Our evolving view of God

“The sands of the seashore, the drops of rain….who can number these? Heaven’s height, earth’s breadth ,,,, who can explore these?” (Sirach 1:2-3)

The immensity of God befuddles us. The people of Israel were a tribal culture, and their understanding of God was as a tribal God. So in the Old Testament, God is a creator, but he is also presented as a warrior who is sometimes primitive, angry, jealous, and unpredictable. He can even be a vengeful destroyer of innocent people (e.g., 1 Samuel 15:3; Judges 14:19). In a later time, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah understood God to be a shepherd, a comforter, and a defender of the poor. Jesus’s own experience of God was as one who desires to relieve the misery of the poor and freedom of the captives (Luke 4). He is a patient Father who welcomes the return of his wayward children. In the ancient worldview, good things that happened were a reward for goodness, and bad things were a divine punishment. Modern science has given us a view of creation that is still evolving and much older than the Biblical writers could have known. The universe is evolving towards greater complexity, consciousness, and self-transcendence. With this new information, our understanding of God must adapt. Human beings are still unique among creatures, but we are part of a much larger drama. Our future is intertwined with the earth’s future. The Bible says “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 34). In other words, God is not known through an intellectual argument but is experienced in life itself. We experience God whenever we are moved by beauty, goodness, or truth. God is still creating, and His creation is one of freedom, adventure, and mystery. And it is all “groaning” towards its final completion in Christ Jesus, the Omega point, the perfection of humanity. – – – Fr. Jim