By Danny Ray
Previously I wrote of axioms as being self-evident truths. As Deists, we don’t always agree on very much, yet our basic foundational axiom-“There is A God”- seems such an obviously in-your-face, just-open-your-eyes-type point. Yet many of my very reasonable friends look at the evidence and develop a different axiom. It’s interesting how words can get in our way, since they are actually poetic and allow much room for differences of interpretation.
When I say “God” my connotation maybe totally different from what pops into your mind. Many people are turned off and defensive when the word “God” hits their ears, because their mind’s eye has been trained to envision an anthropomorphic judgmental old man in the sky who is going to get you in the end unless you do exactly as he tells you. Speaking only for me, this God made in the image of man is not what I believe in as a Deist.
The phrase credited to Voltaire: “If you would converse with me, you must first define your terms”-describes the predicament to be solved in dialogue. Yet how does one define God? Here is a partial list of pseudonyms for God:
· The More
· The Ultimate
· The Original Dice-Thrower
· The Great Unknowable
· The Invisible Mover
· The Master Mechanic
· The Wholly Other
· The Absolute
· My Invisible Friend
· The Creative Power
· The Ultimate Mystery
In Christianity’s The Lord’s Prayer, the phrase is “…hallowed be thy name”. Yet in my book any vocalization we utter, or symbols we write are not only hallow, but actually just shallow attempts to capture that which cannot be captured, or to contain that which cannot be contained. Perhaps best is the advice from Chapter 1 of the Taoist’s Tao Te Ching- which suggests instead of wasting time invoking a name for the unnamable, it’s best if we just wonder. What do you mean when you say “God”?
Previously I wrote of axioms as being self-evident truths. As Deists, we don’t always agree on very much, yet our basic foundational axiom-“There is A God”- seems such an obviously in-your-face, just-open-your-eyes-type point. Yet many of my very reasonable friends look at the evidence and develop a different axiom. It’s interesting how words can get in our way, since they are actually poetic and allow much room for differences of interpretation.
When I say “God” my connotation maybe totally different from what pops into your mind. Many people are turned off and defensive when the word “God” hits their ears, because their mind’s eye has been trained to envision an anthropomorphic judgmental old man in the sky who is going to get you in the end unless you do exactly as he tells you. Speaking only for me, this God made in the image of man is not what I believe in as a Deist.
The phrase credited to Voltaire: “If you would converse with me, you must first define your terms”-describes the predicament to be solved in dialogue. Yet how does one define God? Here is a partial list of pseudonyms for God:
· The More
· The Ultimate
· The Original Dice-Thrower
· The Great Unknowable
· The Invisible Mover
· The Master Mechanic
· The Wholly Other
· The Absolute
· My Invisible Friend
· The Creative Power
· The Ultimate Mystery
In Christianity’s The Lord’s Prayer, the phrase is “…hallowed be thy name”. Yet in my book any vocalization we utter, or symbols we write are not only hallow, but actually just shallow attempts to capture that which cannot be captured, or to contain that which cannot be contained. Perhaps best is the advice from Chapter 1 of the Taoist’s Tao Te Ching- which suggests instead of wasting time invoking a name for the unnamable, it’s best if we just wonder. What do you mean when you say “God”?
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