Colloquy Paper--Constructive Theology

* The third paper of the semester. Be kind to this novice theologian, but please leave comments

Finding God

Revelation and the existence of God revolve around questions of who and where can humanity relate to the Divine. To ask the question of God’s existence seems like an inappropriate place to begin a theological discussion about the Divine in 21st century theology. A better question to replace “does God exist” might be “where is God in the midst of an unjust and suffering world?” I propose this different question in light of a historical conversation with critics of religion and history itself. To borrow from Paul Tillich’s correlative approach, theology must address the wounds of our place in history and how our position affects human language about God. Additionally, the question “does God exist,” as Anselm suggests, already supposes perception of a Divine reality or being. The question “where is God” widens the possibility to explore not just who/what God is but how humanity can find God in our current world. Given the length of this paper, it will be impossible to address this question fully.
As Barth and other contemporary theologians have responded to “serious atheism” which asks how God can exist in a world so unjust and where so many humans suffer. The constant state of warfare, as Dr. Meeks says the “economy of perpetual warfare,” has also raised additional economic and political issues surrounding suffering. The idol worship of a capitalist market in the United States is perhaps the most poignant issue and has overshadowed the War on Terror. The economically poor class as grown in numbers and consequently the disparity between the poor and the economically rich has also grown. A parent working two or three jobs and still cannot provide essentials for his/her family may wonder: “where is God?”
Language may fail in fully grasping God, but the atheist and the theist alike agree “God” is Other. God is beyond humanity and the world. This is where atheists have trouble, but Christianity (theists) find hope for answers. How can Christianity find hope in a God labeled as “Other” and beyond our context to understand? Kant rightly raises the point we cannot reason out God from our context. Revelation, or God’s self-disclosure, is necessary to answer this question. As Daniel Migliore cites William Temple,

“Only revelation through a person can be fully intelligible to us, who are persons, and only personal revelation can adequately disclose the reality of God, who is supremely personal.”

Revelation is mediated by events, words, and tradition. God discloses God’s self in the narrative (words) of the Bible (whose canon is established by tradition) centered on the Christ event. This contradicts natural theology, but it seems impossible to move to particularities about God without a perspective mediated by events, words, and tradition. As John Calvin would say, humanity needs glasses to bring into focus the vague inclinations of God observed in nature.
The self-disclosure of God is ultimately understood in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The narrative of Jesus tells one thing very clearly: God aligns God’s self with the marginalized and weak in their suffering. Where is God? God is in the suffering of world moving in and through witnesses of God’s revelation in order to bring hope.