[03/19/19]
I am establishing what I would say are basic and necessary initial premises. They are necessary to establish at the outset because apart from these first fundamentals, one really cannot find good cause to continue the exploration. Because they are of such a primary nature, I shall probably have less call to make reference to Scripture than I would generally prefer. But, it would be a rather circular argument at this point to look at what Scripture says of God in order to form the starting point by which we might think to determine whether the Scriptures in fact reveal God.
Certainly, before we can consider any such question we must first establish that there is, or at least is likely a God, and before we can do that, we must establish that there is even the possibility of there being any god, let alone a singular God. If we are to do this, we must start even farther back and establish what it is that defines this concept of god. That is a rather tall order, and I don’t expect I shall give it full justice. I certainly won’t be giving it the length and depth of exploration that the subject deserves. I have explored the topic at some length in the past in a brief written exchange with my father, but I would consider it afresh, as much as I suspect I would find little has changed in my views at this juncture.
So, what is meant by this idea of god? It seems clear to me that the person, thing, or entity that we would speak of as a god must be powerful, indeed so significantly powerful as to defy any thought that there could be anything more powerful. Closely connected to this, I would say we have the idea of this god, if such a being exists, having authority. This is, I find, a key determinant. If we are to discover this god being, this god being must be possessed of such authority as answers to no one. To take it a step further, if we discover that there is one to whom this being answers, then we must in turn look to that other being as our potential candidate for godhood and start again. To sum up: Until we arrive at the being who answers to none but self, we have not arrived at god.
Perhaps we must take even one more step back at this point and ask how we would establish this unanswering authority as valid? After all, most any child feels at some level that he or she is answerable to none, and all must serve him or her. Many an adult, for that matter, has such a sense of self as sees it reasonable to demand that all bow to their judgments and serve their ends. It is on such a basis that we discover the tyrannical and the dictatorial urge that takes hold of men and women from time to time. But, I’m not interested in men and women at this juncture. I am interested in this idea of god.
