1st Samuel: Roger Ebert & the Unknowable God
I've been a Roger Ebert "fan" for many years, and so I was struck by his recent comments about God in a great article that can be found here. Ebert said:
“To hope we can learn how the universe came about is admirable; one might as well call that hope by any name. Whatever one calls it, it’s by definition outside the reach not only of our knowledge, but of knowledge itself. I was asked at lunch today who or what I worshipped. The question was asked sincerely, and in the same spirit I responded that I worshipped whatever there might be outside knowledge. I worship the void. The mystery. And the ability of our human minds to perceive an unanswerable mystery.”
It's sad that Christians are not known for having a unique perspective on this "unknowable mystery." Jesus came primarily to make this mystery known: “Eternal life is to know God…” (John 17:3) and “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has made him known.” (John 1:18)
Our Bible study from last year ended with first Samuel. We reviewed some key material to orient the new students and then discussed Hophni and Phineas and then….Roger Ebert. I wish that I had the opportunity to tell Roger Ebert that God is not like the modern day Hophni and Phinehas’s of the world have made him out to be!
click here to watch the powerpoint slides with the lecture
click here to download the lecture
In addition, you can now download the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Bible studies from iTunes which are now automatically updated: