UMC20230516 - Declaration of Faith - Part 2¶
We are in the second week of a journey through the Apostles Creed, a declaration of our faith, and are looking at what it is that we believe when we say the lines:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
In the history of humanity, there has always been evidence of religious activity. From early hunter-gatherers believing in river and mountain gods to the more sophisticated polytheistic pantheon of the Greek nation, there have been thousands of religions that have been born and died. Most of these religions have been polytheistic (belief in many gods) in nature and monotheism has only been around for 3000 years (a very short time in human history). Of the current 5 major world religions; Islam, Christianity and Judaism are monotheistic (with Judaism being one of the first monotheistic religions). While Hinduism is polytheistic and Buddhism does not believe in a god as such, but rather focusses on spiritual practices.
One thing is for certain, as humans we all have an understanding that there is more to life than what we can see and touch.
In the Old Testament we read about the radical movement in human history from polytheism to monotheism. Abraham has an experience with the Divine who calls him to leave Babylon (and their many gods: Baal, Marduk, Hammurabi, etc.) to a new land. On this journey, Abraham develops a relationship with God who tells him to not be like other nations. Do not sacrifice children, treat your slaves well, do not jump around to other gods when one doesn't give you what you want because there is only one God, do not undertake revenge killings, have a relationship with me, I am like no other god. This was revolutionary. Unheard of.
It is in this reading of Abrahams story and his encounter with this new God that we find out a lot about who God actually. He is personally knowable, all powerful, loving, practical, involved and intimate in our lives. There is no other God like this. This is the God we believe in.
Love, Cliff