[TruthTalk] The Schizophrenic God

[Jonathan Hughes]

Here on TruthTalk we talk about truth.  This usually is a dialogue with scripture.  Tonight I was struck by a title of a book, “Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology”.  The word theology means ‘God-talk’.  All of us on this forum in some way (and often in different ways) paint a picture of who they believe God to be.  This portrait becomes the God they pray to each night before bed and the God they praise when they lift their voice in song.  Each of us believes that their version of God is the one clearly explained by scripture.  All of us on this forum approach the thought of who God is from a different perspective or viewpoint.  Often our ideas about who God is conflict with other people’s ideas of the same God.  What I see being explained on this forum is a God who is actually conflicted within Himself.  I call it the schizophrenic God.  A trite example is when we speak of the God of the Old Testament versus the God of the New as if they portray two very different Gods.  We speak of the law-giving God (the giver of Torah) and the God of grace as if they are mutually exclusive.  We speak of a God who is love, who hates.  We speak of a God who has more than one covenant, instead of one covenant that is renewed.  When we approach certain scriptures it is almost as if we come to them with a certain part of God in mind.  When we read Deuteronomy we read it with the Law-giving God in mind, not the God of grace.  When we read of the mass slaughter of Israel’s neighbors we read it with the God who hates in the forefront, with the God who loves in the background.  God becomes schizophrenic.   There is one God who exists in relationship as Three Persons.  There is no God behind God’s back.  God is love.  These three statements highlight my portrait of God.  The first describes who God is.  Any further explanation would bring up the name of Jesus Christ, our humanity and how they are joined.  The second statement states that when we view God we cannot view Him as conflicted, as loving and hating, as law versus grace, as Old versus New.  What we see in Jesus Christ is God.  There is not another God who would act differently than Jesus waiting to surprise us.  The fullness of God dwelt upon Him.  The third is a definition of God’s heart.  God has one heartbeat and it beats in love.  Any definition of God hating, or God’s wrath must be a subset of God’s love.  It cannot be an opposite.  It must be God’s love in action.  This also means that God has only one covenant.  To have more than one would be to have a conflicted God.  Throughout scripture we have evidence of the same covenant being renewed (Noah, Abraham, Jacob etc.).  The new covenant that is mentioned in scripture is new only in the sense that it has finally been fulfilled by a human (Jesus Christ).  It is the same covenant brought to fulfillment by the God-man.   This Thanksgiving take a look at your God.  Who is He?  Is He divided in any way?  Is He at conflict within Himself?  Could all that you say about the Father be said of Jesus Christ?  If you were to make three statements about Him what would they be?   Jonathan   --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.797 / Virus Database: 541 - Release Date: 11/15/2004 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.797 / Virus Database: 541 - Release Date: 11/15/2004