Culture and the Death of God
I walk away from Terry Eagleton’s book Culture and the Death of God with one thought, “The Almighty, has proved remarkably difficult to dispose of… Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated: he has now put himself back on the agenda…” (ix)
I’m also reminded of the cliché and over used quote credited to French philosopher Blaise Pascal where he says that “there is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
About a month ago I was in a JR High girls bible study. This was a couple of days after a gunman walked into Reynolds High School here in Oregon and killed a student, shot a teacher and then turned the gun on himself. One of the JR High girls raised her hand and said, “It seems to me that God, if there is a god, is responsible for more murders than Satan… if he exists, he is evil… but I don’t know if he exists.”
The struggle is real. Whatever we do or don’t believe about God determines the way we live our lives and interact with one another. Each of us has to answer the question for ourselves… but in a world that at times seems to be so broken and lingering on the verge of chaos and pain, God is the only thing that people can grab on to. I do believe that we were created to worship and serve someone greater than ourselves. We all worship something, and I think that is something which comes clear through Eagleton’s book. We worship culture, or family, or money. All these things are substitutes for God because ultimately we long for the security that only God can give and bring.
As humans, we can never get rid of God… the closest thing to getting rid of God is a cheap substitute that constantly has to change.
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