Episode 350: The Unspoken God, Part Four--What God Isn't

Any time people dare to make claims about God, we should do it with a healthy dose of humility: after all, we're talking about Mystery beyond our comprehension.  And it turns out that there's a long-standing approach to theology that can be helpful in keeping us from thinking we can dissect God like some kind of high school biology experiment.  It's sometimes called the "via negativa" or "apophatic theology," and basically, it is an approach to theology that explores what God ISN'T like.  Like an artist might use the negative space on a canvas (the parts of the paitning that look "empty") or an artisan might make a design in a fabric batik out of the lines and patterns where the dye DOESN'T go, our God talk sometimes needs to have boundaries of what God is NOT like.  So, much like the psalmists and prophets who regularly insist that God is NOT susceptible to getting tired, or that God is NOT moody like human beings can be, or that God DOESN'T need to be fed by sacrifices or offerings, we might find good news in thinking through what God is NOT.  And then along the way, we'll explore what the presence of Jesus does to all of our theologizing, if we say God doesn't get tired, experience hunger, or die--and then we go and say that in Jesus, God knows tiredness, hunger, and even death.  All of that, along with pop culture check points that range from Neil Gaiman to Rick Astley, all on our 350th episode of Crazy Faith Talk!