It’s never a good sign when someone precedes the word “God” with the indefinite article.
Michael Ingham, in his address at SFU on receiving his honorary degree, resorts to this device, as do many who have wandered from the Triune God of the Bible. He intoned, piously: “I believe in a God” – one of many equally suitable anthropomorphised candidates available for selection; we, if we are wise and wish to avoid the horror of “fundamentalism”, should do likewise. It doesn’t really matter whether we choose the same god as Ingham so long as we don’t fall into the trap of leaving out the all-important “a”, thereby excluding all other gods: that would never do.
We live in a time when religious fundamentalism is growing stronger in all faiths and traditions. It is a movement rooted in fear. The answer in my view is not to abandon religious faith but to join the side of religious progress. Religions must struggle for the equality of women. Religions must uphold the dignity of gay, lesbian, and transgendered people. Religions must work to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation. And religions must work together, not against each other, for justice and peace.
I have never believed in a God who was male, white, and elitist. I believe in a God who is engaged on the side of life, often with powerless people, in the struggle against the many faces of death. And that is my invitation to all of you today.
Nothing at all about sin or redemption, you notice.
Also noticed nothing about Jesus Christ, and that He is the only way to salvation.
I have to wonder, if when Mr. Ingham prays (that’s if he even bothers to pray) if he says “Our Father who art in heaven”, or does he say “Our Parent who art in heaven”?
“I believe in a God who is engaged on the side of life, often with powerless people, in the struggle against the many faces of death.” Yet allow me to venture to guess that he’s pro-abortion.
Bit unfair, there, David. Seems to me he’s actually talking about different aspects of the same, one God.
Of course, there is only one God. Christians believe in the triune God. Different religions understand God differently. Thus, the god of Muslims and the god of the Jews are not exactly the same as the triune God.
I have to agree with Vincent on this. The use here of the indefinite article is really just a turn-of-phrase. However, his reference to Goethe may be revealing.