Second Reading
from A History of God by Karen Armstrong
The human idea of God has a history, since it has always meant something
slightly different to each group of people who have used it at various
points of time. The idea of God formed in one generation by one set of
humn beings could be meaningless in another. Indeed, the statement "I believe
in God" has no objective meaning, as such, but like any other statement
only means something in context, when proclaimed by a particular community.
Consequently, there is no one unchanging idea contained in the word "God";
instead, the word contains a whole spectrum of meanings, some of which
are contradictory or even mutally exclusive. Had the notion of God not
had this flexibility, it would not have survived to become one of the great
human ideas. When one conception of God has ceased to have meaning or relevance,
it has been quietly discarded and replaced by a new theology. A fundamentalist
would deny this, since fundamentalism is antihistorical: it believes that
Abraham, Moses and the later prophets all experienced their God in exactly
the same way as people do today. Yet if we look at our [three] religions,
it becomes clear that there is no objective view of "God": each generation
has to create the image of God that works for it. The same is true of atheism.
The statement "I do not believe in God" has meant something slightly different
at each period of history. ...
Despite its otherworldliness, religion is highly pragmatic. We shall
see that it is far more important for a particular idea of God to work
than for it to be logically or scientifically sound. As soon as it ceases
to be effective it will be changed --sometimes for something radically
different.
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