The Modern Relevance of God
Finding Meaning in an Inverted World
Welcome to episode 14 of the Modern Relevance of God audio course here on Thinking with Somebody Else’s Head. I’m Richard Lloyd Jones.
My dad used to say the problem with the human being was we were born without an owner’s manual. I used to nod in agreement, but now I’m pretty sure my father was a little simplistic in his understanding. To be fair, I think he meant it in a lighthearted way, a joshing comment not meant to be scrutinized as to its theological accuracy. But like all things related to my spiritual understanding, I have to respectfully disagree with my dad’s conclusion while obviously valuing the naive and guileless way he expressed it. For not only do we have numerous written documents outlining correct behavior one with another and nation to nation, we have the universal knowledge deep in us from birth guiding us to act in conformity with the principles of goodness, truth and beauty. We feel ashamed when we’re caught in a lie. We recognize and feel repugnance towards injustice. We try to hide our peccadillos.
Universal knowledge, “infused” Plato called it, is in us from birth. “The one in many” is how it’s defined and these universal principles come to us intact and complete. And they form the basis of everything we do in society that’s right – from personal commitments, to looking after our health, to negotiating business deals. “The fingerprints of God in the human soul,” is how Keppe defines it.
And we have examples to follow, too. Just in the last century, we witnessed grace and generosity in the face of injustice in Gandhi and King and Mandela. We have saints throughout history who were more virtuous than normal. So virtuous their bodies lie uncorrupted – in defiance of the usual process of returning to ashes and dust. And we have the greatest example of all time in the life of Jesus. More than a great moral teacher – and he was certainly that – Jesus reminded us of what it was to be a true human being, elevating us to our correct level. Let’s delve into that now, with Claudia Bernhardt Pacheco.