The Encyclopedia of World Religions

176 S God

of Israel from slavery in Egypt ( see E XODUS ). Many people envision God as well as talk about God. They worship God in the form of sacred images. For example, Hindus have many elaborate images through which they approach God. Some people talk about God philosophically. Among other topics, they try to determine just what can be said about God. Some insist that one can talk about God only using negative terms. For example, the statement “God is infinite” says that God is not subject to ordinary limitations. Oth ers speak of God positively, for example, “God is love.” Most qualify that statement: God’s love is very much more profound than human love. In the 20th century, some philosophers and theolo gians were interested in symbols as ways of talking about God. Yet another group of religious people insist that it is not possible to talk about God at all. These are mystics ( see MYSTICISM ). Some mystics claim that God is so unlike anything in ordinary existence that God is beyond all speech and thought. All human beings can do is experience God in silence. WHAT IS GOD LIKE? Just as many religious people find meaning in sto ries about God, so many religious people tend to think of God in personal terms. Indeed, some insist that people can worship only a personal God. Dur ing the 20th century, many North Americans ques tioned the traditional Jewish and Christian images of a personal God. In their eyes, these ideas were too European and too male to be attractive to all human beings ( see FEMINISM ). Philosophers and theologians have tended to describe God in terms of more abstract “attri butes” or characteristics. Many Jews, Christians, and Muslims have said that God is one, eternal, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, present throughout the universe, and beneficent. During the 20th century philosophers and theologians questioned many of these attributes: “Process theologians” suggested that God was always changing and developing. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian victim of the H OLOCAUST , taught that God suffers, too.

Singh died, he gave instructions that he would be the last human guru. From that time on, the Sikhs have recognized a collection of the writings of ear lier gurus and other poets as guru. It is called A DI G RANTH or, more reverently, Guru Granth Sahib. God The supreme object of WORSHIP . Out of respect, some Jews write “G-d” instead of “God.” They see this spelling as a way to avoid using God’s name. Monotheists believe that there is only a single God ( see MONOTHEISM ). Polytheists worship many gods ( see POLYTHEISM ). But many polytheists also speak of God. They may think of God as the high est god, or they may see all particular gods as man ifestations of the supreme God. WHAT DOES “GOD” MEAN? Probably no definition of the word “God” is com pletely satisfactory. Some people characterize God as supernatural. But others, such as Baruch Spinoza, have identified God with nature. Some people characterize God as superhuman. But oth ers see a human being as God; for example, some Christians see J ESUS as the only God. The medi eval philosopher A NSELM defined God as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” But if one is examining a variety of beliefs in God, as we are here, Anselm’s definition will not work. The definition given above—God is the supreme object of worship—has its limitations, too. Some people, such as the ancient Epicureans, have believed in a supreme God but have considered that God too remote to be concerned about human beings or interested in their worship. HOW DO PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GOD? Religious people talk about God in several ways. Most people talk about God mythologically. That is, they tell stories that treat God as a human-like being. Hindus have many stories about God in the forms of S IVA , V ISHNU , K RISHNA , R AMA , and the G OD DESS . Jews, Christians, and Muslims share stories about how God created the world, almost destroyed it with a universal FLOOD , and redeemed the people