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God in 100 Words (or less)
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, March 18, 2010
I have recommended the Patheos website here before. Patheos, which is substitled “Balanced Views of Religion and Spirituality,” provides a platform for people of various religious commitments, or no religious commitment whatsoever, to converse in a mutually respectful way.
Recently, Patheos invited several bloggers to answer the question: What/Who is God? Each writer was allowed a maximum of 100 words. The writers spanned the religious spectrum, from Muslim to Hindu to Buddhist to Mormon to Pagan. A couple of the writers were Christians, including yours truly.
This was a hard assignment. I could easily write 1,000 words about God, or 10,000, or . . . . But only 100! That took some serious thought, discipline, and editing.
You can see my answer at the Patheos site. But, before you read what I wrote, think about what you might say if you had only 100 words to talk about God. Better yet, compose your 100 words and add them to the Patheos collection.
You can find my 100 words here, if you’re in a rush. But I’d encourage you to read the whole set, from the top. I find the various contributions fascinating and enlightening. They help all of us to understand the religious world in which we live today.
Topics: Patheos |
2 Responses to “God in 100 Words (or less)”
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March 18th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Mark, what a tough assignment! I’m not sure I could do it. It certainly seems difficult, if not out of place, to describe a relational God who we know through narratives in such a brief way. Not to mention that this is the Almighty God whom we do not fully understand.
I appreciate how you chose to do it, not wasting words. Well done.
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:32 am
Nice job Mark with a tough assignment. Great reading, once I started I couldn’t stop! I also liked this one:
Amy Julia Becker
“He is the image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15).
In Jesus, we see God, broken and beautiful. The abstract becomes concrete. In Jesus, we see God, who welcomes children, touches a bleeding woman, a leper, a blind man, challenges religious leaders and prostitutes alike. We see God, who condemns the sin that breaks us, who heals and restores the broken. We see God, on the cross, broken for us. God, raised to life, beautiful. In Jesus, we see God, the one who walked among us, the one who, amidst our brokenness, calls forth our beauty.
Amy Julia Becker is a writer, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, wife to Peter, and mother to Penny and William. She has written one book, Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and blogs at Thin Places.