Nature's God

What "God" Means: American Historical, Intellectual, and Popular Sources
Vital Christianity draws from consistent sources of Christian tradition

(worship, community, scripture, sacramental life, charity, mission, etc.).
These sources, and Christian literacy, have weakened in many American circles.
My 'apostolic paradigm' distills its basic theological dynamics.

Cultural Christianity draws from folk religion, Constantinian Christianity, and popular culture.
Learned Christianity draws from multiple 'high-cultural' sources such as philosophy.

Hans Frei's Types of Christian Theology draws a typology of theology/philosophy relationships:
Type I: Philosophy absorbs theology (Kant, Gordon Kaufman).
Type II: Philosophy sets the terms for theology (Wolfhart Pannenberg, David Tracy, Carl Henry).
Type III: Theology correlates with philosophy (Friedrich Schleiermacher, Paul Tillich).
Type IV: Theology sets the terms for philosophy (Karl Barth).
Type V: Theology is self-sufficient (D.Z. Phillips).

Secularism (George Holyoake) draws from the Enlightenment, especially 19th and 20th century "Masters of Suspicion."
Therapeutic Moralistic Deism (Christian Smith) draws from contemporary forms of pragmatism.
Indifference draws from competing priorities and stimuli (cf. Matt 13:7).
Diversity draws from immigration, globalization, and American religious ingenuity.
(Where have these and other forces been informing your churches' and families' meanings of God?)

God Hidden and Revealed
The hidden God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

Deut 4:15-16, 5:8: "Since you saw no form, ... beware.... You shall make no image."
Job 38:4: "Where were you?"
Isaiah 55:8: "My thoughts are not your thoughts."
John 1:18: "No one has ever seen God."

The revealed God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

Moses meets his maker (Ex 3:13-15, Ex 19:16-20:8, 20:18-26).

Lessons from Yahweh:

Mystery: God is not naturally accessible to us; thus epistemic humility.
Revelation: Knowledge of God is a gift of God; thus special (and general) revelation.
Tradition: Indirect knowledge of God is mediated; thus evangelism and reception.
Holiness: God is other (Barth: "wholly other"); thus via negativa or apophatic theology.
Activity: God is known through what God does; thus via positiva or kataphatic theology.
The Name (YHWH): God is personal; thus 'I-thou' knowledge.
Goodness: What God does is deliver, justify, reconcile, include, heal, refine, mature; thus wisdom.
Life: God is the living life-giver; thus foundational gratitude and trust.
Unity: God is one; thus knowledge is coherent.

These lessons are not "faith" versus "reason," but inferences through disciplined trust.

Subsequent events, including God's own advent, are surprising yet consistent.

Luther: God is revealed in hiddenness and hidden in revelation.