Who is God?
Our topic is inspired by this short video, in which people from around the world are asked, Who is God? The answers are funny, challenging, and thought-provoking.
Check out the whole video, but some of the answers were:
a character in a book
someone with a big heart...if it exists
something that is good...a little scary
definitely a woman
one god but many forms in lots of religions
there are twelve gods and they live on Mount Olympus
How would you answer that question? Who is God for you? A character? Love? Goodness? The Almighty? The Creator? A thing, a person or persons, a mystery?
People throughout the centuries and across religious traditions have tried to answer that question. Among some of the the classic Christian definitions of God are:
St. Anslem: God is that which is bigger than the biggest thing we can imagine.
Martin Luther: God is that which we fear, love, and trust above all things. (And so most anything can become a god or idol in our lives.)
In the apophatic Christian tradition, God is ultimately unknowable. We can say what God is not, but we can’t say what God is.
Who is God for you? Is God one thing or many things? Beyond the biggest thing you can think of, or a God of small things? Are world religions avenues to the same God, or do they worship separate Gods?
Where does your image of God come from: Scripture, movies, books, personal experiences?
Our answer to the question, Who is God? has wide ranging implications for how we understand the nature of salvation, how we regard other religions and our neighbors, and how we understand our purpose in the world. I'm looking forward to hearing your answersand questions.