“Is God a useful concept?
God is a good concept because it is evident through the works he does. For example, he was able to create all things in earth and heaven by merely commanding them into existence. The holy bible helps Christians to believe in his ability to perform signs and wonders by delivering people from trouble. Humankind is descendants of Adam and Eve, and because of their sins, we had to face suffering as a consequence (Vardy, 2015). However, God’s goodness is still expressed to those that cry out to him for rescue while in trouble. The mercies and compassion of God are too strong for him not to act upon a call of help from those who believe. The scriptures say that God is a deliverer, light, and perfect of faith. That means when experiencing extreme suffering; people may tend to think that God does not even exist. But he gives them the strength to believe still that he is present and that he is the one that gives them the power to endure and come out of the situation stronger (Leath, 2015).
The concept of God’s goodness was evident in the extraordinary strength people had during oppression. The suffering was intense as their oppressors inhumanly mishandled them. However, they were inspired by the hope that God was able to rescue them and eventually grant them freedom. Nevertheless, they learned to always indulge in good deeds with the motivation that God was good, and he loved when people emulate his character of goodness. Furthermore, their acts of kindness were propelled with the fear of punishment from God (Leath, 2015). That was evident in the scripture, for example, God being angry with the Israelites and giving them to slavery in exile Babylon. People believed that their suffering was just temporary, that God would one day remember them and deliver them through redemption. However, other individuals thought that when the pains from the oppressors became so intense, they needed not to seek revenge but to take the burdens to God who would revenge for them (Brown, 2008).
Another reason why the concept of God is useful is that it supports the aspect of unity across the world. The issue of harmony and integration can be promoted through the idea of God. People would always recognize the fact that there is only one creator. The presence of one God implies that all human beings across the globe are brought together by only one God (Brown, 2008). Since there is one God, people will always feel that their origin is traced from one point hence instilling the essence of brotherhood among the people.
Moreover, through God, Christians are always occupied with religious activities that enable them to spread the gospel across the globe. Since people usually spread the word of God worldwide, there is still an opportunity for these evangelists and entire Christians to interact hence promoting togetherness. All these imply that the concept of God is crucial in promoting unity among God’s creations.
The concept of God is very fundamental to every generation because it forms the basis for the creation and application of technical skills in daily life activities. The potentialities or abilities to generate technologically is connected to God’s creation, and it has influenced the whole world (Fagge, 2016). God also created the technology hence the onset of intelligence is being attributed to God’s creations. It, therefore, means that the act of designing programs intelligently began due to the knowledge of God. Several reasons support that the concept of God is related to technological advancement and intelligent designs. The first example is that God’s thought is useful in technology is that He was able to enhance creativity while undertaking the creation process. For example, God was able to create humankind in his image and likeness hence demonstrates the uniqueness of God’s creation. God was also intelligent enough in the issue of construction of the Tower of Babel whereby God was intelligent to prevent the man from reaching God.
Moreover, God was able to design different languages that man used to communicate his ideas (Fagge, 2016). The creation of the patterns of words is even more useful today because individuals must express. Many scholars are always concerned with conducting studies to establish the genesis and credibility of the genesis of languages. Based on the above discussion, man has imitated God’s intelligence in designing a lot of issues. For example, the emergence of new technology through the application of computers can also be connected to God’s knowledge and creation. Therefore, the concept of God is useful in the world because it promotes dramatic advancement and development because of innovations.
God is viewed as a liberator from the hardships (Gordon 1995). The darkness is used to describe suffering and oppression which ultimately God came to take away from humankind. For example, the emotional, political and economic abuse which are commonly experienced by humankind (Brown, 2008). The Jews believe that God came for them because of the covenant made for their forefather Abraham. In this anti-black world, it is, therefore, explicit that people in who are in the dark are subjects as well as objects of a lot of suffering under the superiority of those in the light (Perkinson, 2014). Even though suffering can either be related to divine disfavor or favor, the black theology perception makes it evident that it is an expression of divine disapproval. The theology of liberation has, therefore, led to the presumption that suffering is for the lost. The people have been linked to ethnic pain because of the wrong perceptions in the world (Gordon 1995). That, however, brings contradiction with the black theology and is a dangerous belief since God came for all humankind regardless of their locations. The definition of any dark situation as being related to suffering has affirmed the state of ethnic misery (Brown, 2008).
During oppression, the oppressors usually are so cruel and ruthless. That may cause a feeling of bitterness and an urge for revenge from the oppressed. However, due to the goodness of God, the oppressed are reminded that God wants them to forgive and do good in return. By obeying that, the oppressed can experience peace in their hearts and God can deal with the oppressors according to their evil deeds (Leath, 2015). For example, the Israelites were able to endure suffering while in slavery in Egypt. That made God to rescue them and destroy their enemy’s army with floods and served as perfect revenge for the Israelites. In the present life, the same is still experienced as the evil doers get punishment from God in different ways (Vardy, 2015).
The expected benevolence nature of God, however, is not experienced in reality. Therefore, from the perspective of white racism theology which argues that suffering is only for the people who do wrong and not for everyone is to be revisited. That is because pain is part of life and God said in this world we would suffer. The difference manifest on the different ways people endure the suffering and those who ask God for rescue find deliverance. The fact remains that God’s nature cannot be measured nor comprehended. The superior need to decrease and the inferior increase and both attain the level of humanity which is the ultimate position of man before God. Ultimately, God remains to be a good God even in adversities.
Similarly, the concept of God is useful because it enables humankind to seek refuge from their creator. There are most moments in life whereby people feels weak in body and spirit (Brown, 2008). This circumstance can be created through disasters in life such as the death of relatives, floods, hunger, and famine among other epidemics. Through the application of God’s concept, people will always feel comforted in Christ. God usually support human beings at their lowest point hence making them stronger. All these explanations provide evidence that indeed the concept of God is essential in every human activity.
References
Anderson, V. (2016). Beyond ontological blackness: An essay on African American religious and cultural criticism. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Brown, C. R. (2008). Is God a White Racist? RELIGIOUS HUMANISM, 40(1), 5-10.
Fagge, M. (2016). God and Technology.
Gordon, L. R. (1995). Sartrean bad faith and antiblack racism. In The Prism of the Self (pp. 107-129). Springer, Dordrecht.
Leath, J. (2015). Recognizing the Messiah’s Message: A Layman’s Study of Matthew. WestBow Press.
Perkinson, J. W. (2014). The ghost in the global machine: white violence, indigenous resistance, and race as religiousness. CrossCurrents, 64(1), 59-72.
Thomas Hughson, S. J. (2013). Connecting Jesus to Social Justice: Classical Christology and Public Theology. Rowman & Littlefield.
Vardy, P. (2015). The puzzle of evil. Routledge.
William Jones “Divine Racism: The Unacknowledged Threshold issue for black theology” Reading