Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God

By Robert D. Cornwall

Theology is a complex subject, with many subdisciplines, and is know for thick volumes with dense prose. This book bucks that trend, but hitting the basics briefly, but carefully.

In this 50th volume of the Topical Line Drives series, theologian and church historian Dr. Robert D. Cornwall provides a clear introduction to the basics. His approach is not to give you a set of beliefs about God, but rather to provide you with an introductory foundation to the way Christians talk about God. Key concepts, such as omnipotence, impassibility, transcendence, immanence, and yes, love, along with many others. The content is brief, but carefully designed as a launching pad for further study.

Read this book in order to make all your other theological reading more profitable. It will keep you from missing out because some of the basic were passed over, or were obscured by extensive discussion.

Besides individual reading, this volume is useful as an introductory reading in theology courses or for small groups in churches who would like to better understand their other curricula and more profitably discuss their ideas about God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Jan 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781631998553

Robert D. Cornwall

Robert D. Cornwall is a Minister-at-Large for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), theologian, ecumenical and interfaith leader, police chaplain, and author. He has written numerous books and articles, including Called to Bless: Finding Hope by Reclaiming Our Spiritual Roots. He serves as the editor of Sharing the Practice (the journal of the Academy of Parish Clergy).

Book preview

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Speaking of God

An Introductory Conversation about

How Christians Talk About God

Robert D. Cornwall

Topical Line Drives

#50

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, Florida

2023

Copyright © 2023, Robert D. Cornwall

Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition Bible, copyright © 1989, 2021 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-63199-854-6

eISBN: 978-1-63199-855-3

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, FL 32560

[e-mail]

energion.com

Introduction

Humans have been pondering, perhaps since the beginning of human consciousness, whether something lies beyond the world of our senses. How and when religion emerged remains an open question, but perhaps John Calvin is correct when he suggested that we possess within us a sense of the divine (sensus divinitas). I have long found that rationale for the origin of religion compelling. It’s not proof, but it does have some explanatory power. That is because even though humans may frame their understanding of the divine differently, every culture seems to have developed some form of religion. For some God is an all-powerful being who controls all things while for others God is the fellow traveler who walks with us through life, guiding and consoling us but not controlling things. God has been described as the unmoved mover or first cause (Aristotle) and the ground of being (Paul Tillich). God is understood by some as being immanent, close at hand, while for others God is transcendent (wholly other). God might be understood to be deeply engaged with us, even as our partner in life (relational theology), or completely uninvolved with the universe other than getting things started (deism). In popular culture, we often hear God referred to as the Man Upstairs, an image that conjures in our minds the picture of an old man with a long white beard. On the other hand, one can refer to God as the womb of being." These are but descriptions of God embraced by Christians. There is, to be honest, an understandable tendency to envision God in our own image, having human traits and characteristics, only better. This is not a problem as long as we understand that these descriptions are metaphors and should not be taken literally.

While Christians look to Scripture for guidance when it comes to our beliefs about God, we don’t read Scripture in a vacuum. We often make use of philosophical concepts and culturally laden vocabulary to interpret and express what we find in Scripture and what we consider to be foundational. Many of our foundational Christian beliefs have been influenced by Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. This is true, whether we acknowledge this inheritance or not. The reason for this is that since the earliest times, as the Christian movement moved out from Jerusalem and its Jewish origins, Christians have sought out language and concepts that could be used to further our theological discussion and definitions. That continues to this day. Even theologians who have chosen to abandon Greek concepts tend to draw upon current philosophical systems whether existentialism or process philosophy to name but a few. Thus, each generation of theologians must re-evaluate its theological inheritance and engage with the philosophical systems of the day.

As we engage with contemporary philosophical