Michael Commane
Stephen Fry's television interview some weeks back with Gay Byrne in The Meaning of Life series certainly set off an interesting discussion. And it's still continuing.
It would seem that most of the people who reacted to his harsh words on a “God” he does not believe in were offended with what he had to say. Needless to say, not so in the case of Canon Gordon Linney, who mentioned it in this column last Saturday (February 21st).
Stephen Fry is not the first person to be angry with God.
In tomorrow’s Gospel (Mark 9: 2–10) the evangelist Mark gives an account of the transfiguration of Jesus on a high mountain. But what is particularly interesting in the story is how the disciples of Jesus react to his transfiguration.
They come face-to-face with the out-of-this-world magnificence of God and they are completely confused. They are so confused – and maybe even distraught – that in their pandemonium Peter suggests to Jesus that they build three tents :“One for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Mark bluntly tells us that Peter “did not know what to say; they were so frightened”.
To think that those who were closest to Jesus, those whom he had impressed and inspired had no idea what to say or do when they came face-to-face with the glory of God, surely gives some sort of reassurance to those of us who spend our lives questioning and doubting.
The reaction of the disciples in wanting to build tents is all too familiar. How often do we talk in glowing terms of those who build churches or try to honour the transcendent with bricks and mortar. Of course we need places of prayer, we need all sorts of buildings but our fortune, our ultimate “glory” is never to be found in physical constructions. The idea of the disciples building tents or shelters in the context of tomorrow’s Gospel might well look so silly. But isn’t that the reality with which so many of us find ourselves most comfortable?
We spend our lives trying to give shape to things, trying to understand things in our terms, in how we deal with the reality about us. In one sense it is all we can do. They are the tools we have been given to manage our lives.
If things go wrong it is inevitable that we will want to find a scapegoat, to blame someone for our woes, sometimes even ourselves. It seems to make sense that people would get very angry with God when things go wrong. And Stephen Fry made that sort of sense when he was castigating “God” as a maniac.
But was it not his construction of an idea of God that he was attacking?
Once we try to say anything about God we are saying it in our terms and in our language. And God is way beyond all our terms and our methods of analysis. Yes, there is a place for theology, there is a place for the teaching tradition of the church. As Christians we believe that Jesus is God. Through Jesus we get a hint of God. But even after all that we have to be extremely slow in putting any sort of construct on God. Just look at Peter and his friends, who were so confused when they got a glimpse of the real God.
The Dominican saint and doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas, regarded as one of the great theologians, wrote extensively on all matters dealing with things to do with God. However he said at the end of his life that everything he wrote was straw.
We really need to go gently in our life-long journey towards God. It is completely different to every other experience, every other adventure.