A Meeting Place for Those Who Aren't Afraid of the Border

The Point of this Post: The word “God” needs to be redeemed because, in our modern America, it means virtually anything we want it to.

Part 1: A Short Trip to the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries

Anyone who has taken a philosophy of religion course has heard of Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, a 19^th century philosopher and anthropologist. Though seen more as a bridge between two key movements in philosophy than as a significant figure in his own right, Feuerbach articulated an important idea: He taught that God was simply a projection of our unconscious minds. In other words, God is just a figment of our deep desires cast in grand terms. Sigmund Freud adopted this concept, calling religion nothing more than “wish-fulfillment.”

Each of these thinkers was an atheist attempting to explain the existence of religion. As atheists, they (obviously) did not believe that religion was a response to reality. The worshipper in church, according to their view, was certainly not singing to a Person. The authors of Scripture were certainly not communicating truths from God. Instead, they argued, there must be some sub-conscious explanation for man’s religious impulse.

Freud, as always, was creative in his explanation. He believed our early human ancestors, driven by sexual desire, would sometimes kill their own fathers. The patriarch dispatched, the younger sons would have access to the women of the tribe. But their hopes would always be frustrated. Though they longed to be like the father they had killed, they were forced to continue competing against their brothers for the women of the tribe.

So…religion happened because of the frustrated desire to be like the patriarch and guilt for having killed him.

Here’s the point: Feuerbach and Freud both leveled harsh charges: Religion is nothing but the expression of our subconscious hopes and fears. God is simply our desires writ large.

On one hand, that idea should bug us. But…on the other hand it shouldn’t.

Part 2: They Were Right

In an important sense, Feuerbach and Freud (FF, from now on) put their finger on a tasty piece of truth. We should not be afraid to sample.

Here it is: When left to themselves, human beings always create a “God” in their own image.

Paul describes the process in Romans 1:

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

When I first came across Feuerbach, I was troubled. But now I see his concept as a simple, sweet illustration of idolatry: When humans are not responding to the true revelation of God’s Word, they are projecting their hopes to the heavens and calling them “God.”

Just a little reflection will show us how true it is:

o    Musicians exploit women, win Grammys and thank “God.”

o    Murderers strap bombs to themselves and kill hundreds, extolling “God” as great.

o    Doctors personally terminate more than 60,000 fetuses and worship “God” on Sunday.

Extreme examples, of course. But don’t you think the “God” worshipped by many people in our land could easily be a hodgepodge of wish-fulfilling genie, self-affirming psychiatrist and eternity-securing bellboy?

More next week.