A LAYMAN SPEAKS,
SOME VIEWS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PULPIT
J. Philip Landis, BSEE MIT 1948
Prepared for WCTS Meeting November 14, 2001
We have historically been led to an understanding of God by two processes of revelation. These are "general" and "special" revelation. The Christian understanding seems to have been rooted In the special revelation of the biblical writers, molded and enhanced by the deliberation and imagination of the Church Fathers.
The great contributions of the Hebrew Scriptures were the notions of monolotry, soon matured into monotheism. This concept, unique in the ancient world, is said to have entered the Hebrew mind by special revelation since general revelation had not revealed it to any other contemporary societies. However this may have been, we are heirs to this most sensible theology, which in turn seems the only one compatible with what is known of the universe.
While the early Israelite concept of God was clearly in man's image, one could scarcely expect otherwise. Man was obviously the best model available, and to visualize God with the characteristics of humans, except with greatly enhanced powers, was entirely reasonable.
One cannot be entirely at ease with some of the attributes of God in early Israelite thinking. While majestic in power, in common with the gods of Israel's neighbors, he seemed lacking at times in the finer qualities occasionally exhibited by humanity. While scripturally described as "slow to anger", this seemed belied by the frequency of precisely that emotion, often followed by the slaying of large numbers of his created followers. His admonition to the Israelites regarding the Canaanites ("herem" or utter destruction, men women and children) seems scarcely commendable (one would have expected at least an attempt at "conversion"). He seems to have been on the weaker ethical side of some his arguments with Abraham and Moses. His consistency of rendering judgment appears lacking; compare the treatment of the sons of Judah (not yet armed with the Law, Gen 38) with that of David (armed with the Law, 2 Sam II ). The story of the punishment for David's conducting the census is illustrative:
1. God condemns David for conducting a census which God himself had requested (2 Sam 24:1, although compare I Chron 21:1)
2. God punishes David by slaying 70,000 Innocent Israelites.
These unflattering representations of God can readily be excused as being consistent with a developing understanding of deity on the part of Israel. On the other hand, they are very troubling if one considers the Scriptures to be the revealed word of God and therefore accurate in their presentation of him.
By the time of the eighth and seventh century prophets, many of the crudities associated with God have subsided and a strong ethical and moral understanding emerges. The emphasis on the importance of social Justice and proper human relations as opposed to empty ritual is very clear. The writer of Deuteronomy, thought to have followed shortly after the Prophets, has a beautiful concept of the oneness and majesty of God and his concern for his people. These writers indeed seem to have been recipients of an understanding or true revelation of God's benevolence and will.
Unfortunately, over the centuries, the increasingly transcendent concept of God seems to have led to the perception of an entity with which the human mind is not comfortable. The natural response was the creation of an assortment of intermediary or intercessional agents with which men could feel more at ease. Such an attitude had been early manifested by the people at Sinai, Moses being the one to act as intermediary (Ex 20:16-19). In exilic and post exilic times, the heritage of Mesopotamian residence and influence was a hierarchy of angelic beings, good and bad, scarcely known to earlier times. Within Judaism, these seem to have been harmless enough (or were ultimately "soft pedaled" by the rabbis) with the exception of the dreadful concept of Satan, or the devil. This concept never got too far with rabbinic Judaism, but became a terrible blight on Christianity.
In addition, during the intertestamental period and the first century AD, an enormous range of literature arose of the apocalyptic and mystical variety. Much of this survived and has been known for many years. Additional material has become available from Qumran. Apparently inspiring some of this literature were unusual verses or circumstances found in the Hebrew Scriptures. These include:
1. The "taking up" of Enoch in Gen 5:24
2. The activities of the angelic beings in Gen 6
3. The curious office of Melchizedek In Gen 14
4. Appellation of "God" for Moses in Ex 4:16 and 7:1
5. The angel with the name ofYahweh in Ex 23:20-21
6. The "taking up" of Elijah in 2 Ki 2:11-12
7. The "gods" of Psalm 82
8. Lady Wisdom of Prov 8,9
9. Ezekiel's vision of God's chariot (merkabah), throne, and glory in Ezek I
10. The activities of the Son of Man in Dan 7:13-14
Several motifs are prominent in the literature. Owing to the increased transcendence of God, much attention is given to describing the multiple heavens of his abode, its great distance from earth, his throne, his angelic retinue, etc. In dealing with the angelic retinue, the literature covers at some length the background of the angels, including the fallen angels, relationships between the angels and Adam and Eve, etc. Transformation of a human to an angelic being occurs in several instances (Enoch, Melchizedek, Moses, the unknown writer of 4Q491). This literature would seem to have created an easy relationship on the part of the readers with notions of the heavenly realms, angelic entities, post or pre death transformations of humans to exalted status, etc. Origen, for example, was quite sure John the Baptist was an angel "who assumed a body for the sake of bearing witness to the light..." [COMMENTARY ON JOHN Book 2 Ch 5].
As is especially evident in the Aramaic Targums, the increased transcendence of God is reflected in a reluctance to use the divine name in retelling the scriptures. Most common substitutions are nouns representing characteristics of God; Memra (word of God), or Shekinah (presence of God). These aspects of God tended to become personified, as had earlier occurred with "wisdom", "spirit”, and perhaps "glory". Thus the notion of God in the form of various surrogate entities was established.
Against this background, it seems entirely reasonable that early Christians would postulate an exaltation of Jesus in somewhat similar terms. That the transformation of other humans to angels was "common knowledge" is suggested by the writer of Hebrews. He makes a point of assuring the reader that the Son's elevated status is much superior to the angels (Heb 1:4).
The novelty in Christian theorizing was the identification of Jesus as the incarnation of one of the aspects of God, the Word. While Wisdom (whose activities closely matched those of John's Word) was perceived to have had a form of earthly existence, this does not seem to have entailed incarnation; she did not assume human form. And whereas previous humans may have been transformed to angelic beings, or exalted to a status to sit beside God (also said of Jesus), John's Jesus is drawn into the very being of God.
Prior literature could be accused of playing fast and loose with God's abode and court, but it was quite careful about God himself. Apart from feeling free to consider how he delegated authority, the literature maintained him very far removed from humanity and was loath to describe him. Christian writers, on the other hand, increasingly were audacious enough to characterize God himself, the process culminating In the doctrine of The Trinity.
To this writer, the doctrine is quite clear, the "mystery" associated with it is how its acceptance has survived the "general" revelation we have received since. Man's increase in his knowledge of the age, vastness, and complexity of the universe seem clearly to reveal a God of dimensions far exceeding the concepts of the Trinity. How many incarnations may have been involved in the likely myriad of societies present among the billions of stars in the billions of galaxies? And if God is what created minds say he is, how many other forms and how many other images does he possess?
The writer's God is the God of Genesis I or Psalm 104 (with the science updated) whose Infiniteness cannot be circumscribed in any manner by man. We can comprehend only those aspects of him which he has chosen to reveal In his creation, his actions in history, through his Insightful spokesmen, especially Jesus. However, those aspects deal only with his creative power and with his love and will for us, not with his being. We should be secure, grateful and content in our knowledge of his love. We should be diligent in seeking more enlightenment on his will. We should be mindful of the incomprehensibility of his nature and content to know nothing of the unknowable.