JimiLe

Such a hard question! So many replies.

I have to ask: what are we talking about? We do we mean we ask "Does God exist?"

The "exist" part is the easiest part. We can only mean this in the sense of I, you, and we exist. We can argue about this point -- we all probably had lots of fun doing this in college. But we all essentially know what we mean when we say "I exist" or "you exist."

But what do we mean by the word "God?" That's the tough part of the question. And it really depends on who you are talking to. Although there will be distinct differences, people who grew up in Christian, Jewish or Islamic cultures will understand the word "God" in a certain way. People who grew up in Buddhist cultures in another way. Then there are those from Hindu cultures, those from Taoist or Confusican cultures.

Also, what any of us mean by the word "God" is quite different than what was understood by that word in ancient Greece, Egypt, Mesopetania, Indus Valley, etc.

So there are distinct ways of looking at the question. Unless those are clear, our answers are likely to be misunderstood and confused. Joseph Campbell wrote about a conversation he once overheard. A Christian bishop attended a Shinto ceremony in Japan. Afterwards, the bishop told the Shinto priest, "I didn't see anything religious about that ceremony." The priest replied, "Well, I don't see anything religious in your ceremonies either."

Unless we intend to consciously or unconsciously support the traditional way of seeing the world that are conditioned by the cultures we were born, we might consider erasing the board and trying to come at this question in as fresh a way as possible.

I'd suggest we could look at what people living in what we might call "primitive cultures." Perhaps, their way of looking at this is the most different of all. What I find most remarkable is their sense of living in a "living world."

When we try to translate such experiences into our modern or "civilized" way of thinking, it doesn't make much sense. We'd say things like, "they believe there are spirits in the trees, the animals, the wind and the skies." They are surrounded by forces and powers, both seen and unseen. And perhaps, most importantly, they see themselves as an integral part of the living world they inhabit. This is certainly not the case in the Western world where we see man as apart from the world which he seeks to control.

Perhaps, the closest we get to understanding such so-called "primitive cultures" is something Hesoid mentioned his Theogeny. He spoke of the "Ages of Man", the last of which was the Age of Iron in which he lived. The earlier was Bronze and then Silver. The earliest was the Age of Gold, where the gods and goddesses walked and lived amongst men. This certainly sounds like a description of "living in a living world."

A biochemistry professor I once worked with mentioned he served in the Peace Corps in Africa. He briefly mentioned how differently people there looked at the world. He also said that he witnessed many strange things he couldn't explain. I tried several times to get him to tell me more, but he didn't want to talk about it and preferred not to think about it at all.

To my way of thinking, if we want to seriously look at questions about "God." We will have to find ways of looking at the question that can account for all the ways people in different cultures have looked at it. We also would need to be able to fully account for all the various types of "religious experience."

So, what's a good starting point? Aren't we really pointing towards the big existential questions of life? The ones we ask when we are young and haven't been taught not to ask? It seems to me that we are really asking, "Is there more going on than what I see, have experienced, and been taught to believe?" "Is there something bigger than me and all the other people I see?"

That seems to be the central issue here. A difficult question to answer because it seems we have to leave the comfort of either believing or disbelieving what we have been taught. It seems we need to seek out our own answers to these questions and not be satisfied with half-hearted attempts.

For myself, my own experience and researches suggest that Shakespeare was quite right when he put these words in Hamlet's mouth: "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philsophy."

But, then again, I'm not taking his or anyone else's word for it. I intend to find out for myself and I won't be satisfied with anything less. How about you?

--Jimi Le