The Living God

In 2007 a very thoughtful and challenging book came out called "Quest for the Living God" by Elizabeth A. Johnson*. Sr Elizabeth is a professor of theology at Fordham University in the United States. In the book she wants to look at the various 'new' ways modern women and men see or speak of or think about, God. In the end, she is saying that we are all, of whatever religion or seekers of meaning, much richer for the many ways that God is revealed to humanity in our day. 

I suspect that what many of us have, in one way or another, been taught about God has been pretty unhelpful. Maybe we were told about a God who was 'up' there, or full of wrath, or a harsh judge who is watching our every move, or just a God distant and removed, not interested in me or my life. Even an awareness that Jesus somehow reflects God doesn't seem to help many - though I wish it did.

In any case, at the very beginning of this book Sr Elizabeth is saying a word about what she means when she uses the term 'the living God' in the title. She starts by saying that 'This way of speaking runs through the Bible from beginning to end to identify the Source of life as  dynamic, bounteous, and full of surprises. When they entered into covenant, the people of Israel 'heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire at Sinai and knew the living God is among you as they crossed into the promised land'.

Johnson goes on to say, ' Living means the opposite of dead'. That might seem obvious but it is worth pondering its implications. Then she says 'As used in this book, this appellation summons up a sense of the God who is full of energy and spirit, alive with designs for liberation and healing, always approaching from the future to do something new. In addition, the term "the living God" evokes the realization that there is always more to divine Mystery than human beings can nail down. It prepares those who use it for astonishment'.

This beautiful description made me ask myself some questions: How often am I astonished by God? What does it mean to me/us that God is always approaching from the future? How can the reality that God cannot be 'nailed down' help me to live with mystery, with things I cannot explain or control?

Though Elizabeth Johnson is a scholar and theologian there is a wonderful beauty and poetry to the way she hopes we will see God. Although the book isn't curl-up-in-bed-with, reading, it is nevertheless, an eye-opener and a heart-filler for any who want to 'know' God better.

*Elizabeth A. Johnson, Quest for the Living God, Continuum, New York, 2007.