A 21st Century Perspective
We know a lot more about God's creation than they did 2000 years ago. We know about unimaginably small atoms and molecules, and the mind boggling processes involved in "life" - DNA and the double helix. Through television we know more than any other generation just how wonderful, diverse and beautiful the natural world is. We know that our small, precious, planet orbits the sun, a medium size star, one of perhaps 200,000,000,000 stars in our Galaxy. Our galaxy is one of millions and if we look at the most distant we see it as it was 13,000,000,000 years ago - it is so far distant that it has taken that long for the light to reach us. God it seems is not confined to the spacial and temporal dimensions that confine us; he is not confined to our "here and now". After all we accept that he can be everywhere at once. There is logic to the argument that he cannot be made of the stuff he himself created.
One thing we
can say for certain about the creator is that he is
totally beyond our comprehension.
Now you and I may not know how a Computer works, the Internet may be a complete mystery and writing software beyond us but people who do understand these things have provided us with an interface with this unfathomable technology which means we can interact with it in a meaningful way using a keyboard, screen and operating system.
Our
relationship with God works because he understands us not
because we understand him.
Just as we have a computer interface which allows us to relate to unfathomable technology, God has – through Jesus – provided us with an interface we mere humans can cope with. We are to think of God, and relate to him, as our Heavenly Father. A user friendly interface on a human scale to an awesome, unfathomable reality.
If you are a worshiper then “God” and “heavenly father” are freely interchangeable there is no need to draw a distinction between the two and I'm sure that is how God wanted it to be. That works perfectly if you accept what God has given us on his terms and don’t start asking the sort of absurd questions they addressed at Nicene in 325AD when they came up with the Nicene Creed.
Problem 3 - While a 21st Century perspective leaves what Jesus taught unscathed it makes Church doctrine look very dated if not ridiculous. The Nicene conference was a pivotal moment in the development of the Church but those concerned failed to appreciate how awesome God is: failed to distinguish between our interface with God - our Heavenly Father - and the unimaginable awesome reality of God itself. They addressed Questions about the nature of God which no man is qualified to answer and for which no answer was ever needed. God loves us he wants us to love him and he wants us to follow the teaching of Jesus - what they decided at Nicene does not affect that in any way.
 |