Area 3 of questioning
The impassable gulf between God and humanity caused by human sin.
For me, this is one of the most damaging elements of orthodox Christian beliefs, yet it has been central to my past Christian teaching. I have to do a lot of 'clearing out' and 'faithful rejection'.
This theological idea of an impassable gulf between God and humans, grows directly out of the first two fundamentals that I question and then reject.
These are that God, thought of as anthropomorphically, is a separate and distinct Being/Person, separate and distinct from the cosmos and all creatures in it, including human beings. There are two separate persons involved; me and God. This impassable gulf is also built on the theological emphasis that all humans are totally unworthy and incapable of bridging this gulf, by anything they might or might not do. If one of the persons in the relationship cannot do anything about it, then the other Person must. This is what I have been taught.
This gulf, I have been taught by the church, and to which I have given ‘unquestioning obedience’ for so long, is, I think, accepted by most regular church-goers without question.
It is my understanding of orthodox traditional theology, that human/my wickedness has caused a breakdown in the relationship between these two distinct Beings/Persons, God and humans/me. This breakdown is so significant that humans cannot bring about reconciliation either individually or collectively. For humanity/me, the situation is irretrievable and hopeless. Only God can do something about it if God so chooses. I have been taught that the gospel announces that God has chosen to do something. God has bridged this gulf by means of the Cross of Jesus. This, for me, has been equated with the 'Good News'.
Human sin certainly puts strain and stress on our relationships with others, within ourselves and, using the traditional theological talk, also with God. Sometimes in relationships between humans, this strain and stress is so intense that we terminate a relationship. We might move away from the other person and have nothing more to do with them. The situation may become irretrievable. I have sometimes heard the term ‘incompatibility’ used in such circumstances.
More generally in life, we may find it difficult to accept others as they are and we sometimes reject, even condemn what we see in ourselves. Unfortunately, for some humans, this condemnation can escalate into self-loathing, even suicide.
My religious instruction in the church has also taught me, unequivocally, that because I am such an unworthy person, my sin has created this huge, impassable gulf between me and God. I have been taught that I have been created in God’s image, but that I have soiled this good image and I continue to do so constantly to such an extent that I have made the death of Jesus necessary.
I now believe these church teachings are unhealthy and not worthy of the word 'Christian'.
So what for me now?
For me, panentheism turns all this completely on its head. In this aspect of my journey with Jesus, I need to reconstruct my whole basis of Christian theology.
Holding panentheistic beliefs, I no longer believe that humanity and divinity are separate. God is in me and I am in God, so we are united. So with all humanity. There is no possibility for any permanent and complete separation. If I have my living, my moving and my being in God there is no impassable gulf that needs to be bridged.
I do not believe that human sin creates an impassable gulf that can only be bridged by the death of Jesus. For me, the Cross has nothing to do with reconciliation between God and humans. It has nothing to do with God’s forgiveness of human sin. The death of Jesus is not an atoning or redeeming sacrifice. For me, the blood of Jesus saves me from nothing. That is not what the Cross is all about. If God and humans are united, then there is no need for such a sacrifice; no need for the shedding of blood. The meaning of the Cross must, and can, I believe be found elsewhere. I deal with this more fully in my next area of questioning.
This is all totally different to what I have been taught and what is championed in many of the traditional hymns I am requested to sing as well as much of the church liturgy used in church services today.
If I also believe that God is ‘above all and through all and in all’, there is no separation. God is in all so there is no gulf to be bridged. A unity with God exists for everything.
Not quite there for me in biblical language, but just about, when we read
.. nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39.)
If a unity exists, it exists because of love. This is now my belief.
From my lyrics, No. 11:
God Lives Within Humanity
God lives within humanity;
Divine and human unity;
I believe all relationships are dynamic, never static. They can be nurtured or damaged. We are influenced by many and various things that prompt us to change our relationships, both for the good and the bad.
Concerning the present situation of terrorism, I have heard the term ‘radicalisation’. It could be described as the process of convincing a normally healthy, well-adjusted human being into becoming a suicide bomber. By constantly exposing a person to negative, hateful, satanic ideas and persuading them that violent, murderous actions are not only appropriate but necessary to correct the world, a relationship with evil can be established and nurtured. Rewards in an afterlife can also be important in some radicalisation processes.
So too, with my relationship with love, generosity, forgiveness - God Within, if you will. I need to have these relationships nourished, challenged and nurtured. I need to be around people who are loving, generous and forgiving. I need to have experiences that remind me of these qualities that are essential for abundant living. For me, this is one of the benefits of my church affiliation. Not that church people or church experiences are all positive and good, always loving, generous and forgiving. Not at all, but they are often helpful and point me to the Jesus way. I need a constant challenge to allow God Within to have influence and give me direction. I find my church associations and some church services help in this.
Obviously there is a constant struggle to leave myself open to God Within. I’m not really sure why the struggle continues but it is my experience. I suppose it is part of my experience of being human. Also, I suppose it could be because there are so many influences in my life that urge me to forget about Jesus and his challenges, to forget that other people are important and that love and forgiveness are essential to abundant living. Often, it might be that my super-ego battles with God Within. For me, this struggle is not evidence of an impassable gap between God and me but an experience of my responsibility to allow God Within, that divine dimension of me and to which I am totally united, to prompt and influence my actions. Discipleship of Jesus is not often easy!
So Yes. The Bible sometimes tells me about me.
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing that I hate. (Romans 7:15.)
Maybe not always to that extreme, but certainly in the effort to improve my behaviour, the struggle is there continuously. There is need for an internal reconciliation. I also feel bound to the bad repercussions of the structures of the society in which I live. Sometimes I seem unable to do anything to effect any improvement. Reconciliation needs to happen. Whenever there is disharmony between or within humans, no matter how serious or trivial this may be, reconciliation does need to occur. Disharmony is disharmony and needs to be addressed. However, for me, the excesses I have been taught by the church, regarding my own and universal human sin, are overblown excesses. I do not believe what I have been taught about an impassable gulf, the complete and permanent separation between me and God.
God Within is part and parcel of who I am. God Within is always within me, prompting me to do that which is loving, generous, forgiving, considerate and hospitable. Because I may not often win in this struggle does not mean there is an impassable gulf created which can only be bridged by the death of Jesus. There is a unity of God and humans; God and me. That continues undiminished. God Within is the God dimension of me/you. That remains.
I don’t think I am ignoring the existence of evil and wrong-doing but I am not going to let these define me, my life and my beliefs. I am not going to believe that I can do nothing about my relationships with myself, others and Jesus. I can and sometimes do do something. That means neither that the war is over and won nor does it mean that the situation is irretrievable and hopeless. To use again traditional religious terminology, ‘It does not mean that it is up to God to do something because I can’t.’ I know I sometimes fail but when I do, God Within, that divine dimension of me challenges me and is in me, picking myself up, dusting myself down and starting me all over again. I often lose the battles but sometimes, empowered by God Within, I win them.
There is a continuous struggle but, I believe, there is no impassable gulf. God is within.
Even though I have had to ‘Start all over again’, I am in a better place that I was before.
In our care and gentleness
God conveys a blessedness.
As with Jesus, God imparts
Divine intention to our hearts.
Jesus lived to bless;
God in us will bless.