Hold on to your seats. We are about to plunge into the depths of my personal theology. Or heresy. Maybe both.
During a class break today, my professor asked me about a tragic event in the life of one of my close friends. It raised the classic question, "Why do bad things happen to good people (or really any people)?" She (the professor) expressed this rhetorically, but I was compelled to answer. Well, I didn't answer the posed question. I don't know why bad things happen. My answer was to the question of where God is and how we relate to God when bad things happen.
Are you ready?
I do not believe that we can have all three omnis. I do not believe that God is omniscient AND omnipotent AND omnibenevolent. In other words, I don't believe that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, AND all good. I believe that any two of the three is possible. I know which two attributes I believe God has, but I will reserve my opinion in the hopes of opening space for conversation.
This generated an intense, but necessarily short, discussion which lasted until the lecture resumed and even a few moments into the lecture. I hope the discussion continues.
I understand that this theological view comes very close to putting God in a box of my making or making God in my image, but isn't that what we all do? Can any of us conceive of a God completely outside who we need God to be? Can we relate to a God whose attributes we cannot accept?
This is my heresy. So what are your thoughts?
Hehe, I know if I were to put my thoughts in, it will take up more than the allotted word count. I think all these definitions are problematic. When you try to define God in human terms, you invariably run into road blocks.Much of what we say about God will have to be taken with faith. And since I can't prove to you what I believe about God regarding these attributes, I can't argue with you about your belief, either. Does that sound too democratic to be orthodox?
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