Saturday, January 7, 2012

What Titles for "God" Resonate with Your Soul?

My New Year's resolution for this month is to look at the 1st Article of Faith and consider how understanding it more fully, from both a Mormon perspective and from the perspectives of other religions, can help me be more Christ-like in the here and now.  I will focus on Buddhism, Islam and Judaism in subsequent posts this month, but I want first to consider the various ways God is described within Christianity - specifically by looking at some of the titles used to describe God in the Bible.  For the purposes of this post, with its focus on Christianity, I am not going to distinguish between Old Testament and New Testament titles - nor am I going to distinguish between titles Mormons might apply differently than other Christians (like those we might apply to God, the Father, and not necessarily to God, the Son - or, more often, vice-versa).  As I do so, I will provide what I believe is the best concise definition and a very short summary of my own affinity for and thoughts about each title.    

1) God 

the sole supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and ruler of all and is infinitein all attributes; the object of worship in monotheistic religions  

I have no problem believing in "God" in this manner.  I understand the idea of creating and ruling, as well as the concept of possessing all attributes.  I also have no problem with the concept of worshiping such a Being, since "to worship" means "to reverence; honor; give homage".  Finally, I have no problem accepting the existence of a sole supreme Being who will my "ruler" and the object of my worship eternally.  There is nothing, in my opinion, within Mormonism that requires a different view of God - even the idea that we can become like God, as it doesn't necessitate any eventual cessation of our worship of GOD as our God.  

2) Father  

"a male parent; a person who has originated or established something"  

This one gets a bit tricky, since there are multiple interpretations in Christianity about exactly what this title means, as highlighted by the two definitions above I took straight from the dictionary.  Some Christians take the first definition very seriously, believing that God is a "literal" parent in every sense of the word as it generally is interpreted in mortality.  The extreme end of the spectrum is the belief by some Mormons that "God" refers to Heavenly "Parents" (not just a Heavenly Father") and that Heavenly Mother "gave birth to" spirit children in the same kind of gestational way that babies are born here on Earth to human women.  The other extreme is the general view throughout the rest of Christianity that God is our "father" by virtue of his being our "creator" - which reflects the second definition above.  The first view, taken to the extreme, posits that God and his children are the same species, while the second view posits a chasm or "gap" between God and his creations.  

My own view is sort of a combination of the two.  I see "God" as a title describing development, applied to "fathers and mothers".  In the pre-mortal existence of mankind, their bodies were fundamentally different than their "children" in one important way, since their "bodies" were "perfected" and their children's were not.  Thus, their children had to go through a transformative process to gain bodies that were fully like theirs  Thus, I see them as the "Parents as Creators" of our spirits through some unknown process - but I also see them as the "Parents as Ultimate Development Model" through another unknown process.  In other words, I have a very orthodox view of our relationship to our Heavenly Parents in the nature of our potential to become like them, but I do not believe that they are our parents in the sense that they "birthed" us in some way that is similar to the way we are born here on Earth.  That connection simply doesn't make sense to me on any level.  

3) Lord / Master / King - There are subtle differences among the definitions of the words listed above, but they are close enough for the purpose of this post.

"a person who has authority, controlor power over others" 

  
This is similar, in my mind, to the way "God" is used, but it carries a "legal" position that is absent in the use of "God".  Generally speaking, there is no substantive difference in interpretation of these titles within Christianity - at least not anything that can be articulated properly in a post of this size without turning it into a dissertation.  

I have no problem with these titles, with the exception of the use of the word "control".  Given the Mormon belief in personal accountability and agency, which I will discuss next month, I do not believe in a God who exercises "control" over mortals - although I do believe in God having the power to do so.  I believe part of the "perfection" of God is the ability to control unlimited power - and I believe D&C 121 (read in its entirety as one integrated lesson) is perhaps the best explication of this concept that exists in our recorded scriptural canon.  

4) Shepherd  

"a person who herds, tends, and guards sheep; a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.."  

This title is seen essentially in the same way among all Christian denominations, but there is an important difference concerning the role / responsibilities of the sheep.  The extreme Calvinsitic view is of sheep being nothing more than animals who respond or do not respond to the voice of the Shepherd based on prior programming on the part of the Shepherd - meaning the "following sheep" have no real choice and certainly deserve no credit for their actions, and the "non-following" sheep also have no real choice.  The opposite extreme is believed by some Mormons who see the sheep as having full choice in how they respond to the Shepherd's voice - meaning the "following sheep" truly deserve the credit for their actions, while the "non-following" sheep truly deserve the blame for theirs.  

My own view, not surprisingly to many who read this blog regularly, is a combination of the two views above.  I believe in personal agency - which means I believe that the sheep collectively do have the ability to choose how they respond to the Shepherd and that, to some degree, they are responsible for those collective choices.  However, I also believe that there are many limitations, of varying kinds and to greatly varying degrees, on each sheep that makes that sheep, as an individual entity, more or less "deserving" and "to blame" for its actions than other sheep.  I also believe that it is next to impossible, if not impossible, to understand exactly how much control over its actions any particular sheep has - so it is next to impossible, if not impossible, to determine exactly how "deserving" and "to blame" that sheep is in the end.  

Thus, I like the story of the shepherd who doesn't shrug his shoulders and blame the sheep who has strayed but leaves the "safe ninety and nine" to find the "lost one".  I think, when looking at our general assumptions about the population percentages of the various kingdoms of glory, it is interesting to look at that story and realize Jesus was said to have left the ninety and nine who were not lost to seek the one who was.  Sometimes, I think we see different percentages in our clouded, imperfect judgments of others.  I certainly think it's worth considering, at least, as we strive to emulate the Good Shepherd.  

I have listed only four titles for God that are used in the Bible.  There are many more.  I would appreciate any thoughts on what I have written above, but I also would LOVE to hear which other titles resonate the most strongly / purely to those who read this post.  

3 comments:

ji said...

I like the simple term "God" -- I usually try to say "our God" such as in one day, we will be saved in the celestial kingdom of our God.

I usually don't try to parse between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and I freely refer to all three as God. To me, there is great beauty in that word.
"I am the Lord thy God"
"Jesus is THE CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD"
"I am Jesus Christ, your Lord, your Redeemer, and your God"

I am a son of God.

ji said...

When I say that I am a son of God, I mean it in the sense of having become a son of God through my choice to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than so much in any other sense...

D&C 11:30 ...verily, verily, I say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name...

D&C 34:3 ...that as many as would believe might become the sons of God. Wherefore, you are my son...

D&C 35:2 ...even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one...

D&C 39:4 ...But to as many as received me, gave I power to become my sons; and even so will I give unto as many as will receive me, power to become my sons...

D&C 42:52 ...they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons...

D&C 45:8 ...unto as many as received me gave I power to do many miracles, and to become the sons of God; and even unto them that believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life...

D&C 70:8 ...they become heirs according to the laws of the kingdom...

D&C 84:34 ...They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God...

Mosiah 18:22 ...And thus they became the children of God...

3 Nephi 9:17 ...as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name...

Mosiah 27:25 ...yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters...

Ether 3:14 ...In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters...

Mosiah 5:7 ...ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters...

Moroni 7:26 ...after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God...

Moroni 7:48 ...pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God...

I will never call Jesus my elder brother. He is my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, and my God.

Matthew said...

For me, I think that there is a distinction to be made between Father and God, Mother and Goddess.

I can't put it any better than CS Lewis did in Narnia:

'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver; 'don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.'

I know that in Mormon parlance we tend towards their parental titles, but I think we forget sometimes that they are not just Parents. They are divinely powerful, as well. At least I forget sometimes, anyway.