The Popular Assumptions about God-- An Evaluation

People of all times and places, regardless of their religious affiliations, seem to have certain common assumptions of God, which is a part of their view of life. Other than such assumptions, we don’t have any objective knowledge of God. All our knowledge enters through our senses, and no human being has ever experienced God with any of the five senses. Let us see these assumptions under three headings:

1. Based on our awareness of our limitations

2. Based on our awareness of the limitations of the world

3. Based on our suffering in facing the challenges of our everyday life

Now let us see them one by one. 

1. Our limitations

Growing up as children, we realize that we lack so much essential knowledge, and we depend upon the adults for such knowledge. Soon we realize that the adults also have a limit to their knowledge. This reminds me of the beautiful poem by Kumaran Asan in Malayalam with the title “Mother and Child”. In this short poem a mother and child are having a conversation over the butterflies. The child mistakes them to be flying flowers, but the mother corrects the child. As their conversation progresses, the child asks why she can’t fly like the butterfly, and why the various living beings are endowed with varying abilities? At this question, the mother admits her limit of knowledge, and claims that God alone has an answer to that question.

I think this is the most primary awareness of all people about God. We become aware of our limitation in knowledge, and then we assume that someone must have all knowledge. That we have only limited knowledge is a fact, from which we derive an assumption that someone knows everything-- omniscient.  

Whenever someone asks a question which we can’t answer, we instinctively say “God knows”. For example, if someone asks how many stars are there in the sky, immediately we answer, God knows. This answer simply means that nobody knows the answer to that question. “Nobody knows” is a negative statement, but “God knows” is a positive statement with the same meaning.   

This is like a mathematical problem that deals with an unknown element in an equation using a place-filler like X. For example, 8 + X = 10. In this equation, X stands for an unknown number, and we can find its value with the other numbers. We use the word God like this X, as a place-filler. We know it is there, but we don’t know its value. We attempt to understand its value from the other known elements.

Next to our limitation of knowledge, we become aware of our limitation of abilities. Growing up as babies, we assume that our parents can do everything, but soon we realize that their abilities also have a limit. This leads us to assume the presence of someone who has all the possible abilities-- omnipotent.

Imagine someone asks a question such as who can jump across the Red Sea. Instinctively you answer, only God can, which is the same as nobody can.

Next to our our awareness of our limitation of knowledge and abilities, we become aware of our limitation of being and doing right all the time. Growing up as children we assume that the adults are always right. But soon we realize that it is human to err. Because our knowledge is limited, whatever we do can be wrong. From this we derive the assumption that God alone is always right, always good, always just and always holy-- these adjectives are ascribed more or less the same meaning.

We also become aware of our limited lifespan, and we assume that God has no such limit -- has neither birth nor death. We call God immortal to speak about this.

As we realize that we can be present only in one place at a time, we assume that God can be everywhere at the same time -- omnipresent

2. Limitations of the World

We become aware of two of the primary limitations of the world -- of time and space. The entire world exists within space, and it changes according to time. From this we assume that God is beyond these limits. Instead of the world existing within time and space, we assume that the world, time and space exist within God. Hence we use adjectives like eternal, infinite, transcendent, and unchanging to speak of God.  

3. Our Suffering

Other than such limitation-derived assumptions, we have another kind of assumption about God. Living our life is a challenge. It is a risky adventure. Anything can happen any time. When we suffer, we assume God’s role in our suffering in various ways.

A. God makes us suffer justly or unjustly. God punishes us for our wrong deeds like a king/judge/parent

B. Even if God does not make us suffer, God is aware of our suffering. God either helps us or does not help us to get out of suffering.

So what is God’s attitude to us. We have various assumptions:

A. God does not care for us.

B. God hates us for some unknown reason.

C. God likes us if we obey God, but dislikes us if we disobey God

Destructive Assumptions about God 

These assumptions about God’s attitude toward us makes our life even more miserable. Let us say we assume that God hates us for some reason and makes us suffer, or that God is like a king who imposes rules on us. Then we will devote a lot of our time and energy to change the attitude of God toward us. We will try to please God by saying nice things, by giving good gifts, by trying to live a life according to God’s will etc. However, none of these work, and we get even more frustrated. Moreover, whatever we assume about God, our character slowly becomes like that. If I assume that God is like an authoritarian parent or ruler, I will also become authoritarian.

Religions are often based on such destructive assumptions. People spend their time and energy to please God, which over time gets translated to large establishments that include property, buildings, people, rituals, literature, doctrines etc. Such establishments depend upon the destructive assumptions of God, and so the people who make a living out of such establishments keep feeding such destructive assumptions. 

Solution

So what is the solution? One of the following two solutions has been tried:

1. Denying God’s existence

2. Affirming that God loves us unconditionally  

Denying the existence of an authoritarian God can be a temporary solution to get out of our misery and out of the clutches of a destructive religion. However, it can’t be permanent. If we deny the existence of the one who knows everything, the one who is all powerful, the one who does everything right, then how do we deal with our own limitations? How do we conceptualize the ever-changing world in the absence of a never-changing God? 

On the other hand, if we choose the other solution, that would be a lasting one. If we assume that God loves us unconditionally, we will not waste our time and energy to change God’s attitude. But we will turn our attention to changing our own life and attitude. Also with such a role model, we will also learn to love unconditionally. We can make our life more meaningful and more productive.  

John D. Kunnathu