Anthromorphic God

At seminary there was a sign, "God created man in his own image. Ever since man has tried to created God in his image." The older I am the more I understand that sign. Humans have a hard time understanding God in a spiritual sense, so we describe or create a God with human characteristics.

This might work if humans were all alike in gender, race, size, ability, and whatever else we consider important. But for some reason we weren’t made all the same, and in that lies the struggle of humanity. Do we insist that people all agree with our particular tradition’s image of God? Or do we share our understandings of God and treat with respect the understandings of others created in the image of that same unknown and unseen force we call God?

A Hindu friend, who lives in northern India, caused me to re-think a lot of my notions about God. I had asked him why India had so many Gods. He laughed and said, "Dennis, we believe in only one Devine Creator, but over the centuries each village built its own statue to represent that Devine Creator. And each village had its own unique dialect and name for that same Devine Creator."

I replied, "I am not sure I can understand that."
He laughed and replied, "You in this country do something very similar. You all believe in one Devine Creator, but your landscape is dotted with various monument like buildings with their very own understanding of God."

"How is that," I asked.

He said, "Look you have a Baptist God, a Presbyterian God, a Roman Catholic God, a Methodist God, and it seems like every other week a new building with a new name and people springs up. So you have many versions of God, just like we in India."

He had a point. So how do we accept each other’s view or expression of God, the Devine Creator?
First, understand God as a concept for the originator of all space and time we call Creation and accept all human beings worldwide as truly created in the image of that one Devine Creator. Second, listen and respect other human’s interpretations of things. Such interpretations usually develop into some form of religious theology and standards.

How do we relate to those theology and standards? Accept valid those issues that don’t violate a common understanding of God’s demand upon all human beings. That demand is the notion that all humans must love (respect) God above all things and love (respect) others as we love (respect) ourselves.

What about those that seek to destroy any understandings about God, that do not agree with theirs? Those who attack with an intent to destroy equal understandings or views are not in the image of the Devine Creator. They are playing God themselves and attempting to create God in their image. They are the bullies, terriorist, bigots, self-righteous, arrogant people, who have always caused war and pain for humanity. They are the enemies of the Devine Creator.

All my life I have struggled with what to do about them. Ignore them? Nah, they are hard to ignore. Turn the other cheek? When we do that they crucify us. Reason with them? You have to be kidding. Fight them? Maybe, but how? They don’t play by any rules the people of God play by.

This list could go on and on. What is the answer? History and most holy scriptures of all faiths seem to indicate that from time to time, God will lift up a person or a group to be our warriors and destroy the vile cowards, who operate under the cloak of religion. Maybe it is time to ask God for another Shepherd boy named David to kill the giant enemies of God in this time and place in history.

Or we can hope it just goes away. Cause after all, that would mean we would have to accept an awful lot of people, who have different names and understanding of the Devine Creator. A vicious circle of life! What is the answer? Can we not find it together? Let us all stop creating God in our image and seek the face of the Devine Creator together in a rapidly shrinking world. Or will we kill each other off before that happens?