For Geering, who once served as principal of the Presbyterian theological school Knox College, God - as that term is commonly understood - has faded from view. Atheism you cry? Well, not quite. This morning he was interviewed by Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand National, and it's worth a listen. The programme is just over 33 minutes long
In recent postings I've been critical of so-called "Progressive Christianity," and especially that variety that wallows in a misguided reappropriation of biblical themes and verses to serve its own high-minded agenda. Geering is something else again, and I'm a long-time fan.
From the Big Bang to God has only just been released by its New Zealand publisher, but judging from Geering's past titles it should appear in the US from Polebridge Press sometime soon.
How does one know that "God" doesn't exist? The same exact way that one knows the thousands of other gods don't exist. They were all, every one, invented to explain things we didn't know and/or to save us from our foes.
ReplyDeleteWe finally invented one who not only explains everything we desire to know but also saves us from our common (shared by everybody) foe, death.
"God" is a foe killer, just like all the thousands of other foe killers invented in the ancient past. And, like every other foe killer, he doesn't kill the foe unless you believe he will.
That the foe has not been killed is how one can know that there is no foe killer.
Geering seems to be an old style pantheist. The Universe is God and humans have emerged as its consciousness -- a view that is very weak on explanation of origins. The idea that evolution is somehow a contradiction of Divine Existence is somewhat antiquated. C.S. Lewis stated decades ago that Genesis was likely a folk tale and it didn't really make any difference if evolution is true or not. One must conveniently assume Biblical literalism in order to have a fitting punching bag. It is interesting that he stated that humans are programmed to look for a purpose. By whom and why? He does work his way into saying that since humans are the rational part of "god" as the universe, we are responsible for stuff. But many religions offer the same benefit. Even some atheists offer that as a part of their systematic practice. Geering may have some merit but I see him as just an interesting alternate view. Actually, it is pretty novel. I didn't know that pantheist really were around any more. Wasn't The Wicker Man just fiction?
ReplyDelete-- Neo
Corky,
ReplyDelete"That the foe has not been killed is how one can know that there is no foe killer." - Unless of course Jesus Christ did actually kill the foe.
Geering's myth-history is an oversimplification and often a misrepresentation of history that is oft painful to read - this is true of course only for those who want the real story as opposed to those who blindly believe in Geering's Story....an easy thing to do because it does seem so obvious that God doesn't exist when Geering writes about it. God's just a creation of mankind, right? Geerings story is one with an agenda which is very subtly manipulative and not to be taken as gospel. 2 star book.