Let me be perfectly clear: it is perfectly acceptable to say ‘your god’. That is, there are lots of times when it is OK to say. Lots of times when it makes sense in context.
But there are other times when it doesn’t. And that is what this post is about.
Introduction
In my ‘The Nature of God’ post, I wrote about the phenomenon of people saying ‘your God’. I wrote:
It is a pretty common thing, when people are arguing about God, for someone to say ‘your God’. This might make for interesting dialogue, but we do need to remember it doesn’t make sense. If the God that Christians believe exists, then He isn’t ‘my God’ or ‘your God’ but ‘the God’. The only true God, that reigns over everything else that could be called God.
Psalm 9:7-8
The context of that statement was the fact that God would, and is, judge the whole world for all of their actions.
Addam took exception at this and said:
The reason people - and myself - say “your God” is to emphasize the fact that, even though you believe your god is “The God” that doesn’t actually make it true. Other people believe in other gods, and theirs are just as likely to be “the real god” as yours is. So when we say “your god”, it’s not a silly misunderstanding, it’s a point being made through linguistic choices.
Many Gods
The most obvious meaning of the ‘your god’ statement involves many gods. There are lots of authorities in our lives, and lots of relationships, and thus we often have to distinguish them with ‘my’ and ‘your’. Thus ‘my sister’ may not be ‘your sister’, ‘my wife’ is not ‘your wife’, etc etc.
Thus it is possible to use this phrase in the context of polytheism. If someone believes that the world is ruled by multiple gods, then it makes sense that one of them would be ‘Yahweh’. And that that ‘Yahweh’ god might be pretty powerful over in His neck of the woods, but not so much in yours. And that He would have some people that bowed down to Him, and worshiped Him, but you aren’t one of them.
That, obviously, is not the position of the atheist. And so they can’t use the word that way.
One God, many Worshipers
It would also make sense, and we see this a lot in Scripture, for the words ‘your’ and ‘my’ to be used in a manner of emphasis. That, yes, God is the God of all creation… but you wish to emphasise, right now, in this circumstance, that He is ‘your’ God.
But this, too, cannot be the way that atheists use the term. If God doesn’t exist, then He can be no one’s God.
Patronising
Personally, I think that the most common use of this phrase in religious discussions is meant to be patronising. Now, I’m a big boy, and a former missionary and all, so, you know, patronise away.
Silly
But sometimes that patronising slips into sheer silliness. Here are some of the sillier ways that this phrase is used:
As if (not) believing in God could make Him exist or cease existing.
As if (not) believing in God could make Him have, or not have, jurisdiction.
As if (not) believing in God meant that He did or didn’t get to set the rules of morality. Indeed this one gets very odd very quickly, since someone will propose a set of moral rules, and then judge ‘your God’ by those rules that they have invented.
To produce the very odd, very contradictory impression that the atheist doesn’t believe in God, and hates Him.
But I must say that the silliest reason of all is the reason that Addam proposes. I will leave it to the audience to decide if that reason is actually correct as to people’s motivation… but it is incredibly silly.
First of all, as if Christians, of all people, don’t know that there exist people who reject God? It’s literally in our founding documents! One of our prime commandments is to ‘go into all the world and teach…’. So if anyone really is using the phrase ‘your God’ because they don’t think Christians know that unbelievers exist… they don’t know much about Christianity!
Secondly, the phrase actually has the word ‘God’ in it… which is kind of contradictory to atheism. I can’t imagine saying to some poor child ‘your Santa Claus’… for one thing because it would imply that there is a Santa Claus to be possessed by that child!
God, if He exists
Now the problem for all discussions about religion, if this phrase is used, is that it automatically promotes a straw man… of the atheist position. By the atheist himself.
The right way to argue against God would be to start by saying, “I don’t believe that God, as you describe Him, exists.” And then to completely ignore everything about who God is and how He is described. Because if God doesn’t exist, then He isn’t like anything. The fact of His (non)existence stands logically prior to the nature of His being.
Two theists can argue about what God is like. But the man who does not believe in Santa Claus cannot logically argue that he doesn’t wear red, or live at the North Pole.
And on the flip side they need to realise that, if He does exist, then it is simply irrational to speak of Him as immoral.
Romans One
Now, speaking purely to Christians, I would remind you that atheists… do not exist. Romans one makes it clear that those who say that there is no God do not actually believe it. They know God exists, and are in rebellion against Him.
Which, then, makes sense of the statement ‘your God’. Like the political theorist who says ‘not my president’, or the traditionalist Catholic who says, “Not my pope”; the statement is one of allegiance, not existence.
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Links
Pizza Discussion
The “Pizza Discussion” is a letter exchange with
. In it we discuss issues of the importance of religion, God, and morality… comparing them to the importance of Pizza and Sushi. It started when he posted a post entitled‘Religion’and specifically comes from this line: “Arguing over religion strikes me as the same as arguing over whether sushi or pizza is better.”
has also contributed.