More than one God?

            In last week’s Beacon Lite I quipped that we may not want to offer God sliced ham as a gift because “God is probably not solely Christian.” A few folks found that troublesome or confusing, and requested a response. I included those words as a humorous aside, but gladly will point to the conviction behind them.

            I believe in the God revealed in and through Jesus Christ, whom I deem the only God. As a child, everyone I knew worshipped that God except a Jewish merchant who owned an excellent clothing store. I now know that people of various faiths populate the earth. Many of them honor God as much or more than I do. No religion, including Christianity, can lay exclusive claim to the one God. We all lack complete insight into and understanding of the one God to whom we pray and whom we serve. That limitation stood behind my comment about ham. Scripture and tradition prohibit devout Jews and Muslims from eating pork and many Buddhists do not eat meat or fish. I do not think God gets her knickers knotted about what we eat (apart from cannibalism), but from the perspective of many religious traditions God would not consider a plate of ham an acceptable offering.

            If there is only one God, how should we respond to the faithful in other religious traditions? Our Book of Confessions advises: “The Christian finds parallels between other religions and his (sic) own and must approach all religions with openness and respect. Repeatedly God has used the insight of non-Christians to challenge the church to renewal” (“The Confession of 1967”; 9:42). Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel have shaped much of my theological perspective. The writings of Elie Wiesel point to where we find God in the midst of horrors such as the Holocaust. Gandhi used Christian principles to resist tyranny and injustice. I have received spiritual guidance from Hafiz, Thich Bhat Hahn, and the Dalai Lama. Although I am thoroughly Christian, guides from other faith traditions have shed light on my path. I do not embrace every tenet or principle of other religious, but I believe that non-Christians can point to the one God.

            Is God “solely Christian”? That question seems wrong. God defies definition. We worship a presence and reality beyond comprehension. Doing that faithfully means standing within our religious heritage. Doing that with humility means acknowledging the limits of our understanding and accepting any help that leads us closer to God.

Happy Easter!

LP