Believing in God

We now live in a society in which belief in God is no longer taken for granted. One of the issues that arises from this situation is what exactly we mean by God or what image we have of God.

There are many images of God in people’s minds. Whether believers in God or not, there is some idea or image of God sitting in all of our minds; it may be an image which inspires fear or one that inspires trust and joy or it may be an image that makes God seem distant or even irrelevant. This is an important issue for all of us and for the Church in our time precisely because God cannot simply be taken for granted any more but needs to be spoken about in a way that does true justice to God as Jesus has revealed God to us. 

Philosophers and some theologians have used terms like ‘prime cause’ or ‘divine architect of the world’ or ‘unmoved mover’. But we don’t find resonance in the scriptures for these types of images of God. They are too philosophical.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the God who reveals himself in the scriptures, reveals himself immersed in human affairs and in relationship with human beings. God is tied up in the affairs of Abraham, of Moses and the people escaping from slavery, of all the ups and downs of Israel’s history, and with those holy people who were the prophets.  And all of this leads up to Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah.

When we want to know something of God, we turn to Jesus the Christ. What images does he give us of God? How does he relate to the Father? He gives us images of God in the parables: in the Father of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32), in that of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18.9-14), in that instance of the Rich Young Man (Mark 10.17-22 esp. 21). And of course in the account of his passion, we find God’s utter forgiveness (Luke 23.33-38).

All through the gospels we have Jesus giving us this new and wonderful image of God. And however we might think of God, we need to filter our thoughts and images through the images and ideas that we are given in the gospels. 

And we always have to remember that all the Old Testament images are given to us in a movement towards Jesus. Some of these images will gel with those Jesus gives us but some of them have to be left behind in the light of the images he gives us of God.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 1 December 2023