Philos
Member
Folks,
Is a loving God possible?
Having been through (and still in) some grim ill health recently, I have been wondering about something. Attending mass does bring a little comfort in these times, but I'm not a Catholic and cannot accept the catechism. So, what is an agnostic like me doing there at all?
Maybe the Catholics have got it all wrong, indeed all Christians and any kind of theists have it wrong. To the agnostic this is possible, and also possible that some theists have it right. An agnostic can certainly believe in the possibility of a loving God, even hope that there is one. I don't see a problem with that.
Now, if there is a loving God, why should that God be bothered if we have got the names, and perhaps the whole story, wrong. I don't think so for one minute. There may be a loving God beyond any prophecy that we have known, or could know, and this God may be listening to every prayer in every language as a sign of our open hearts.
A psychotherapist friend once said to me “Buddhism and Christianity are the same thing.” I was disconcerted by that at the time, but nowadays it is beginning to feel true. In this case my agnostic participation in the Catholic mass or the Buddhist meditation may be as authentic as anyone's. I participate without exclusive belief in that story, but does it matter?
Is there any sense in these thoughts?
Alex.
Is a loving God possible?
Having been through (and still in) some grim ill health recently, I have been wondering about something. Attending mass does bring a little comfort in these times, but I'm not a Catholic and cannot accept the catechism. So, what is an agnostic like me doing there at all?
Maybe the Catholics have got it all wrong, indeed all Christians and any kind of theists have it wrong. To the agnostic this is possible, and also possible that some theists have it right. An agnostic can certainly believe in the possibility of a loving God, even hope that there is one. I don't see a problem with that.
Now, if there is a loving God, why should that God be bothered if we have got the names, and perhaps the whole story, wrong. I don't think so for one minute. There may be a loving God beyond any prophecy that we have known, or could know, and this God may be listening to every prayer in every language as a sign of our open hearts.
A psychotherapist friend once said to me “Buddhism and Christianity are the same thing.” I was disconcerted by that at the time, but nowadays it is beginning to feel true. In this case my agnostic participation in the Catholic mass or the Buddhist meditation may be as authentic as anyone's. I participate without exclusive belief in that story, but does it matter?
Is there any sense in these thoughts?
Alex.