A Fresh Perspective - 09/12/08
God is too great to be reduced to theological formulations of dogma, confined to religious institutions and rituals, or exhausted by the descriptions and stories in our sacred Scriptures. Whenever we attempt to define, name, or describe God what we are defining, naming, and describing is rooted in our limited, finite, culturally conditioned, and yes, even biased conceptions of God.
Many factors influence our understanding of God: education, upbringing, religious training, psychological makeup, relationships, personal interests, etc. And what is true for us was just as true for the individuals and faith communities who wrote, edited, and passed on our sacred texts.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that the Bible contains not only a rich variety of types of literature (poetry, narrative, law, myth, parables, etc), but also a plethora of images and descriptions of God. Most of these pictures of God serve to nurture a redemptive relationship with God, but certainly not all of them.
Some images clash, contradicting and competing with each other for devotion. For example, God is envisaged as both a peacemaker and a warrior God; an unchanging God and a God who can be persuaded to change God's mind; a God who is unconditionally forgiving and a God who holds grudges. Even the most helpful images of God give us only a glimpse of the divine Reality.
Christians believe that the divine revelation that has come through Jesus Christ offers a full and complete glimpse into the nature of God. Paul describes Christ as the image of the invisible God and the one in whom the fullness of God dwells (Col. 1:15, 19).
The images and descriptions we have of Jesus, however, are not perfectly clear. The portrait of Jesus in the Gospel of John is very different than the picture painted in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). Also, scholars tell us that in the oral transmission of the Jesus traditions the early disciples added, embellished, and reshaped the traditions as they felt the Spirit of the living Christ leading them.
Perfect knowledge of Jesus is not available to us, but reliable knowledge is possible. What we see conveyed most in Jesus' life and teachings time and again through the stories in the Gospels is God's love for all people. The self - giving of Jesus incarnates the self - giving of God. What we learn from Jesus is that love constitutes the fundamental nature of God.
The calling and challenge for Christ - followers today is not to guard the truth that is God by correct formulations of doctrine (which is impossible since "correct" knowledge of God is beyond our reach), but rather to live the truth that is God by experiencing, cultivating, and embodying the divine love and compassion made visible in the teachings, works, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.