After posting the first video in my series, “Questions and Comments for Atheists”, a skeptic/seeker sent me a well thought out perspective and question regarding how to define God. The skeptic’s main point was that, depending on whom you ask the question, or how the answer is given, the answer can lead to a wide array of worldviews — whether that be Christian, another religion, spiritual-but-not-religious, agnostic, or atheist. I was so impressed with how this skeptic laid out the case, and that this perspective is so clear and important to address, I just had to make this the next topic for the Questions and Comments series.
Below is the exact text sent to me, followed by my response. You are welcome to read my same response in the comments section for the “Catholics and evolution” video — or now you have the video version of that as well. Either way, my shout out to this skeptic for the mature perspective, and I look forward to future dialogues. This includes with any other skeptics who may watch this video and wish to dialogue with me. And, of course, you are welcome to email me at trcatholic@gmail.com to start a conversation or schedule a live chat on video.
Also, I have included links below to videos and articles that discuss God’s existence, how to define God, and how to understand God’s relationship with creation.
Now, let’s begin!
Skeptic perspective / question:
“I’m an agnostic, atheist, deist, pantheist, theist, whatever. It all comes down to who is asking the question ‘Do you believe in God?‘
I’ve heard so many people describe God in different terms:
‘God is love, you believe in love, right? That’s what God is.’ (I’ve seriously heard this). ‘Yup, guess I’m a theist.’
‘God is the creator of the universe. You believe the universe was created?’ ‘Something got the ball rolling. I guess I’m a deist now. (I still don’t ascribe sentience and agency to whatever that was)’
‘God is the universe.’ ‘Sure, I guess I’m a pantheist now.’
‘God is a man who sits in the clouds and throws lightning bolts when he is angry.’ ‘I don’t believe in that. Guess I’m an atheist.’
Personally when I ask myself ‘Do I believe in God?’ the working idea I have for god is an omnipotent immaterial unmeasurable sentience that can make changes to the reality we live in. For changes to happen requires energy. Nothing without matter/energy can make changes, so God is a contradiction (can’t be both omnipotent and immaterial). I don’t believe in that.
My question to you is: What is the working idea or concept of God that YOU believe in?”
My response:
I can definitely relate to the points about defining God, and that different claims (or different angles to a claim) leave the door wide open to choosing whichever world view best matches up in the moment. Yes, it then becomes a bit arbitrary.
The challenge with assigning definitions to God is we humans tend to anthropomorphize him on one extreme, or we play the word soup game with abstract terms on the other extreme.
My answer to all of your above questions is, excluding being a “man in the clouds…”, he is, well, all of the above. But stick with me here.
As a Catholic Christian, I believe we are created in the image of God. And we understand that when God created life, he did this out of love because he IS the embodiment of *love*. That is, God chose to create a family to share in his love, his goodness, and in an eternal friendship.
Because we understand that God is love, goodness, and being itself, and we are created as a reflection of this, we have a foundation to form a relationship with him. Just as we form relationships with each other, based on love — and based on *faith* — we are essentially mirroring the love that God represents.
That said, if we start with our being created in the image of God, we can also weave in God’s other qualities: omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and so on. Yet we also accept that God is still, at the end of the day, a bit of a mystery. And while the word “mystery” can just sound like weaselly language, or yet another non-answer-answer, let’s look at mystery from another angle: human relationships.
Earlier, I mentioned that we form relationships based not only on love, but also on faith. For example, a man and a woman, let’s call them Steve and Sara, form a relationship together. How Steve and Sara decide to form the relationship is a bit of a mystery itself, as although it usually involves a mix of physical attraction, shared values, common interests, and set expectations, it also involves an innate need to love each other, that both Steve and Sara *chose* to love each other.
From there, Steve and Sara will spend their entire relationship getting to know each other across a wide range of topics and experiences, minor details, major details, quirks, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Yet because Steve and Sara are not inside each other’s head — Steve can never 100% know what Sara is thinking at any given moment, and vice versa — Steve and Sara will always be a *mystery* to each other.
The same applies overall to our knowing God and having a relationship with Him: We come to know God through the following:
*Reason / understanding about what compromises God’s existence. Thomas Aquinas’ five proofs for God’s existence are a good primer for this, and they may answer your doubts about God being outside of energy and material being.(But we can certainly discuss this in more detail, if necessary. Or I can recommend a few articles by my friend, Pat Flynn, as he gives clear examples of how God can be an unmoved mover who fits the non-contingency / contingency and teleological arguments).
*Revelation. That is, God has revealed his goodness and love to his creation.
*Understanding that although our intellect may be limited in fully describing God’s characteristics, we essentially have a similar challenge with each other, hence why need faith to grow and sustain relationships.
“3 Minute Catechism- Who Is God?” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKzxNbuVDPg
“Who is God?” (article): https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2016/06/22/who-is-god/
“Five Ways to Prove God Exists” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Eg6UUBqqo
“God” (article): https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/god
“Catholic Christian Belief Basics — Part 1: The Trinity“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHDFJCn_yOA
“Why Goodness Can Only Come from God“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObctCAEDnro