The second of my ten-part series on a basic systematic theology deriving from the Nicene Creed.

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He who knows about depth knows about God.
Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations

And God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
1662 Book of Common Prayer

In my first paper, I discussed some negative aspects of God and the gospel -- what it is not. In this paper I approach the more difficult task of looking at positive aspects -- what is God? What are attributes must God and the gospel have?

Once again, this is an attempt to express in human language the inexpressible, the unutterable, which nonetheless has compelled humankind to search out and express from the beginning of recorded history at the least, and perhaps even longer. Language seems better equipped to deal with the negatives in many cases -- no one word, one statement, perhaps not even the sum total of scripture and theology would adequately say what God is, as Aquinas noted, 'what it [a word] signifies in God is not confined by the meaning of our word but goes beyond it.' (Aquinas, RCT, p. 70) But, there is nothing to be gained in avoiding the task!

Some basic requirements: God exists. If God does not exist, theology is merely a theoretical exercise. How to prove God exists has been a problem tackled by theologians, scientists, and philosophers through the ages. Proofs fall under categories such as ontological arguments, teleological arguments, cosmological arguments, moral arguments, and, depending upon the one categorising, perhaps a few other arguments. Each category has proofs which have satisfying elements, i.e., they satisfy both a psychological sense of need for a proof as well as some element of reason; however, ultimately every argument falls short of being ultimately satisfying. Of course, this generates doubt. And doubt is the partner of faith.

But, the existence of God is not presumed simply because to not presume such eliminates the need for this essay (!), but because God is knowable, as least in part. 'An omnipotent and perfectly good creator will seek to interact with his creatures and in particular with human persons capable of knowing him.' (Swinburn, ITAG, p. 130) God's creation of humankind in the divine image carried with it a sufficient amount of intelligence, emotion and reason to recognise the revelations of God, the purposes of God, and the will of God. God is not far removed, not a third-party manufacturer. God is for each part of creation the creator, the one responsible for existence. Thus God becomes a personal God. 'The basic idea expressed by the idea of "a personal God" is thus a God with whom we can stand in a relationship which is analogous to that which we could have with another human being.' (McGrath, CT, p. 209)

Thus, the model for our relationship with God becomes the model for our relationship with each other, and vice versa. This multi-faceted relationship is reflected in scriptural passages such as the Golden Rule (do unto others . . .) and the commandments (Honour the Lord thy God. . .) The interplay of these relationships creates a complex communion, and makes the relationship between people both the setting for and the exemplar of the gospel message.

Yet, once again God is more than this. 'God is always more than our experience of God.' (Cone, LEV, p. 112) Not only does God have and desire relationships with his creation, but God is always present with his creatures in his creation. For the Christian, this was demonstrated in the three-fold dynamic of covenant, Christ, and continuation: the covenantal promises of God throughout the testimony of the Hebrew scriptures, from covenants with his creation, through Noah, and through the patriarchs; to the physical presence of the Christ to reaffirm God's connexion with his creation; and finally the presence of the Holy Spirit, which ensures continued involvement of God in human affairs.

For the Christian, it is through Jesus Christ that the ultimate connexion with God is made. 'Insofar as he was and is and will be very man, the conversion of man to God took place in him, the turning and therefore the reconciliation of all men, the fulfillment of the covenant.' (Barth, RCT, p. 230) That God became human identified both God's concern for humankind, as well as his sympathy with humankind. God demonstrated in the most personal way possible, through Jesus Christ, his care and compassion for his creation. And, through Jesus Christ, God was able to demonstrate, by word and example, aspects of the life we are called to lead.

Thus, God is a caring God, concerned about what happens in the life of the community, and consequently what happens in the lives of the individuals who comprise that community. Again, an appeal to scripture shows an involved God. An appeal to reason shows that a detached, remote God quickly becomes irrelevant beyond an intellectual exercise.

But this concern for creation not a limited appeal - the reality of God can be found by each '...to some extent in search of the Jesus Christ of his own politic.' (Heyward, LEV, p. 202) The example of Jesus Christ and the compassion of God are adaptable to the particulars of communities, past, present, and future. This is through the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the active agent of God, the presence of God. Jesus Christ as a physical man is no longer present here on earth to teach, inspire, or heal. But the Holy Spirit is. The exact relationship(s?) of the trinity (and perhaps I should have announced earlier in the paper that I do proceed from a trinitarian viewpoint) to itself has been subject of conjecture and debate by theologians and philosophers, but I would contend not necessarily relevant to the construction of a gospel message that allows meaning to come out of the care and presence of God. In Jesus Christ, and through the continuing work of the Holy Spirit, God revealed, in the words of Whitehead, God to be a 'fellow sufferer who understands.' (CT, p. 217)

Of course, the question inevitably arises, if God is so caring and concerned, why doesn't God act upon the evil in the world? A simple answer would be, God does, through the agency of humans, who have freely turned to God for direction. The freedom of humankind to choose God must have as an element the freedom not to choose God. Once again, the elimination of human freedom reduces God to a much less interesting being - and ironically, much less powerful than one which is able to create freedom of choice.

We do not, however, exclude the soul of man from creation, in spite of the fact that the creation of such a free agent and the continued freedom of a being created in the context of a greater whole is something which we cannot expect to understand; all that we can do is recognize the fact. (Schleiermacher, RCT, p. 218)

How human freedom of choice reconciles with the omnipotence and omniscience of God is a mystery. Perhaps one way of understanding would be historical - the fact that I know, through history, that certain things happened, does not in any way detract from the freedom of the agents who were acting at the time of the action, even though because their actions are in the past, they are not now free to change those actions. God is not bound by linear time, and the complexities of understanding cause and effect, knowledge and agency, outside the bounds of linear time are just beginning to be grasped by modern science.

That God cares is demonstrated through the past experiences of individuals and communities, as recorded in scripture and elsewhere; that God continues to care is demonstrated by the relevance of revelation and inspiration of human beings today. In each time, the message of God becomes new again. The message of God refuses to be captured in one solid form for all time. God's inspiration has led to different conclusions and different solutions for different communities. But some things remain the same. The history of the message of God remains the same even while it continues--through scripture, through tradition, and through reason, although none of these remains a monolithic, unchangeable and thus ultimately unusable. Perhaps as a reaction to the seeming rigidity of scripture and institutions, liberation theology has become a potent force in theology. The identification of God with justice, with the 'lesser' of creation who are nonetheless part of creation, has become a force for renewal. Once again, God's concern for creation is shown, '...because God freely chooses to be known as the One who liberates victims from their oppression.' (Cone, LEV, p. 103)

This is the point of departure for discussion of the gospel, what it is and what it means, and where faith is to be found, for individuals in community, in relationship with God, a caring, concerned, compassionate God who continues to be present with creation.

If faith were merely learning about Jesus as a dead person in the past, there could at some point be an end to it. But since faith is a response to the living Lord who pressures upon us at every moment, there is no time at which we can quit without betraying the entire process in which we have been engaged. (Johnson, LJ, p. 195)


Bibliography

Christian theology: An introduction. Alister E. McGrath. 1994: Blackwell Publishers.

The existence of God: A reader. John Hick, ed. 1964: Macmillan.

Is there a God? Richard Swinburne. 1996: Oxford University Press.

Lift every voice: Constructing Christian theologies from the underside. Susan Brooks Thistlewaite & Mary Potter Engel, eds. 1998: Orbis Books.

Living Jesus: Learning the heart of the gospel. Luke Timothy Johnson. 1999: Harper San Francisco.

Readings in Christian theology. Peter C. Hodgson & Robert H. King, eds. 1985: Fortress Press.

Theology of the old testament: Testimony, dispute, advocacy. Walter Brueggemann. 1997: Augsburg Fortress Publications