"The Deconstruction of God" (by nakedpastor David Hayward)
Some would argue, based on scripture, that God never changes.
But can we see a development from the Old Testament God to the New Testament God? Can we see a movement from the Jewish God to Paul's Hellenist God? Can we see progress from an ethnic God to a universal God?
Some would argue no, that instead it is an unfolding revelation of who God is. God has not changed, but it is our understanding of God that has.
Can we concede, therefore, that this unfolding revelation might be continuing today? Can we agree that the God suddenly understood during the Protestant Reformation was a revelation that perhaps continues to unfold today to supply an even different understanding of who God is?
Is it possible to understand that, somehow, our ability to receive and understand fresh new understanding of who we think God is is inexorably linked to a God who unfolds fresh new revelations of who God actually is?
And can we admit therefore that the God we have in our minds is not the God who is?
The word is not the thing. Neither is the concept.
I know it is a frightening experience to acknowledge this. Rejecting our idols has always been undesirable and even terrifying. We are afraid there might be nothing left.
But isn't this what true freedom is? Something free of our words? Free of our thoughts?