Who Are You?, Part 1

This is the fourth installment of the ongoing "Personal Theology Outline" series. The third installment can be found here. The fifth can be found here.

Taking Things Personally

While undertaking this journey of describing my views, it is likely best for me to start with what is one of the biggest questions out there: Who is God? And, really, this question is more prevalent in my mind at this moment because of a few things I see in pop culture. Allow me to explain.

The Unknown

I have a slight addiction to the show "How I Met Your Mother." As of right now, I have watched every episode available on Netflix about three times as of now (the only other show that I have done that with is "Doctor Who"). Admittedly, I may have an unhealthy fascination with the show. But, all in all, I feel that it does a good job of highlighting things that go unnoticed in our culture--both intentionally and unintentionally. Because I have watched the show as much as I have, I have discovered some background themes that speak to the sad state of our current culture.

You see, when it comes to metaphysical matters, this show opts to deem "The Universe" to be the bringer of good, the executor of justice, and the mysterious planner of lives. Meanwhile, the show deems "God" to be a petty smiter and the one who snatches away loved ones. Now, the show does not go as far as to state these things outright but the dialogue does seem to point towards these presuppositions.

Watching the show, I can see what the appeal would be to view "The Universe" in such a way. In this context, "The Universe" is this unknown and unknowable entity that only asks you to do good things and rewards you when you do. And, when you get down to it, the definition of "doing good" when it comes to "The Universe" is not really defined objectively--it is just whatever you and your friends deem to be good. Its role as a mysterious planner provides the security blanket of a "grand plan" without any sense of responsibility attached to it. So, as long as you do what you think is good, "The Universe" will reward you with things that you want. Sounds great, does it not?

When I consider such perspective, there are a few things that bother me. First, how are you supposed to know the Universe's plans? Where do they originate? How do you discern them? How does the Universe communicate with you? Honestly, I cannot answer any of these questions without changing this view to something that detracts from its appeal. You see, as far as I can tell, this view is appealing because the Universe gets to remain abstract, distant, and unintrusive entity. When you get to the core of the matter, you cannot really know anything about the Universe and that is appealing because it lets us off the hook from needing to get to know it. But, is an entity that you can know nothing about really any better than a nonentity?

This view really does not do much better than to declare that there is justice in the cosmos and that "what goes around comes around." But, you get to sound spiritual and mysterious when you attribute these things to "The Universe."

The One to be Known

As I outlined in an earlier post, I have come to a place where I am convinced that reality must coincide with the truths outlined in the Bible. And, what we find there is a God that desperately wants to be known. He is relational. We do not find a distant God who sets the world in motion and then disappears from the scene. He is involved with His creation. He sought relationship with Adam in the Garden. Then, when Adam and Eve turned away from Him, He initiated the plan to restore His creation. In this view, there is no room for practical deism where God is to be considered far off and unavailable.

Jesus reveals the Father to us (John 14:9). So, when we look at Jesus, we see what God is like. And, there is beauty in that image. In Jesus, we see a God who reaches down into creation and deals with His creation in a one-on-one fashion. God does not remain far off and unknowable. He puts on meat (John 1:14) and makes Himself available. He relates to us.

Furthermore, we see the relationality of God built into His being in the Christian view of God. God is a triune entity which implies that He has a relationship with Himself on a level that is foreign to us. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes the Trinity as a sort of "divine dance."

In the end, what we find in Christianity is a God that is not an isolated being. He meets people. He has plans that are not hidden. We find here a god that knows us and wants to be known by us. And, that makes this discussion of who He is worthwhile.