Boston's Wildman said his faith does not depend on the notion of humanity as central to the purpose of the universe. "It's a silly conceit and it makes human beings feel better to think that way - that the whole success of the universe turns on the success of the human project."
He said the tradition of ascribing so much importance to humanity goes back to the notion of a chosen people in the Old Testament. For Christians it comes from the belief that Jesus was God's son.
But such a God looks too small, too tribal and too humanlike, he said, to avoid getting pushed out of the ever narrowing gaps in science. That in turn can reinforce the notion that to be scientific you must be an atheist.
For him, a human-centered God is an approximation of the real thing, "and the real thing is beyond human comprehension."
Wesley Wildman, a professor of theology at Boston University
above quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005
Can faith, science coexist?
by Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living
/education/12928255.htm
commentary:
The God of the Bible is not a small, tribal, human-centered God. The God of the Bible created the universe before man was created. The God of the Bible, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is complete in Gods-self and does not need man to live and love. Rather than being a tribal God, the God of the Bible created and loves all the people of the world, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. The God of the Bible enforces justice impartially for all people, and does not tolerate injustice in any chosen people.
The God of the Bible is beyond human comprehension, but chooses to reveal Gods-self to humans in a way that we can comprehend. God Emmanuel is with us. God spoke to Abraham and had dinner with him. God wrestled with Jacob. God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. God wrote the Ten Commandments. God spoke through the prophets.
Then, at the right time, the creator God who is beyond human comprehension became incarnate in Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, to help us know God more clearly. Jesus spent three years revealing God's grace and truth to the world, so we may be reconciled to God and live.
Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news that God wants to draw us all together in love as God's adopted children. Rather than being a tribal God, Jesus Christ gave his life to draw all people to God through himself, in one holy, catholic and apostolic church, including all the men and women of the world.
~ Truthful Grace
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