Kris quickly leads us into the essence of Theology: by asking such questions as: What is the nature of God? If there is a God - or Gods - does it provide an answer to the question - What is the meaning and purpose of my life? What is our relationship - as human beings - to God? If there is a God, what relationship should we have with each other? ...and what relationship should we have with animals and with Nature? If there is an ideal, ethical way to behave, what happens if we fall short? ....and what has God got to do with that? What is the relevance of God to the end of this individual earthly existence which each one of us faces? And then there is the Epicurian paradox: "If God is All Knowing, All Powerful, and Good - then how can suffering, let alone Evil be allowed to exist? Why are we even talking about God? ...Or Godness?
Contrary to many Faith traditions that provide answers to such theological questions, with certainty and conviction, Kris's Unitarian approach is more nuanced. And he leaves us with a challenge for the week. Do listen on!
Expanding Horizons
On Theology
Kris quickly leads us into the essence of Theology: by asking such questions as: What is the nature of God? If there is a God - or Gods - does it provide an answer to the question - What is the meaning and purpose of my life? What is our relationship - as human beings - to God? If there is a God, what relationship should we have with each other? ...and what relationship should we have with animals and with Nature? If there is an ideal, ethical way to behave, what happens if we fall short? ....and what has God got to do with that? What is the relevance of God to the end of this individual earthly existence which each one of us faces? And then there is the Epicurian paradox: "If God is All Knowing, All Powerful, and Good - then how can suffering, let alone Evil be allowed to exist? Why are we even talking about God? ...Or Godness?Contrary to many Faith traditions that provide answers to such theological questions, with certainty and conviction, Kris's Unitarian approach is more nuanced. And he leaves us with a challenge for the week. Do listen on!
- Broadcast on:
- 29 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
(upbeat music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) You're listening to Expanding Horizons, the podcast of the Unitarian Church of South Australia, a home of progressive spirituality and free religious thought and action since 1854. The views expressed in these podcasts are those of the speaker and are not intended to represent the position of the church itself or of the worldwide Unitarian Universalist Movement. For more information visit UnitarianSA.org.au (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) Now, a poem from William Blake, The Divine Image. The mercy, pity, peace and love all pray in their distress and to these virtues of delight return their thankfulness. For mercy has a human heart, pity, a human face and love, the human form divine and peace, the human dress. Then everyone of every climb that prays in their distress prays to the human form divine, love, mercy, pity, peace and almost love the human form in heathen, turk or Jew. When mercy, love and pity dwell, their God is dwelling too. (gentle music) (gentle music) If your understanding of the divine made you kinder, more empathetic and impaled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel or self-righteous or if it led you to kill in God's name, it was bad theology. So I present some thoughts about theology because earlier this year, there was a very good five-part online course presented by the Czech Unitarians that caused me to reflect on theology. Although the more I thought about it leading up to today, I wondered if we really need to talk about it because most of us take a sufficiently intellectual approach already. And the great challenge, I think, is to go beyond intellectual comprehension, to really experience the spirit of life, to experience reality. As the author and former nun, Karen Armstrong, wrote, "A theology should be like poetry, which takes us to the end of what words and thoughts can do." And she also wrote, "Religious knowledge is a practical form of knowledge like driving or swimming. You can't learn to swim or to dance by reading a book. You've got to get into the water, learn to float." A Unitarian proceeds with caution in talking about theology. The American science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein, said, "Theology is never any help. It is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there." But I think he was actually adapting what Oscar Wilde had said, "Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn't there and finding it." So theology. From the Greek words "theos," meaning God and "logos," meaning words or discussion. So theology is the study of God, or as I prefer to put it, the study of the concept of God. And perhaps Godness is even better because it's a more neutral term for what I have in mind. And it might help us avoid the trap of imagining a humanoid God. And I'm sure you know the one I mean. I have a picture here for you. The one who thinks just like humans do, the one who picks and chooses who to help, the one who apparently needs to be praised. Theology leads us to ask questions such as what is the nature of God? If there is God, or God's, does it provide an answer to the question, what is the meaning and purpose of my life? What is our relationship as human beings to God? If there is God, what relationship should we have with each other as human beings? And what relationship should we as human beings have with animals and nature? If there is an ideal ethical way to behave, what happens if we fall short? And what has God got to do with that? What is the relevance of God to the end of this individual earthly existence which each one of us faces? There are many more possible questions, but a good one to finish the list is the so-called Epicurean Paradox. If God is all knowing, all powerful and good, then how can suffering, let alone evil, be allowed to exist in the universe? During our other musical offerings today, you might like to contemplate these questions. I certainly won't be answering all of them in the next 20 minutes. But I want to start by asking a preliminary question, why are we even talking about God or God-ness? I've just found the black cat in the room that Oscar Wilde was talking about. Some psychiatrists and philosophers have suggested that the origin of religion lies in anxiety, in fear. The philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "Religion is based primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing. Fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death." Consider for a moment the fears of homo sapiens 100,000 years ago. Fears of food sources being threatened by lack of water or too much heat or too much cold. Fear of violence from other animals, including those of the same species, especially those of the same species. Perhaps fear the sun wouldn't come up one day. Ultimately, one can trace these anxieties back to the fear of death, of personal extinction. Prehistoric religions directed praise and hope towards powerful objects like the sun and also powerful animals in the region. Over time, the neocortex developed in the front part of the human brain, facilitating language skills and the ability to imagine a coherent whole, complex ideas and strategy. Prehistoric religions explained the natural world and they gave courage to face the uncertainty of primitive life. Significantly, the religion of the tribe also bound people together with a common story. And this is the very meaning of the word religion in its original Latin form, Relegari, like a ligament attaching one to another. In addition to this primeval fear as a foundation for religious belief, the 19th century philosopher Kierkegaard identified pride. In other words, selfishness as an integral feature of the human condition. And one could say that self-interest is common to all creatures necessary for survival. Human beings in a primitive society, however, needed to find a way to accommodate self-interest because there was a survival benefit to the tribe if individuals placed a higher priority on the needs of the group. The most common reason for premature death among hunter-gatherer groups was murder. It's easy to imagine the survival benefits for the whole tribe if they worked together cooperatively, to get food, share food, defend against attack and even attack others. Of course, animal nature being what it is, there were men who gained control of their tribes either through brute force or cunning in their enterprise to assert themselves. No doubt it was useful to have the blessing of the shaman or later the priest. That appropriation of religious belief to gain and bolster power over other human beings and their resources has been a moral blemish on humanity ever since, and it is still happening. At least nobody ever went to war for the Unitarian cause. Even if they wanted to, there would be years of debate before the first shop would be fired. When one looks at the ancient Greek and Egyptian gods, one can see the gods imagined as beings with miraculous powers, but human personalities, most of the gods had their strong points and weak points and together they reflected the whole gamut of human experience. In Middle Eastern cultures, monotheism superseded the multiple gods of old, and meanwhile, two to two and a half thousand years ago, the ancient Greek and Chinese and Buddhist philosophers developed a more philosophical approach to life and death. The image of the humanoid god, one who could dispense benefits and punishment, and who would listen to requests had so much emotional appeal that it endured. One can see it in Christianity and Hinduism, for example. The Western conception of God inevitably varied as the scientific advances of the age of reason disproved biblical assertions about the world. A bit over 400 years ago, Unitarians dropped the divinity of Jesus but held their belief in God. Spinoza concluded God was in the world around us, not up in the sky somewhere. In the last 50 years or so, we have entered a new era of pluralism in Western societies. You really can believe whatever you want to. Someone even invented the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. No doubt to have a lot of fun with it and possibly to get a share of the generous tax breaks afforded to genuine religions. The reading today from Karen Armstrong reveals how theology can be useful. She also wrote, "The one and only test of a valid religious idea, doctrinal statements, spiritual experience or devotional practice was that it must lead directly to practical compassion." On the other hand, the nefarious ones in the world weaponize God concepts to justify terribly unethical human behavior. Beware of people who believe their humanoid God decreed that they were God's chosen people. Now, I'm a simple person, I find it easier to understand these things with diagrams, so the next part may be difficult for people listening at home. I start with a diagram for the humanists. There are just two circles. One circle is I, the individual consciousness. The other circle is the world. I'm not talking about a planet, I'm talking about everything that exists outside oneself. If you conceive of yourself as a soul, or if you can imagine the perspective of the self, capital S, as described by Carl Jung, then you could even include the physical body you have as part of the world. So the world includes other human beings. Special respect for these creatures of the same species is optional. Most people tend to do this. As the American astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson said, however, quote, "If a huge genetic gap separated us from our closest relative in the animal kingdom, we could justifiably celebrate our brilliance. We might be entitled to walk around thinking we're distant and distinct from our fellow creatures, but no such gap exists. Instead, we are one with the rest of nature, fitting neither above nor below, but within." So in this diagram, there is no God, there is just you and the world. The egotist, the materialist, will just maximise their pleasure and minimise their pain in their interaction with the world. The humanist may construct an ethical framework and encourage others to adopt it so that there is mutual respect. Respect among humans and possibly respect for animals and the natural environment too. The problem for the humanist is that there are others in the world who may say, "I don't care for your philosophy. I can puncture in the face or bomb innocent civilians in a neighbouring country and no one will force me to stop." And admittedly, if these brutal forces in the world are not willing to listen to humanist ethics, they're not likely to restrain themselves if they're told they are offending God. On the contrary, they are often the very ones most likely to be holding up the banner of a false God in an attempt to justify their cruelty. Now, this could also be a diagram for the Buddhist, although I acknowledge there are some forms of Buddhism which have a place for divinity. The Buddhist might say, "There's no guarantee of justice or kindness in the world. Good people will sometimes suffer. Nonetheless, we can train our minds to let go of our attachment to the things and activities of the world and thereby relieve ourselves from suffering." And that training includes living an ethical life. Before we talk about a universe with some sort of God in it, I have an agnostic diagram. Here we have the individual, the world, and a circle with a question mark, a sense that there may be something more to it. Because this potentially divine element can't be measured or calculated or known by our reasoning faculties alone, it's there as a question mark. It would be wonderfully encouraging and give tremendous hope if there was demonstrably some source of goodness and justice running like a current through the world, but the intellectual mind just can't be sure there is such a thing. Neil deGrasse Tyson, again, "It's okay not to know all the answers. It's better to admit our ignorance than to believe answers that might be wrong, pretending to know everything closes the door to finding out what's really there." So in the next diagram, I have the individual, the world, and a third circle for God. And I'm not spelling that with a capital G. This God concept could be one or more gods, could be humanoid or utterly abstract. The point is here there is more in the universe than animal impulses and our humble striving. The perspective in the diagram profoundly changes. If there is this godness present in the universe, it suggests that there's a purpose to the created universe. Perhaps all is unfolding as it should be. We have an ally in overcoming the harshness and injustices of the world. The brutes of the world may come to a bitter end. The good may one day prosper despite adversity, like the character job in Jewish scripture. The next diagram presents the traditional religious point of view. There is God, our individual selves, and the world. It is a vertical arrangement. With God on top, creating the world and giving instructions about humanity is to deal with the world. In theory, if we follow God, then all will be well. There is a problem with this. There seems to be a distinct lack of benevolence in the world. Over 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Epicurus defined a paradox. If God is all powerful, all seen and good, then how can evil exist in the world? The traditional religions try to answer this. The Hindus might say, "The people who do bad things will get their just desserts, if not in this lifetime, then in a future lifetime." A Christian might say, "Well, it was all set up perfectly well, but Adam and Eve were disobedient, and we've witnessed the problems of willfulness and selfishness ever since." Now, I'm not sure this is a complete answer because the cynic can still say why did the Christian or Jewish God let Adam and Eve do the wrong thing in the garden, knowing beforehand the choice they would make with their free will. Another answer to the Epicurean paradox is given by the Gnostic myth. The notion that there is a benevolent abstract God from which a subsidiary deity was created through some cosmic mishap. That deity became the Creator God, who knowingly created a world in which there must be suffering and brutality. The only hope is to escape the framework of this world entirely and connect back to the ultimate God above God. In this one can see the influence of the Kabbalists, who wrote of the spark of divinity within each being, longing for reunification with the divine. Getting back to our perception of such godness as there may be. I've spoken before of Spinoza and his view of the God, which Albert Einstein also found appealing. Divinity manifested in the world and in ourselves. According to this understanding, the more we appreciate the beauty and intricacy of nature, including even the human body. The more the circles merge into one, one is reminded of the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful, a hymn which Gnostics would never sing. If there is some goodness in or above the world, we may contemplate this divinity in the context of our human psyche. This is where the dichotomy between the self and the ego becomes useful. For Carl Jung, the ego is a mediator between the world and the self. As one surrenders, making demands of the world and identifies less with the labels and impressions of the world, there is increasingly less work for the ego to do. This allows the self to be more in tune with divinity, however you imagine the divine. We can probably all agree that to the extent there is anything that is truly divine, then it possesses qualities such as wisdom, peace, love and kindness. It is a wonderful way to live, to imagine that we are day by day approaching the manifestation of these qualities. I started these reflections today by referring to the growth of the neocortex in Homo sapiens, giving us the ability to imagine. Even if you have no definite conception of the divine in your life, here is a challenge. Can you live for one week as if you are increasingly manifesting an embodiment of divine qualities? You don't have to be insane, you just have to imagine. Qualities of wisdom, peace, love and kindness. [Music] [Music] Let us live as if we are manifesting those qualities. Qualities of wisdom, peace, love and kindness. [Music] [Music] We hope you have enjoyed this expanding horizons podcast. These podcasts are the intellectual property of the presenter. They can be used only with the express permission and appropriate acknowledgement of the presenter. This permission can be obtained by emailing admin@unitariansa.org.au Please feel free to leave a comment or visit us on Facebook or Twitter by searching SA Unitarians or by visiting our website at unitariansa.org.au [Music] [Music]