Communication

Andrew brought up some interesting questions in his recent blogs. The paragraph that particularly caught by attention was this:

"Yes, communication is the problem, but we shouldn't see it as God falling short to talk to us, but ourselves--humanity, being unable to understand what God is saying. This would only make sense, I suppose. After all, we are fallen from perfection. God is unable to reveal his majesty through fallible means of human communication. Mankind is too simple to understand God's celestial tongue."

I think this is, at its foundation, correct. That is to say, the problem is our failure to perceive the existence of God(s) and/or to understand what he (they) want for us and from us. There is a lack of or breakdown in communication.

But I can't be so quick to blame humanity.

When it comes to communication between people, it would be preposterous to assert that a five-year-old is at fault for not understanding an astrophysicist's explanation for the motions of the celestial bodies in scientific jargon. The responsiblility lies with the astrophysicist to clarify, one could even say translate, the scientific language into something more comprehensible to the five-year-old.

Every good speaker and writer recognizes this. Know your audience. Use language and illustrations they can grasp.

How can an omniscient, omnipotent being not be "smart" enough to grasp what our partially-evolved primate brains can? I think he/she/it needs a little more credit.

I think Orual and the Fox are right to question the existence and actions of the gods until they have some evidence. Skepticism is in many ways the guardian of Truth. It has been said that the truth defends itself. But what if a "truth" we hold doesn't stand up under scrutiny?

Andrew asked a question: "How can God talk to us until we understand his language?"

I find myself asking a different question: "Why doesn't God speak to us in a language we actually understand?"

When it comes to miss-communication between an all-powerful, all-knowing being and finite, imperfect creatures, how is it intellectually honest or morally justifiable to place the blame on the obviously inferior party?

For some reason, throwing out the question, throwing up my hands and chanting "God is mystery" just doesn't do it for me like it used to.