Archbishop admits doubts about God.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29255318 .

The Archbishop of Canterbury explains that it was acceptable to occasionally have doubt, and still be a Christian. He added: "The extraordinary thing about being a Christian is that God is faithful even when we're not. When we get into the wrong place he comes alongside us and says, 'Right let's go from here.'"

His remarks were made at an event in Bristol Cathedral in which the Archbishop spoke about why he believes in God and how his faith in Jesus has transformed his life.

"Honest to God" book is 50 years old

Back in spring 1963, a book on theology by John A. T. Robinson , the then Bishop of Woolwich, called "Honest to God" became an instant best seller selling millions and millions of copies around the world.  It was reprinted many times within just a few months.  At the time, everyone, it seemed,  was talking about it. It was endlessly discussed on the TV and in the newspapers. Many within the Church of England were deeply troubled by it.

In the book, Robinson challenged the conventional understanding of God "up there or out there" and instead looked for a demythologised understanding of God as the "ground of being" as Tillich termed it.

Today, few young people will be aware of this book, but if you can find a copy then I can recommend reading it. Unless you are a convinced and total atheist, you are likely to find the book thought provoking. This was no evangelical religious book: in fact it was quite the opposite.  For the first time it seemed a man in the Church of England was vocalising what many had felt: the old portrayal of God as a kindly old man on a cloud was dead, irrelevant. And yet, deep within us there is that sense of something transcendent with a deeper meaning than the atoms and genes from which we are formed.

I see that Amazon is selling a 50th anniversary edition.

In God We Doubt - a book I've just read and recommend

In God We Doubt: Confessions of a Failed Atheist is a book by the BBC Radio 4 Today presenter John Humphrys in which he explores why people do, or do not, believe in God. As an agnostic myself, full of doubt and confused about what to believe, I found this a very honest and open book that asks the right questions, although I am still little further forward on my spiritual journey.

This is the description from Amazon:

"Throughout the ages believers have been persecuted – usually for believing in the “wrong” God. So have non-believers who have denied the existence of God as superstitious rubbish.

Today it is the agnostics who are given a hard time. They are scorned by believers for their failure to find faith and by atheists for being hopelessly wishy-washy and weak-minded. But John Humphrys is proud to count himself among their ranks. In this book he takes us along the spiritual road he himself has travelled. He was brought up a Christian and prayed every day of his life until his growing doubts finally began to overwhelm his faith.

As one of the nation’s most popular and respected broadcasters, he had the rare opportunity in 2006 of challenging leaders of our three main religions to prove to him that God does exist. The Radio Four interviews – Humphrys In Search of God – provoked the biggest response to anything he has done in half a century of journalism. The interviews and the massive reaction from listeners had a profound effect on him – but not in the way he expected.

Doubt is not the easy option. But for the millions who can find no easy answers to the most profound questions it is the only possible one."

Eckhart Tolle

Are you, like me, one of the people who had never heard of Eckhart Tolle? My son told me about him this week. He's a German-born Canadian resident, a philosopher and thinker, and the author of the The Power of Now, a book I'd never heard about. I have watched a few of his YouTube videos and he does talk a lot of sense.  Tolle writes that "the most significant thing that can happen to a human being [is] the separation process of thinking and awareness" and that awareness is "the space in which thoughts exist". He also writes that religions "have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual substance has become almost completely obscured"^, that they have become "to a large extent ... divisive rather than unifying forces" and become "themselves part of the insanity".   I am a little uncomfortable about the commercialisation of his work though which rather taints the good sense he talks. Still, there is a lot of free content around which is worth a look. Make up your own mind whether it is helpful or not on your own spiritual journey.

The Quaker Way?

The traditional view of a supernatural God "out there", beyond and above us, has never truly felt meaningful to me.  Nonetheless, despite reading and largely agreeing with much rational, atheist writing (e.g. that of Richard Dawkins), I am still left with a sense of the holiness, depth, mystery and "connectedness" of all things in the universe, especially of all living things. A purely biological explanation of how we came to be may be correct, but somehow misses something to do with our connectedness, our sense of the "spiritual" depth in our lives, of the fundamental mystery of life, consciousness, and total, unconditional love that appears key to our very existence. Life is not shallow.

The Quakers seem to have the right ideas. Let me quote from the Quaker faith in action webpage:

"Quaker faith springs from a deeply held belief in living our lives according to our spiritual experience. Some of our spiritual insights, which we call our testimonies, spring from deep experience and have been a part of Quaker faith for many years. These Quaker testimonies arise out of an inner conviction and challenge our normal ways of living:

• they exist in spiritually led actions rather than rigid written forms
• they are governed by continuing spiritual experience and are not imposed in any way
• they require us to search for ways in which we can live out the testimonies for ourselves

It’s not easy, but with loving advice and a supportive community, Quakers are encouraged to keep trying.

Truth and integrity
Quakers try to live according to the deepest truth we know, which we believe comes from God. This means speaking the truth to all, including people in positions of power. Integrity is the guiding principle we set for ourselves and expect in public life.

Justice, equality and community
Quakers recognise the equal worth and unique nature of every person. This means working to change the systems that cause injustice and hinder true community. It also means working with people who are suffering from injustice, such as prisoners and asylum seekers.

Simplicity
Quakers are concerned about the excesses and unfairness of our consumer society, and the unsustainable use of natural resources. We try to live simply and to give space for the things that really matter: the people around us, the natural world, our experience of God.

Peace
Perhaps Quakers are best known for our peace testimony. This arises from our conviction that love is at the heart of existence and all human beings are equal in the eyes of God, and that we must live in a way that reflects this. The peace testimony has led Quakers to refuse military service, and to become involved in a wide range of peace activities, from practical work in areas affected by violent conflict to the development of alternatives to violence at all levels from personal to international. Read more about Quakers and peace."

Quakers are well known for their peace and reconciliation work across the world. They were central in bridge-building in N.Ireland. They have always maintained that war is ultimately futile and that there are better ways to solve international problems and disputes.  They have always had a very ethical way of doing business.

Fundamentally, Quakers look for "that of God in everyone". This sounds quaint, but it has deep meaning: in every human we see something of the depth and mystery that is at the core of all life. We are part of a complex interconnected web of life: in the face of every living thing we glimpse the ultimate meaning of life, the ground of all our being. We see what some would call God.