Readings

from A History of God
By Karen Armstrong

The human idea of God has a history, since it has always meant something slightly different to each group of people who have used it at various points of time. The word contains a whole spectrum of meanings, some of which are contradictory or even mutually exclusive. Had the notion of God not had this flexibility, it would not have survived to become one of the great human ideas. Yet if we look at our three (Islam, Judasism, Christianity) religions, it becomes clear that there is no objective view of "God": each generation has to create the image of God that works for it. The same is true of atheism. The statement "I do not believe in God" has meant something slightly different at each period of history. The people who have been dubbed "atheists" over the years have always denied a particular conception of the divine. . Thus Jews, Christians and Muslims were all called "atheist" by their pagan contemporaries because they had adopted a revolutionary notion of divinity and transcendence. (The questions should be asked) Is modern Atheism a similar denial of a "God" which is no longer adequate to the problems of our time?

By Rev. Jane R. Rzepka

I'm standing in line at the Registry of Motor Vehicles--a long line--to renew my license, and I'm reading some God-book or other and the guy ahead of me in line asks me if I'm a minister and I say "Yes," and he says, "Do you believe in God?" The truth is there are a lot of gods out there I don't believe in and a few that I do believe in. So I said to the man in line, "I believe in big mysteries. I believe in depth of feeling--feelings so deep within the spirit that the connection or the bliss or the peace, stay with us forever. And I believe in a goodness created by our lives and our care." He said, "Fine." That was all there was to it, and I went back to my book.

Readings of October 2, 2005