I was sat in a world famous cafe yesterday drinking a coffee, trying to
take my mind off my cold and sorting out my plan to deliver a course on J. S.
Mill's 'On Liberty'. I was reading through Mill applications when I started to overhear
a pair discussing 'the divine' and "how some people believe that Jesus is
only half divine (and not at all divine)" this statement was followed up
by a comment suggesting that these people who may have this belief "are not
Christian". Now I can see why this may be claimed, and by many it is,
usually by people who haven't studied theology, but I remember being a bit more
open minded.
As I sat there awkwardly listing on the conversation then moved on to
discuss the divine more generally. This is was great but then, after about 5
mins came that un-comprehendible statement – “It’s not important to try and define
the divine?” – How can someone make this statement?
In my mind, like I hope in most people, the question of why? Trying to
explain ‘how’ is an important one. It confuses me when I hear conversations or
talk to people that don’t ask why or how. To me these are fundamental, especially
when it comes to belief or faith.
When it comes to the questions about how we define the divine, it is
answers to this that influence, or provides the parameters on how to interact
with reality e.g. ‘Are my choice my own?’, ‘Does it make sense for me to potion
this to God?’, ‘Do the words in this hymn make sense?’, ‘How does defining God
as omnipotent affect us?’
These types of questions plague me and I hope I am not the only one. The
whys and how’s are the sound track to my life.
