god for grown-ups: sample preview

8/7/2019 God for Grown-ups: Sample preview

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God forgrownups

Something happens at about ageten to twelve that causes people

to stop asking questions or seekingserious answers when it comes to

religious belief and faith.

TimAtwell


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Abou t the author

Since he was a small boy im Atwell has always asked

quesions: Why is here somehing and no nohing?

When is somehing rue and wha does rue mean

anyway? Wha is God and why is God so compellingly

atracive?

He is as obsessively curious abou naure as he is abou

hinking: Wha ower is ha? Is ha a sound argumen?

Wha kind o rocks are hose? Wha is ha concep?Reired aer ory years in rural, urban, suburban and

academic Mehodis Minisry, he broadcass religious

hink pieces on radio, is an acive member o he Mounain

Club and he Boanical Sociey o Souh Arica and is a

eld and mounain guide.

Married o Barbara, hey live a Scarborough a litlevillage on he wilder side o he Cape Peninsula, souh o

Cape own.


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Gd f Gn-ps

Tim Att well


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God or Grown-ups imohy B. Atwell 2009

ISBN: 978-1-920218-40-9

Published by Elecric Book Works, elecricbookworks.comElecric Book Works, 87 Saion Road, Observaory,

Cape own 7925, Souh Arica.
http://electricbookworks.com/http://electricbookworks.com/


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Cnns1Wha is God? 7

2Does he Bible mater? 21

3Wha is he Church? 414Te Poery o Faih 55
http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-http://-/?-


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1W s Gd?Why he course ile: God or Grown-ups?

Beore we ge on wih he quesion Wha is

God? I ough o jusiy he course ile God or

Grown-ups. O course children are welcome, bu

here are wo reasons why his course is specically

inended or aduls boh o hem having o do wih

personal developmen ino responsible adulhood.

Te rs reason has o do wih he developmen ocogniive and concepual abiliy. In almos every eld

o human enquiry i is assumed ha our knowledge and

cogniive and concepual abiliy develop as we grow older.

Under he broad heading o operaional hinking we

develop in our abiliy o reason hings ou, ask quesions,

make observaions, experimen, es working hypohesesand come up wih ways o undersanding a ever more

sophisicaed levels. I say almos every eld o human

enquiry because one eld o hough where his doesn


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God for Grown-ups

happen nearly enough, i a all, is religion. Somehinghappens a abou age en o welve ha causes people o

sop asking quesions or seeking serious answers o hose

quesions when i comes o religious belie and aih.

Te mos common o hese soppages happens a

pre-adolescence. A ha sage we resolve he quesion

o where and wha God is by creaing wo paralleluniverses: he maerial and he spiriual. Tis maerial

world and God are assigned o each one respecively

and he link beween hem is no horoughly hough

ou. Ten we live he res o our lives wih an

inadequae dualism in which he wo realms are never

quie reconciled. For everyday, pracical purposes

he only way he spiriual or God dimension or

parallel universe can impac on he maerial, his

worldly realm is by magic or he supernaural.

Tis is plainly absurd, even when considered in purely

religious erms. Eecively we are saying ha God, hedeermining acor behind he whole maerial order,

can only have access o ha order by suspending is

regular operaion, which God originaed! Clearly his

is an example o he ailure o operaional hinking.

So, o be even parly successul in exercising our

adul operaional hinking when i comes o religiousbelie we have o push beyond he capabiliies o our

pre-adolescen years and beyond he oversimplied

dualism ha divides realiy ino wo irreconcilable pars.


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What is God?

We have o hink, in oher words, as aduls i we are ogive our concep o God and our religious convicions

any cogniive and concepual credibiliy a all.

Te second reason why his is called God or

Grown-ups has o do wih he developmen o well-

rounded personaliy and mauriy. Volaire, Ludwig

Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud rejeced religious

belie and aih as unworhy o maure aduls on he

ground, hey argued, ha he concep o God is a

projecion o human insecuriy ono he cosmos.

People eel inadequae, hey argued. As a resul heycreae a kind o cosmic paren whom hey inves

wih all he powers o omnipoence, omniscience,

omnipresence as well as immoraliy, inniude,

immuabiliy and impassiviy ha hey hemselves and

heir all oo allible parens don have. Tis cosmic

paren hen supplies wha hey are unable o supply orhemselves rules o live by, knowledge beyond heir

capaciy, problem-solving skills hey don have and so on.

God, says Volaire, is made in mans image. Well,


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10God for Grown-ups

a leas in he reverse image o human raily. Ten,according o Freud, we remain aally and neuroically

dependan on his god we have creaed and

never develop rus in our own capabiliies.

In large measure Volaire, Feuerbach and Freud

are correc. Tere is much religion ha makes a

god o his imaginary cosmic paren and keepsis devoees in a perpeual sae o inanile and

neuroic dependency, robbing people o heir

abiliy o hink or hemselves and mee challenges

condenly wih he resources a heir command.

Bu ha kind o religion is no all here is. Neiher is

ha immaure kind o religious aih a rue reecion o

religious aih a is highes and mos developed, as we nd

i, or insance, in he prophecies o Jeremiah and Isaiah. In

he Gospels he cones beween Jesus and he Pharisees is

almos enirely beween lie-diminishing religion and lie-

afrming aih. Te leters o he Romans and Ephesiansare owering exposiions o aih ha empowers people

raher han reduces hem o serviliy and dependency.

Far rom creaing neuroic dependency, religious

aih a is bes enables people o develop a proound

sense o heir own worh, capabiliy, inerpersonal

compeence and basic rus in lie isel ha ses hemree o engage wih lie condenly. When Jesus speaks

o enabling people o have lie in all is ullness hes

alking abou people discovering an inner sense o


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What is God?11

personal securiy and condence boh inside and ousidehe secure sheepold o heir own comor zones.

When S Paul wries o doing all hings hrough Chris

who srenghens me or he leter o he Ephesians ells

o people growing o a measure o he saure o he

ullness o Chris, o mauriy, hey are no speaking

o inanile, neuroic dependency. Tey are speaking omaure, capable, conden human beings conroning he

challenges o lie in he ull condence o adul mauriy.

I religious belie and aih are o have anyhing o

oer he vas number o people whose operaional

hinking and personal responsibiliy have aken hem

beyond he swaddling clohes o childhood, hen

he expressions o ha belie and aih have o show

evidence o he very bes o adul hinking. Hence

he ile o his course: God or Grown-ups.

Now we can ask he quesion: Wha is God?In order o begin hinking abou his quesion I nd

i helpul o go all he way back o Arisole, who lived

rom 384 o 322 BCE. I know Arisole wasn a biblical


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12God for Grown-ups

gure, bu he had a major impac on he way we hinkoday, especially in he realms o philosophy and science.

I is also helpul o go back o Arisole because i

makes he poin ha wha I have o say now is no new.

Te ways o hinking abou God ha I am oulining

are no modern ideas, bu ways o hinking ha

have been around or well over wo housand yearsand have been rened and developed a various imes

in he hisory o religion in general and Chrisianiy

in paricular, no leas by ha grea hinker o he

13h cenury CE, S Tomas Aquinas (12261274).

Unlike his menor Plao (429347 BCE), Arisole

declined o separae realiy ino wo pars he

spiriual and he physical. In oher words, he urned

away rom he dualism we have already quesioned.

Wha Arisole developed were he conceps

o poenialiy and acualiy. Realiy isel is in a

consan process o he acualisaion o poenial.Wha can possibly be is consanly coming ino

acual being. I know I am oversimpliying Arisoles

hough unmerciully here, bu ime is shor!

o illusrae he poin, he cells in your and my bodies

are coninually renewing hemselves as we si here. For

insance, did you know ha wihin a week rom now hecells ha make up our skin will be compleely renewed?

Meanwhile, here is an ongoing evoluion o all he lie

orms on Earh while he grea galaxies unimaginably ar


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What is God?13

ou in space coninue o develop, as recen picures akenby he Hubble space elescope have shown. Tere is, in

oher words, consan movemen rom wha can be o wha

is and shall be. Wihin his process, which I like o hink

o as Cosmic Lie, new lie and exisence pours orh in

unimaginable orrens. Te Psalmis pus i beauiully:

Te heavens are elling he glory o God

And he rmamen proclaims his handiwork.

Day o day pours orh speech

And nigh o nigh declares knowledge.

Psalm 19: 1

Where I nd Arisole helpul is in he hough ha

he process o acualising poenial is no merely

driven by God, i is God. God is he erm we use

or he process o he acualisaion o poenial,

he prior condiion ha provides or he comingino lie and exisence o ha which is no.

My avourie heologian, John MacQuarrie, uses he

expression Holy Being or his prior condiion ha

here should be anyhing a all he reason here is

somehing and no nohing. Holy Being coninually

les be, says MacQuarrie. By his he means ha HolyBeing boh provides or possibiliy o become acualiy

and or ha new acualiy o have disinc lie in and o

isel, allowing i o exis and o do so on is own erms.


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14God for Grown-ups

Noice wha I am saying and wha I am no saying.I am no saying ha God is behindhe process,

designing and seering i. I am saying ha God is

he process o he acualisaion o poenial.

Now, he problem wih philosophy o his sor, which

is also he way o hinking ha underpins much o he

pracice o science, is ha i is reducionis. I has a

way o reducing large, powerul, even overwhelming

experiences ha we have o an apparenly small size.

Ta is he burden o analyical hinking. I has is

uses, bu i never quie ells he whole sory!Having reduced he concep o God o he process

o he acualisaion o poenial we hereore have o

expand i again i i is going o aihully express he

magniude and meaning o our experience o he process.

Tas where ar, music, lieraure especially poery

psychology and religious aih are criically imporan.Bu beore we ge sideracked ino discussing he roles o

ar, music, poery, psychology and religion in responding

o he process o he acualisaion o poenial, les have


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What is G od?15

a brie look a a way o describing our encouner wihand experience o he acualisaion o poenial hrough

he eyes o anoher philosopher, he 20h-cenury CE

Jewish philosopher, Marin Buber (18781965).

Buber disinguishes beween wo ypes o relaionship

beween human beings and he realiy in which we

paricipae. Te rs ype o relaionship Buber calls heI-i relaionship. In his relaionship he I (has you or

me as sel-conscious subjecs) relaes o anoher aspec o

realiy as i as an objec, a hing, o be manipulaed,

conrolled and exploied. In his relaionship he I remains

rmly in conrol. In ormal philosophical and heological

erms his is called he subjec-objec dichoomy.

Te second ype o relaionship Buber calls he

I-Tou relaionship. Tis kind o relaionship is

characerised by reciprociy. I is a muual relaionship

beween wo subjecs, as disinc rom a relaion-

ship beween a subjec and an objec.Te Tou which I encouner is a major conribuor o,

and even o some exen he cause o, my own being. I am

no in conrol o a Tou; I am condiioned, shaped, by

a Tou. I receive and am shaped by he process whereby

poenial becomes acualiy. I is he prior condiion and

even whereby I come ino acual exisence. Ineviably weexperience he acualisaion o poenial as an engagemen

wih ha which is greaer han we are, which condiions

us. In experiencing he acualisaion o poenial we are


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16God for Grown-ups

engaged, in oher words, no by an objec, bu by a subjec.Bu does ha make me an objec, a hing o be

manipulaed? No a all. A key elemen in he acualisaion

o my poenial is he emergence o consciousness o mysel

and my capabiliy o response. Remember MacQuarries very

useul expression or he eec o Holy Being leting be.

You can see his happening in ha wonderul scenein Isaiah chaper 6, where Isaiah becomes aware o God.

His rs response is a saemen abou himsel and an

awareness o his shorcomings: Woe is me His second

response is also abou himsel, bu i is an expression o

his emerging sense o capabiliy when engaged by God (or

he acualisaion o poenial): Here I am, send me.

Here Isaiah is a hinking and emerging subjec. Tere

is muualiy and reciprociy beween Isaiah and he

prior condiion or his exisence he acualisaion

o poenial, which I am calling God.

Tis is Bubers subjec-subjec, or I-Tou,relaionship.

Te I-Tou relaionship, however, is no

resriced o our relaionship wih he prior condiion

ha here should be anyhing a all. Te I-Tou

relaionship, or Buber, can and should exend o all

he highes and bes human relaionships as well asour relaionships wih all lie and he cosmos isel.

Bu he abiliy o relae wih all realiy in an

I-Tou relaionship sems rom our relaing o he


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1God for Grown-ups

Tomas Aquinas argued ha he process o heacualisaion o poenial always begins wih ha which

is acual. His amous example was ha o re and wood.

Fire is acually ho, he raher obviously observed. Wood

is poenially ho. Wood canno make isel ho, alhough

i has he poenial o become ho when i burns. Acual

re, which is acually ho, mus ac on wood o ranslaewoods poenial o become ho ino acual hea.

Ta which acualises poenial mus hereore, says

Aquinas, be acual. o use Aquinass erm, ha which

acualises poenial mus be Pure Ac and necessarily

comes prior o any poenial.

Pure Ac is he prior condiion ha here

should be anyhing a all, named as Te Eernal

Tou (Buber), and ha is wha God is.

So you see, hinking abou God is no hinking abou

some disembodied spiri exising in a spiriual realmremoved rom his very physical one we inhabi. Maure

religious aih is no devoion o some realiy dieren

rom he maerial universe. I is a way o engaging


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What is God?1

wih he universe we see and ouch, ase, smell andhear wih awe and wonder; o address, wih reverence

and deep respec, all ha is and he prior condiion

or i all o be; o marvel a he mysery o lie isel

in is consan movemen rom poenial o acualiy,

and as a paricipan in i and beneciary o i.

o rus God is o rus lie; o worship God is o beamazed by and in awe o he consan oupouring o lie

and exisence ha happens in our own bodies as much

as i happens on his plane ull o wonders and among

he disan galaxies. o love God is o be gripped and

overwhelmed by lie isel and o celebrae i in all is pars.

Here is a prayer by eilhard de Chardin SJ (18811955). He

says i or me:

In he lie which wells up in me and in he mater which

susains me, I nd much more han your gis. I is YouYoursel whom I nd, You who makes me paricipae

in your being, You who moulds me. ruly in he ruling

and in he rs disciplining o my living srengh, in he


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20God for Grown-ups

coninually benecen play o secondary causes, I ouch,

as near as possible, he wo aces o Your creaive acion,

and I encouner, and kiss, Your wo marvellous hands

he one which holds us so rmly ha i is merged, in

us, wih he sources o lie, and he oher whose embrace

is so wide ha, a is slighes pressure, all he springs

o he universe respond harmoniously ogeher.

god for grown-ups: sample preview

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