tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15178007.post354424602525307981..comments2024-02-25T16:56:47.627-05:00Comments on Magdalene's Egg: Your "God" or Mine?Father Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18170260624474428623noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15178007.post-38317816049759126722010-04-26T18:06:25.102-04:002010-04-26T18:06:25.102-04:00I'd guess that God him/her/its self separates ...I'd guess that God him/her/its self separates what he/she/it is from what people think about H/H/I. Of course we each have our own theology, but that doesn't change what the actual Truth, ie what God is. We just can't fully know God because H/H/I is much bigger than any human mind. <br /><br />The first time I traveled west and saw the mountains was a big revelation to me. I saw a mountain from afar, across the plains. I saw that mountain from the north, later from the west, through and past the forest. We drove up onto the base of the mountain and the top wasn't visible to me anymore. We hiked up past the treeline, and then I could see that there was a slope leading to the top, well, the part of the top, visible to us from that point. If I'd been in an airplane, I'd have another view of the whole mountain, but much different from the other views.<br /><br />But the mountain remains the same, regardless of what is seen, felt, or described from any viewpoint.LoieJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977264499770654307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15178007.post-63294246262044782012010-04-26T16:47:38.040-04:002010-04-26T16:47:38.040-04:00Father A., Your concern about eliding religious di...Father A., Your concern about eliding religious differences is well taken. But I find the main thread of your argument problematic. Even though many may treat "God" as a frame on which to hang their various ideas, desires, and characteristics, we should be careful not to indulge that concept. God is not an idea, a mirror, or a framework. Nor is God, of course, some thing or object that can be measured and described with objective precision. God is, at least in our Christian confession, personal. If you and I know someone in common, we may have very different impressions of them, but they are still the same person. Impressions may vary in completeness, accuracy, compatibility, and so on, but it doesn't imply that this third party is actually two different persons. Buddhists and Christians clearly do not worship the same God. But when it comes to Jews and Christians (and all the more between Christian denominations), I find it simply impossible to escape the conclusion that it is indeed the same God we worship.<br /><br />The concept of God as person, it seems to me, is very helpful here. It allows those families of faith to be not just groups of similar ideas, but having deeper ties amongst it's members. And it allows for differences within those families. Above all, it would militate against eliding the differences that exist between families, such as between Christianity and Buddhism. The idea of God as something we simply fill with our own ideas turns the whole enterprise of religion into merely individual personal opinion, and thus something that easily dismisses all religion and which will ultimately fail in respecting religion or guarding us from the danger of not taking those differences and religious beliefs seriously.<br /><br />Thank you for the interesting and thought provoking blog.Mark Christiansonhttp://www.restenergy.net/oddments/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15178007.post-75490470194211767882010-04-26T09:35:33.776-04:002010-04-26T09:35:33.776-04:00"Sheep," I hurry to say, is both a singu..."Sheep," I hurry to say, is both a singular and a plural.Father Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170260624474428623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15178007.post-90834208682845483532010-04-26T09:24:16.284-04:002010-04-26T09:24:16.284-04:00Let me guess who you might identify as the black s...Let me guess who you might identify as the black sheep among us :)))markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11644908598349358844noreply@blogger.com