“a symbol of transcendent reality”
In her latest book, The Lost Art of Scripture (2019) Karen Armstrong “tweaks” the definition of God to fit rationally into the postmodern worldview of our varied religions. “We encounter the transcendent, she says, in music, poetry, sex, love, nature—and religion. In effect, Armstrong has written a highly rational tribute to the murky wingman of our lives [God] that exists beyond what is material and rational.”[i]
It would have been a more complete observation of Reality if Armstrong would have said we encounter God in every experience of our life. God is not beyond the material; God is the material and the immaterial. God is not beyond the rational; God is the rational. God’s nature is infused throughout our very being and is deeply felt in every momentary insight and act of compassion.
Again, from Karen Armstrong: “The problem of reconciling God’s omnipotence and omniscience with human free will springs from an anthropomorphic conception of God. We have seen that Muslims had come up against this difficulty during the ninth century and had found no logical or rational way out of it; instead, they had stressed the mystery and inscrutability of God. The problem had never troubled the Greek Orthodox Christians, who enjoyed paradox and found it a source of light and inspiration, but it had been a bone of contention in the West, where a more personalistic view of God prevailed. The later-day Calvinistic theology of predestination showed what could happen when the paradox and mystery of God were no longer regarded as poetry but were interpreted literally instead of symbolically, the idea of its God becomes impossible.”[ii]
Insight # 38 comes from Karen Armstrong (b. 1944). She is a former Roman Catholic nun and a prominent author and academic who has dedicated her life to the study of humanity’s search for God.
“The ‘God’ of the Bible ceases to be a symbol of a transcendent reality and becomes a cruel and despotic tyrant. The doctrine of predestination shows the limitations of such a personalized God.”[iii]
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Additional Reading:
- God, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 1
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[i] Kristof, Nicholas. “Faith and Reasons.” The New York Times Book Review. December 1, 2019, p. 10.
[ii] Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. New York: Knopf, 1994, p. 546.
[iii] Ibid.
