A wealthy, overbearing father is killed by the eldest of his three sons. The boys, who each have a different mother, divide the old man’s holdings among themselves. So great was the father’s wealth that each son lived out the rest of his days as an unrivaled ruler over his share.
Sound like the story line from an old western movie? It could be, but it is not. It is the story of the Greek gods. According to Greek mythology, Zeus killed his father Kronis, then divided up the world with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus claimed the skies. Poseidon took the seas. Hades was content with the underworld.
The story gives insight into one of the ways the Greeks viewed their gods. For the Greeks, gods were like people except on a greater scale. The gods had all of the frailties of man. Thus, Zeus, while married to Hera, could father children by Maia and Leto and others.
The gods were fickle and jealous. At one point, Apollo, the god of hunting, aided Achilles in his battle with Hector, leader of the Trojan army. Then, offended by some trivial action, Apollo guided Paris’ arrow to the only vulnerable spot of the great warrior Achilles, his heel.
Greek gods were people without restrictions, but they were viewed as people. The difference between the Greeks and their gods was a difference of degree. It was not a difference of kind.
Today some religions continue this Greek way of knowing God. One religion proudly boasts that “as Jesus was, so you are. As Jesus is, so you shall be.” There is no difference in kind between Jesus and mankind for the followers of this religion. It is just a matter of degree.
A second way of knowing God was evidenced in Greek philosophical reasoning. It is still used in some Christian writing today. God, by definition, must be perfect, such reasoning holds. A perfect God must be all-knowing. Therefore, God must be all knowing. Theologians call this omniscience, and it is consistent with the biblical picture of God. In this case, philosophical reasoning works.
But not always. God is perfect, and a perfect God cannot suffer. Therefore, God does not suffer. That is a logical conclusion, but it is not consistent with the biblical presentation of God. He suffers with His creation. That is part of the gospel story.
The temptation of philosophical reasoning is to reduce God to a series of abstract conclusions or faith statements. It makes little room for the God of relationship, the God of personhood.
The western mind approaches God in a different way. The western question is always about function. How does it work? The western mind wants to analyze, explain and experiment using the scientific method. It has been observed that the development of technology in the West is no accident. It is the result of the way the western mind works.
Knowing and understanding comes from experiments. But experiments can take a costly toll. It can be costly in dollars as proven by medical research. It can be costly in personal ways. If the only way of knowing a hot stove can burn is by being burned by the hot stove, that is a costly price for knowledge.
The western mind approaches God confident in itself. It will accept only what it can discover, what it can explain, what it can understand. The western mind cannot admit that such a thing as what one theologian called “given truth” could ever exist. For God to reveal Himself and say, “Here it is” cannot be comprehended by the scientific method of thinking.
Western thinking treats God like a chemistry question: God must be proven by the scientific method. The western mind would take away God’s mystery and remove from religion the element of faith. The western mind would analyze God until He is no more than a product and His miracles explained away with a scientific explanation.
Some people still stumble over the “given truth” that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Because it cannot be proven in a test tube, they refuse to accept it.
The Hebrew way of looking at God was entirely different. The Hebrews understood God by what He did. The Hebrews were not given to abstract logical descriptions or trying to understand how God worked. The important question was, “Did God accomplish His purpose?”
God was known in His actions. God was known in His creation. God was known in His call of Abraham, His call to Moses. God always took the first step. The Hebrew God was the God of relationship who made Himself known. He was spirit, and He was person. Abraham, Moses and all humanity responded to the God who took the first step toward them.
God’s clearest expression of Himself was in Jesus of Nazareth, who said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” In Jesus, one sees the love of the Father for lost mankind. In Jesus, one sees the ends to which the Father goes for the redemption of His lost children. In Jesus, one sees God’s “way of escape” from the wages of sin. In Jesus, one sees the ultimate victory of God over sin and death. In Jesus, one glimpses the eternal victory awaiting all those who respond to God’s step toward them in obedient faith.
This Easter season any who look toward the cross will see God’s actions. Any who look toward the empty tomb will know God accomplished His purpose. It is not by looking at one’s self that God is found. It is not in philosophical reasoning nor in test tubes. Rather, it is by looking at the actions of God in Jesus the Christ that one finds God. In Jesus, God steps toward us. Through Jesus, God makes Himself known.
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