Unknown God

Acts 17:23

In my first philosophy class in college on the first day of class the professor said, “Everyone is a philosopher; the question is whether you want to be a good philosopher.”  He wanted us to be thoughtful about life, but our professor knew that becoming thoughtful about one’s life takes more than meeting the requirements of a course in college. As a Christian he believed and taught us the importance of a foundation of faith as well as the importance of reason and history and literature and science. He understood, as well, that trial and error were teachers, too, but they were oft times cruel in their methods of instruction. Thus, one did well to learn as much as possible from the experience of others whether that learning came from books or came from relationships with family and friends. Most of all, reflection on life meant prayer and Bible study and worship and service and giving. To learn philosophy from the professor I had, Dr. Paul Brewer, helped me, and I am grateful that I studied with him.

In Acts 17, the text I am reflecting on in this blog, we find Paul the Apostle in Athens engaged with philosophers. Just like my teacher in college these philosophers sought to find meaning in daily life that transcended daily matters. He spoke to a meeting of the council that gathered on the hill named Areopagus. He preached to Epicureans, and Stoics as well as Pagans who worshiped multiple gods. Paul characterized the people of Athens as “very religious” (verse 22). Paul’s critique of Athenian religion two thousand years ago speaks helpfully to me about the religious culture of America in the 21st century.

In the west the culture appears to be increasingly irreligious. People appear to be, in the words of Schleiermacher, “cultured despisers of religion,” but the seeming irreligion of the west is in my view best understood as religion in a different language, not as irreligion. All people are theologians. Secular people who do not use religious language are, nonetheless, as religious as those who use religious language. As the theologian, Paul Tillich, explained, people are doing what religious language means by theology whenever they express their dedication to an unconditional concern. The concern can be the climate or one’s family or politics or art or business or pleasure or a career or any other endeavor that is pursued unconditionally. Whatever one addresses with unconditional concern is one’s god, and that concern is the practice of what I understand to be the doing of theology. 

Paul Tillich wanted to develop vocabulary that both religious and secular people could share in order to engage with one another about their respective unconditional concerns. Tillich affirmed that Christian faith requires a decision about the claims of Jesus that is unavoidable. However, Tillich saw that people sometimes decide against a faith commitment because they reject religious language with which they cannot identify and don’t fully understand. Even people who have grown up in what we call religious homes have sometimes matured in ways that make the religious language of their youth inadequate for the concerns they have as adults. 

In Athens Paul the Apostle attempted to find a bridge in language between himself and his audience. In the ancient world Christians were accused of atheism because they rejected the Pagan pantheon of gods, and the philosophers were offended by talk of resurrection. They did not take such talk seriously because it did not fit into their understanding of what was possible. Paul extended himself to the people at the Areopagus by speaking of the “unknown god,” and quoting the words of one of their own, explaining that God is not far from any of us because, “in Him we live and move and have our being.” The message of Paul resonated among some of the listeners at the Areopagus, and they wanted to hear more. The Gospel found a hearing. The cross and the resurrection touched hearts and minds. A church started. (34).

In follow up blogs I want to reflect more on how Paul’s witness in Athens helps me think about my witness. It makes me ask the question, how can I communicate with “cultured despisers” who need as all of us do, the Gospel? How can I grow in compassion and appreciation for those who seem dismissive but are in fact searching for meaning? I have missionary motives.

I have another motive as well. It is my hope that America can be a place of freedom of expression for all religions. For Baptists freedom of religion as well as the separation of church and state have been convictions from the denomination’s founding. Freedom and church-state separation can suffer if a “hidden church” in the guise of irreligion can assume power to enforce its views on others. It is important to democracy and the free exercise of religion for this “hidden church” to be identified so that respect and theological dialogue can be brought into the open. Everyone is a theologian, and everyone will benefit when we can talk with each other and disagree with each other about theology without fear that our religious views will be sanctioned by government.

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Travels. Judy and I took a vacation to see Jason and Amanda in Madison. Wisconsin. Their house is on Lake Mendota which provides views each evening of the sun sinking and rippling across the water. We went with them to Milwaukee to see an exhibit of Van Gogh. It was a digital immersion. The experience plunges one into the works of the artist. Van Gogh’s work appears on the four walls, the floor and the ceiling. I have seen his paintings in galleries and studied Van Gogh, but this exhibit gave me new insights to my favorite artist. One day we went to the farmer’s market which surrounds the state Capitol. I brought out my camera to capture the flower stall displays. Judy bought cheese curds to share. We walked more than usual (our doctor son getting us the exercise we need). We browsed book stores which is a favorite Smith family past time. We, also, visited a place called The House on the Rock. Mostly we visited with each other and talked about matters big and small, sharing meals and “catching up.” For a parent who lives a thousand miles from a son this time was a treasure. Jason and Amanda are in process to become foster parents and in time adoptive parents. Madison is often described as a good place in which to raise a family. We are excited with them for the joy ahead in sharing life with a child.

On the way to Madison we stopped in Georgetown, Ohio to visit the “Boyhood Home of U.S. Grant.” We spent the night down the street from Grant’s home in a bed and breakfast which had been the home of friends to the Grant family. A meeting of a committee for the Grant boyhood home met at the bed and breakfast where we were staying. It was fun to interact with people whose interest in U.S. Grant is as great as mine.

On the way home we visited Janice Brazil in Richmond, Indiana. She is a friend of over forty years. Her son, Ben, and his family live in Richmond where Ben is a professor at the Earlham School of Religion. I enjoyed talking with Ben about theological education and seeing Laura, his wife, and the children—all living on the same street as Janice, just a half block away in a neighborhood that might be the set for Bedford Falls (It’s a Wonderful Life).

Having a son who turns fifty this December and friends whom I’ve known for forty years makes me realize I am a senior adult! Actually I have a few friends of sixty-five years, a few cousins of more than seventy years, a brother of more than sixty years. All these long time relationships make me grateful for each day of life with family and friends. Though, in fact, time is not the most important aspect in my relationships. I have friends and family that I’ve only recently met (Grandson Stone is only three), but new friends, just as long time friends and new family, just as family of long knowing, are as dear to me as life itself.