Article September 17, 1966 Issue

The True Concept of God

PAULINE B. RADER

The early Hebrews thought of God as a tribal ruler, called Jehovah. This concept included the belief that God was capable of hating as well as of loving, that He was inclined to anger, sending disease and death and other calamities to punish men. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says, "The Jewish tribal Jehovah was a man-projected God, liable to wrath, repentance, and human changeableness."^{Science and Health, p. 140;}

The concept of God found in religious art, where He is depicted in many instances as a benign old gentleman with a beard, sometimes peering through the clouds upon the earth, often follows the early Hebrew concept. And to some extent this false concept of God as made after the image of a mortal and capable of the emotions and characteristics of a mortal has permeated the thought of men to this day. For the past half century people have been rebelling against it. Instead of seeing, however, that they are really rebelling against a false concept of God, some declare that there is no God; others say that God is dead.

The concept of God as mortal and material is indeed dead; such a god never really existed! The Bible declares in no uncertain terms, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."^{John 4:24;} It is clear, then, that to try to find God in a material universe or to know Him from a material standpoint is impossible.