The section reproduced below is the seventh and final section of The Quest for Completion in excerpt form.
An Attribute of God.
Human knowledge of God is finite. As an individual, I can only vouch for what I know of God. However, literature which resonates with and is in consonance with our super ego (the study of truth) teaches us even more about the nature of the God than we as individuals can have through our direct experience.
I agree with those who say there is no God known to them. The problem is the God who is known to me! If the philosopher says there is a God, but says that God is not a person, I dissent vociferously. If God not be a person, it is an honest saying, if it does not contradict a person's experience.
The limitation placed artifically on us is that we can only experience what is in existence (or was in existence). The relationship of myself to someone not in existence has become my experience. Notice that I am not abdicating selfhood in saying this. I am saying that I am more fully realized as a person when I accept someone outside of myself who is outside of existence who is ultimately responsible. Why? Because being human, being in existence, my responsibility is finite and circumscribed by my human condition.
The fact that I can have a personal relationship with this person is to say I have come to trust this person will provide the outcome. Think of Abraham and Isaac on the mountaintop. Specifically consider the father who had a personal relationship with God. The father in seeking to appease the will of God would sacrifice his only son, but God holds back this beloved and fearing man with raised knife and provides an animal for sacrifice to symbolize dependence on God's will.
In effect Abraham did not stick a pillow only to later find out it was a person. He was not deluded, but sane, ultimately sane.
The quality of God as merciful is in effect the affirmation of the individual who grows dependent on God's plan and knowledge of God's will. Hence, I know that God has revealed that he is not capable of asking us to do an immoral act, such as killing an innocent child. This God I know affirms me as an individual who each step of the way is accountable for right conduct. God is truly merciful.
RJH November 22, 2008.
Revised by RJH, Wednesday, December 31, 2008.
Revised by RJH Saturday, February 21, 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment