Jittery Theologians

Why is it that so many in our day and age are attracted to the notion of a God who is impersonal? New Age theories seem to be infiltrating all parts of society in almost every country of the world.

I think there is a very subtle reason why men and women prefer to think of God as a power rather than as a person. If God is merely a power, or a formless life-force flowing through the universe, He can make no demands. One is not challenged to relate to an energy in the same way that one is challenged to relate to a person. When we believe God is a Person, the next question we have to face is: “How do I relate to Him?” It is the idea of meeting a personal God which causes men and women to tremble.

But deep down in every human heart, placed there by the Almighty, is a conviction that a personal God exists. We have all been made in His image, and His stamp is upon us whether we like it or not. In reality there are very few atheists; most people believe in some kind of God.

Someone has described an atheist as “a theologian with the jitters.” A good way of dealing with those jitters is to expunge from the heart the idea that God may be personal and that one might be accountable to Him. Better a life force or a celestial energy—a power that can be tapped—rather than a person one might some day have to meet. How foolish it all is—settling for short-term comfort but facing eternal loss.

Further Study

Gn 1:26-30; 5:1; 1Co 11:7; James 3:9; Eccl 3:11

What are the implications of being created in God’s image?

What has God set within us?