I would like to continue developing some of Karen Armstrong’s ideas as they relate to our search for a well grounded and healthy expression of liberal Christianity. In one of her lectures a couple of weeks ago at the Chautauqua Institution she said: “God is not a being; God is being.” This statement may address at least one of the issues that exist between liberal and conservative expressions of Christianity.
To think about this, we must begin by articulating the difference between a metaphorical and a literal reading of Scripture (and other writings, too). Fundamentalists point to the words of Jesus as being literal descriptions of God and Heaven/Hell. Liberals have sometimes had a difficult time countering that argument, largely because reading Scripture metaphorically has fallen into disrepute in our modern age. Do we water down the text when we affirm that Jesus was not actually saying that God was a male figure who lives in a celestial place called Heaven?
I would argue that we are not watering it down at all. To read metaphorically is to honor the immensity and otherness of God. To read these texts literally is to confine God to these limited human terms. According to Armstrong, even to refer to God as a “being” who exists someplace apart from creation limits who God can be. We have no words and images that could possibly do justice in describing God in any concrete way.
Human experience contributes to this paradoxical situation. Humans have had countless experiences of being in relationship with the divine, even though we have no absolute way of describing that relationship. We are left with the affirmation that the relationship is important. Jesus talks (metaphorically) about God’s care for all of creation and that God provides the means for us to exist on this planet. That human decisions, based in greed and fear, create serious social injustices is a commentary on humanity, not on God. Liberal Christianity affirms, furthermore, that God’s caring is for all of humanity, even for all of creation, and that it is not meted out to some individuals at the expense of others. I remember how furious I was several years ago in the aftermath of the Columbine school shootings. A woman being interviewed on the television stated that she had been confident all along that her children would come out safely as a result of her prayers and confidence in God. So, what did that say about God’s caring for those parents who lost children in that shooting?
If God is “a being”, then it is too easy for us to project our own fears, narrow thinking, and judgmental attitudes onto God. That said, we wonder if it makes any difference at all to relate to God if we can’t at least get some protection out of the deal. I suggest to you that it makes all the difference in the world to affirm one’s relationship to “Being”. If we see ourselves as separate, then creation becomes a hostile place and we then need to believe in the notion of a protective deity to help us through. If, on the other hand, we see ourselves as part of “the web of life” then there is a direct connection between the health and well-being of creation and our health and well-being.
Without that sense of connection, the best we can do is to generate pity for others who are worse off than we are. If, however, we are part of the web, then compassion is possible. In Karen Armstrong’s terms, our “kenosis”, which means emptying of ego, is virtually equivalent to affirming that we are all “one” through our connection to “Being”.
She goes on to say that practicing compassion involves using ritual to maintain our awareness of being connected to “Being”. Our religious rituals are not done to please God or to live up to some standard of religious behavior. Our rituals have only one purpose: to transform us from ego-based separate entities into participants in a living system that is something like a family. In the process, our capacity for real compassion increases along with our motivation to address social injustices, and in this way, our rituals help us to create healthier communities.
We live in a culture that values rugged independence, so there are few places where we can learn true compassion. I hope that Healthy Liberal Christianity offers such a place. At least that’s the kind of place that we at the
“Become compassionate as your God is compassionate.” Luke 6:36
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