Topic:  Why do we need God?

Source of this posting: Moderator response

Date originally posted: June 17, 2003

Moderator who originally posted this source: Father Phillip

Question:   In short, why does there need to be a God, and if not "need" why is there one?  I grew up in the Church, so I don't remember ever having a moment when I first believed.  God was always just there.    Even when I was most involved in the Church, I think I was there for the community more than the faith. 

Answer: 

Dear Jason,

In the middle ages theologians thought a lot about the "need" for God -- as the necessary ground of all being, the First Mover, the One from Whom all things take their being, etc.  Paul Tillich (a Protestant theologian) in the mid-20th century picked up some of that language and made it popular among Christian thinkers again.  Jewish theologians have also use a similar kind of logic:  The contingency of us and all that we know, it's change-ability, it's transience 'require' -- largely from the point of view of logic and philosophy -- that SOMETHING be absolute, be necessary, be non-contingent.

In our postmodern, post-deconstructionalist world this need for absolute necessity is not quite so worrisome for many of us.  But still, it's "back there" in our minds.  I really think that the vast majority of people WANT to believe that something, somebody gives absolute, positive, necessary meaning and permanence to our otherwise rather 'shaky' world and existence.  I, for one, am really glad that God is.

You say that when you were most involved in Church you think it may have been more for the community than the faith.  God assumed flesh and lived among us, and while Jesus was here, He called women and men into community with Him and with one another.  The community is a sacred and holy reality.  By reverencing the community, we are paying homage to the One Who creates the community and Who calls the community together and Who gives the community its mission and meaning.  The community, which you have wisely identified as one of the most important reasons you liked being part of Church, is the continuation of that Incarnate Presence of God among us.  The community is not the only continuation of that Incarnate Presence, but the community is definitely one vitally important aspect of God's Presence in our lives and in our world.  Thank Goodness you enjoyed and felt part of the community...that experience was one of the ways God was loving you and guiding you and helping you and being with you.