on his god we have creaed and
never develop rus in our own capabiliies.
In large measure Volaire, Feuerbach and Freud
are correc. Tere is much religion ha makes a
god o his imaginary cosmic paren and keepsis devoees in a perpeual sae o inanile and
neuroic dependency, robbing people o heir
abiliy o hink or hemselves and mee challenges
condenly wih he resources a heir command.
Bu ha kind o religion is no all here is. Neiher is
ha immaure kind o religious aih a rue reecion o
religious aih a is highes and mos developed, as we nd
i, or insance, in he prophecies o Jeremiah and Isaiah. In
he Gospels he cones beween Jesus and he Pharisees is
almos enirely beween lie-diminishing religion and lie-
afrming aih. Te leters o he Romans and Ephesiansare owering exposiions o aih ha empowers people
raher han reduces hem o serviliy and dependency.
Far rom creaing neuroic dependency, religious
aih a is bes enables people o develop a proound
sense o heir own worh, capabiliy, inerpersonal
compeence and basic rus in lie isel ha ses hemree o engage wih lie condenly. When Jesus speaks
o enabling people o have lie in all is ullness hes
alking abou people discovering an inner sense o
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What is God?11
personal securiy and condence boh inside and ousidehe secure sheepold o heir own comor zones.
When S Paul wries o doing all hings hrough Chris
who srenghens me or he leter o he Ephesians ells
o people growing o a measure o he saure o he
ullness o Chris, o mauriy, hey are no speaking
o inanile, neuroic dependency. Tey are speaking omaure, capable, conden human beings conroning he
challenges o lie in he ull condence o adul mauriy.
I religious belie and aih are o have anyhing o
oer he vas number o people whose operaional
hinking and personal responsibiliy have aken hem
beyond he swaddling clohes o childhood, hen
he expressions o ha belie and aih have o show
evidence o he very bes o adul hinking. Hence
he ile o his course: God or Grown-ups.
Now we can ask he quesion: Wha is God?In order o begin hinking abou his quesion I nd
i helpul o go all he way back o Arisole, who lived
rom 384 o 322 BCE. I know Arisole wasn a biblical
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12God for Grown-ups
gure, bu he had a major impac on he way we hinkoday, especially in he realms o philosophy and science.
I is also helpul o go back o Arisole because i
makes he poin ha wha I have o say now is no new.
Te ways o hinking abou God ha I am oulining
are no modern ideas, bu ways o hinking ha
have been around or well over wo housand yearsand have been rened and developed a various imes
in he hisory o religion in general and Chrisianiy
in paricular, no leas by ha grea hinker o he
13h cenury CE, S Tomas Aquinas (12261274).
Unlike his menor Plao (429347 BCE), Arisole
declined o separae realiy ino wo pars he
spiriual and he physical. In oher words, he urned
away rom he dualism we have already quesioned.
Wha Arisole developed were he conceps
o poenialiy and acualiy. Realiy isel is in a
consan process o he acualisaion o poenial.Wha can possibly be is consanly coming ino
acual being. I know I am oversimpliying Arisoles
hough unmerciully here, bu ime is shor!
o illusrae he poin, he cells in your and my bodies
are coninually renewing hemselves as we si here. For
insance, did you know ha wihin a week rom now hecells ha make up our skin will be compleely renewed?
Meanwhile, here is an ongoing evoluion o all he lie
orms on Earh while he grea galaxies unimaginably ar
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What is God?13
ou in space coninue o develop, as recen picures akenby he Hubble space elescope have shown. Tere is, in
oher words, consan movemen rom wha can be o wha
is and shall be. Wihin his process, which I like o hink
o as Cosmic Lie, new lie and exisence pours orh in
unimaginable orrens. Te Psalmis pus i beauiully:
Te heavens are elling he glory o God
And he rmamen proclaims his handiwork.
Day o day pours orh speech
And nigh o nigh declares knowledge.
Psalm 19: 1
Where I nd Arisole helpul is in he hough ha
he process o acualising poenial is no merely
driven by God, i is God. God is he erm we use
or he process o he acualisaion o poenial,
he prior condiion ha provides or he comingino lie and exisence o ha which is no.
My avourie heologian, John MacQuarrie, uses he
expression Holy Being or his prior condiion ha
here should be anyhing a all he reason here is
somehing and no nohing. Holy Being coninually
les be, says MacQuarrie. By his he means ha HolyBeing boh provides or possibiliy o become acualiy
and or ha new acualiy o have disinc lie in and o
isel, allowing i o exis and o do so on is own erms.
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14God for Grown-ups
Noice wha I am saying and wha I am no saying.I am no saying ha God is behindhe process,
designing and seering i. I am saying ha God is
he process o he acualisaion o poenial.
Now, he problem wih philosophy o his sor, which
is also he way o hinking ha underpins much o he
pracice o science, is ha i is reducionis. I has a
way o reducing large, powerul, even overwhelming
experiences ha we have o an apparenly small size.
Ta is he burden o analyical hinking. I has is
uses, bu i never quie ells he whole sory!Having reduced he concep o God o he process
o he acualisaion o poenial we hereore have o
expand i again i i is going o aihully express he
magniude and meaning o our experience o he process.
Tas where ar, music, lieraure especially poery
psychology and religious aih are criically imporan.Bu beore we ge sideracked ino discussing he roles o
ar, music, poery, psychology and religion in responding
o he process o he acualisaion o poenial, les have
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What is G od?15
a brie look a a way o describing our encouner wihand experience o he acualisaion o poenial hrough
he eyes o anoher philosopher, he 20h-cenury CE
Jewish philosopher, Marin Buber (18781965).
Buber disinguishes beween wo ypes o relaionship
beween human beings and he realiy in which we
paricipae. Te rs ype o relaionship Buber calls heI-i relaionship. In his relaionship he I (has you or
me as sel-conscious subjecs) relaes o anoher aspec o
realiy as i as an objec, a hing, o be manipulaed,
conrolled and exploied. In his relaionship he I remains
rmly in conrol. In ormal philosophical and heological
erms his is called he subjec-objec dichoomy.
Te second ype o relaionship Buber calls he
I-Tou relaionship. Tis kind o relaionship is
characerised by reciprociy. I is a muual relaionship
beween wo subjecs, as disinc rom a relaion-
ship beween a subjec and an objec.Te Tou which I encouner is a major conribuor o,
and even o some exen he cause o, my own being. I am
no in conrol o a Tou; I am condiioned, shaped, by
a Tou. I receive and am shaped by he process whereby
poenial becomes acualiy. I is he prior condiion and
even whereby I come ino acual exisence. Ineviably weexperience he acualisaion o poenial as an engagemen
wih ha which is greaer han we are, which condiions
us. In experiencing he acualisaion o poenial we are
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16God for Grown-ups
engaged, in oher words, no by an objec, bu by a subjec.Bu does ha make me an objec, a hing o be
manipulaed? No a all. A key elemen in he acualisaion
o my poenial is he emergence o consciousness o mysel
and my capabiliy o response. Remember MacQuarries very
useul expression or he eec o Holy Being leting be.
You can see his happening in ha wonderul scenein Isaiah chaper 6, where Isaiah becomes aware o God.
His rs response is a saemen abou himsel and an
awareness o his shorcomings: Woe is me His second
response is also abou himsel, bu i is an expression o
his emerging sense o capabiliy when engaged by God (or
he acualisaion o poenial): Here I am, send me.
Here Isaiah is a hinking and emerging subjec. Tere
is muualiy and reciprociy beween Isaiah and he
prior condiion or his exisence he acualisaion
o poenial, which I am calling God.
Tis is Bubers subjec-subjec, or I-Tou,relaionship.
Te I-Tou relaionship, however, is no
resriced o our relaionship wih he prior condiion
ha here should be anyhing a all. Te I-Tou
relaionship, or Buber, can and should exend o all
he highes and bes human relaionships as well asour relaionships wih all lie and he cosmos isel.
Bu he abiliy o relae wih all realiy in an
I-Tou relaionship sems rom our relaing o he
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1God for Grown-ups
Tomas Aquinas argued ha he process o heacualisaion o poenial always begins wih ha which
is acual. His amous example was ha o re and wood.
Fire is acually ho, he raher obviously observed. Wood
is poenially ho. Wood canno make isel ho, alhough
i has he poenial o become ho when i burns. Acual
re, which is acually ho, mus ac on wood o ranslaewoods poenial o become ho ino acual hea.
Ta which acualises poenial mus hereore, says
Aquinas, be acual. o use Aquinass erm, ha which
acualises poenial mus be Pure Ac and necessarily
comes prior o any poenial.
Pure Ac is he prior condiion ha here
should be anyhing a all, named as Te Eernal
Tou (Buber), and ha is wha God is.
So you see, hinking abou God is no hinking abou
some disembodied spiri exising in a spiriual realmremoved rom his very physical one we inhabi. Maure
religious aih is no devoion o some realiy dieren
rom he maerial universe. I is a way o engaging
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What is God?1
wih he universe we see and ouch, ase, smell andhear wih awe and wonder; o address, wih reverence
and deep respec, all ha is and he prior condiion
or i all o be; o marvel a he mysery o lie isel
in is consan movemen rom poenial o acualiy,
and as a paricipan in i and beneciary o i.
o rus God is o rus lie; o worship God is o beamazed by and in awe o he consan oupouring o lie
and exisence ha happens in our own bodies as much
as i happens on his plane ull o wonders and among
he disan galaxies. o love God is o be gripped and
overwhelmed by lie isel and o celebrae i in all is pars.
Here is a prayer by eilhard de Chardin SJ (18811955). He
says i or me:
In he lie which wells up in me and in he mater which
susains me, I nd much more han your gis. I is YouYoursel whom I nd, You who makes me paricipae
in your being, You who moulds me. ruly in he ruling
and in he rs disciplining o my living srengh, in he
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20God for Grown-ups
coninually benecen play o secondary causes, I ouch,
as near as possible, he wo aces o Your creaive acion,
and I encouner, and kiss, Your wo marvellous hands
he one which holds us so rmly ha i is merged, in
us, wih he sources o lie, and he oher whose embrace
is so wide ha, a is slighes pressure, all he springs
o he universe respond harmoniously ogeher.