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Early in the multimedia-based study of Christian theology, “Living the Questions 2.0: An Introduction to Progressive Christianity” (LtQ2) the question is asked, “What is the character of your God?”
This question has become an on-going personal reflection on what God is and what God is not. I continually elicit input from others. Regardless of how much personal contemplation is involved or how much input from others is folded into it, this reflection will never be authoritative or definitive or complete. I am not writing a creed.
To use this reflection as a personal or group exercise or meditation; 1) Do not try to discern what I am trying to say or what it means to me. Use it to create a personal introspection, not a critique. 2) During the first complete uninterrupted reading, withhold judgements and evaluations and responses until it is finished, then ask these questions: What was obvious? What was confusing? What was surprising? What was an epiphany? How should the current response be edited? What should be re-worded, rearranged, re-sequenced, deleted, added, or changed in some way? What should be rejected? What should be questioned or examined or requires more contemplation? What should be affirmed? Based on what you include and what you did not include, what does this reveal about your relationship with God?
The only requirement of the exercise is that every “God is” quality (sometimes expressed as more than one statement) must be paired with a “God is not” quality (which, likewise, is sometimes expressed as more than one statement).
Only two assumptions are made. The second assumption is that each individual is in relationship with God and that something of the nature of God can be discerned through that relationship.
The first assumption?
God Is.
* * * * * * * * * *
God Is
God is Only Is
God is not was
God is not will be
God is Reality
God is not imaginary
God Exists
God is Important
God is not superfluous
God is not undeniable
God is not inescapable
God is Mystery
God is not unknowable – God can be experienced
God is not confined or constrained by any list
– including this list
God is not completely enclosed or fully defined or fully detailed by any list
– including this list
God is Divine
God is not mortal or finite or ordinary
God is Expecting Us to be Divine
God is not made in our image
God is not anthropomorphic or an action figure
God is Infinite
God is not limitless
God is Good and Holy
God is not bad or evil
God is Love
God is not hate
God is Choices
God is not forced options
God is Questions
God is not answers
God is Grace
God is not spiteful or rejecting or conditional
God is Relationship
God is Freedom
God is not regulation or regimentation
God is not a megalomaniac or needing to be in control
God is Truth
God is not a liar
God is Wise
God is not foolish
God is Light
God is Color
God is more than the Spectrum
God is not darkness
God is Peace
God is not angry or violent or punitive or warring
God is Reconciliation
God is not divisive or feuding or a holder of grudges
God is Vibrant
God is not inactive or lethargic
God is not unresponsive or passive
God is Life
God is not death
God is Growth and Maturation and Forward
God is not shrinking or regressive or stagnant or stuck
God is not infantile or Peter Pan or backward
God is Listening
God is not deaf or inattentive
God is Intelligent and Knowledgeable
God is not stupid or ignorant
God is Creative and Imaginative
God is not destructive or innovation-averse or boring
God is Artistic and Musical
God is not unexpressive
God is Always-Inviting and All-Accepting and All-Inclusive
God is Welcoming and Hospitable
God is not exclusionary or exploitive
God is not unwelcoming or inhospitable
God is Ever Present and Ever Engaged
God is not absent or unreachable or uninvolved
God is Patient
God is not impatient
God is Challenging and Insistent and Relentless
God is an Educator encouraging Learning and Questioning, Knowledge and Wisdom
God is not stopped or paused or giving up on us
God is not uninvolved or uncommunicative
God is not a trainer or a score-keeper or an examiner or an inquisitor
God is not dismissive or authoritarian
God is Sympathy and Empathy and Caring and Generous
God is not petty or insincere or callous or greedy
God is Trustworthy
God is not treacherous
God is Careful
God is not reckless
God is Consistent
God is not capricious
God performs neither miracles nor acts of retribution
God neither intervenes nor condemns
God is Guiding
God is an Influential Presence
God is not intrusive or manipulative
God is not demanding or passive/aggressive
God is not arrogant or tyrannical
God is Liberation
God is not enslaving or restrictive or confining
God is not judgmental or condemning
God is a Good Companion and Friend
God is not arrogant or mean or vindictive
God is not retaliatory or punishing
God Acts only out of Love
God Acts only with Love
God Loves Unconditionally and Uncontrollably
God Invites and Welcomes and Includes without exception or qualification
God does not act out of either vengeance or a sense of punishment
God does not provide either vengeance or punishment
God does not act out of either favoritism or exclusion
God does not choose any person over any other person
God does not choose any group of people over any other group of people
God does not eliminate, abandon, or exclude anyone
for any reason for any length of time
God is Singular and Solitary
There are neither multiple nor opposing divine forces
God is the Creator, Artist, Designer, Engineer, and Programmer
God’s Creation is Designed as a Fractal
God’s Creation Works Chaotically
God’s creation does not work randomly
God is not a dictator, puppet master, control-freak, or mechanic
God is not micro-managing or fixing the universe
God is not experimenting or playing with the universe
God Acts only To Create or To Transform
or To Be in a Loving Relationship with creation
God does not destroy or abandon
God is Humorous and Funny
God is not a prankster, joker, jester, comedian, clown, or fool
God’s Power is Relational and Persuasive
God’s Power is Subservient to the healthy and dialogical relationship
God has with creation
God’s Power works through a Shared Vision
God’s power is not unilateral or demanding
God’s power is not definitive of God’s character
(Bruce Epperly, “Divine Power – Unilateral or Relational?”, May 25, 2010)
(http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com/2010/05/divine-power-unilateral-or-relational.html)
God has Limits
God without limits is too small and too thin and too diffuse
God is not omnipotent or omniscient or omnipresent
God is not omnipotent
God cannot destroy, control, hate, lie, impose, manipulate, exclude,
punish, retaliate, judge, condemn, act vindictively or capriciously
God does not imperil our existence or our humanity (LtQ2, John Shelby Sprong)
God is neither omniscient nor omnipresent
God is Always Here with us in the Now
God Permeates and Imbues our being – our thoughts, emotions,
choices, and actions – only through our invitation and practice
God is an Influential Presence only to the extent
that we make ourselves aware of it and learn to be sensitive to it
God is In Relationship with us while being deliberately unaware of our future
and forgivingly dismissive of our past
God is not in the past or the future
God cannot intrude in or impose on life
God does not preplan or predestine the course or end of life
by Doug Sloan
Doug is
a member of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Terre Haute, Indiana where he has served as an Elder and Treasurer and currently enjoys being a member of the choir. He graduated in 1997 with a BS in Management Information Systems from Ball State University and a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana State University in 2009. Since August 2005, he has been a member of the CIS Adjunct Faculty at the Terre Haute campus of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. He has had articles published in DisciplesWorld and Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice. Doug is married to Carol, a First Grade teacher, and is the father of two sons.
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