...in the sense that there are gods we don't believe in. For instance, we don't belive in the capricious, lustful gods from the ancient pantheons. By our standards, they are barely even human, much less divine. This is probably no accident: For only by becoming more human are we able to grasp more of the divine. (The gods of the ancients were probably majestic to them, just realistic enough to connect to.) It is not by coincidence, I believe, that the world's great religions push so strongly on their believers to live a moral life and discipline the mind. It is not only a good thing in itself, but also a precondition to perceive the divine with more clarity. If we were completely in the thrall of our impulses throughout the day, we would be stuck with inferior gods as well, because we can only see so far ahead of where we are.
Actually, some of us have some experience with that. I not only disbelieve in the capricious gods of the heathens, but also the capricious God of some literalist Christians: The God who hides fake fossils to "test the faith" of his followers. Even the God who tells Adam that the punishment for disobedience is death, only to explain later that actually by "death" he meant an eternity of unbearable pain.
I won't say we all get the God we deserve. That would be bad. But I think there are limits to how far ahead (or up) we can see from where we stand, or if not our life then at least our highest aspiration.
3 comments:
Maybe not a god we deserve, but One who is appropriate?
Psalm 18:25,26
With the faithful You prove Yourself faithful; with the blameless man You prove Yourself blameless; with the pure You prove Yourself pure, but with the crooked You prove Yourself shrewd.
I also do not believe in a god who is needy, susceptible to flattery, petty or jealous in the human sense. God does not want us distracted and deceived, but He is not weak.
Magnus: Talk about confluence.
I wrote about the same thing yesterday.
It seems that over time, a great many things begin to connect, which would seem unconnected or even contradictory to an outside observer.
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