Discussion questions - Liberating the Holy Name: A Free-Thinker Grapples with the Meaning of Divinity
Our Conceptions of God
1. Of the conceptions of God discussed in Part I of the book (God the Nurturer, the Planner, the Summoner, the Source of All That Is, etc.), which resonated the most with you? Which one resonated the least?
2. How would you evaluate the conception of God that the author ultimately embraces at the end of Part 1 of the book?
3. Do you think of God as beneficent? As loving? As merciful? To what extent has this book caused you to question your previous perspectives about God’s feelings for humankind?
4. What statement about God that was raised in this book did you find most enlightening? Most thought provoking? Least appealing?
5. The author spends a fair amount of time talking about pantheism (the idea that the world is God) and panentheism (the idea that the world is in God). Do you see one or both of those perspectives as fundamentally religious or non-religious?
6. How, if at all, do you reconcile a belief in God with the existence of evil? If your answer is that “God works in mysterious ways,” do you feel compelled to view God essentially as mysterious? Or are you willing to conceive of God in terms of human-like personality characteristics?
7. Do you think of God as “perfect”? Do you think of this world as perfect? Do you think of this world as belonging to God? How do you harmonize those views, to the extent they are in tension with one another?
8. After reading this book, what is your reaction to the old cliché, “we all believe in the same God”? Does that ring more or less true than it used to?
How we Relate to God
1. What are your strongest emotional reactions when your encounter the name of God?
2. Do you approach God primarily intellectually or emotionally? Leaving prayer aside, when you contemplate the topic of God, do you do so mostly based on logical thinking or emotional reactions?
3. The author clearly attempted to avoid conceiving of God in human-like terms, yet he also strove to encounter God in an emotionally fulfilling way. Do you think he succeeded or failed in striking this delicate balancing act?
4. In what environments do you find yourself most open to learning about, praying to, or otherwise encountering God? How would you explain why those environments are so effective in that regard?
Organized Religion and the Interfaith Movement
1. Do you agree with the author that a surging interfaith movement is critical if religion is to become a unifying, rather than a divisive, force in our world? What do you see as the factors that have kept the interfaith movement from becoming more prominent? What can be done to change that dynamic?
2. What fundamental religious tenets do you think can unite people of different faiths as well as non-theistic humanists? Do you see any grounds for agreement outside of the domain of values? For example, would you expect there to be a societal consensus embracing such views as: the sanctity of nature; the unity of nature; the existence of dimensions of reality that transcend human comprehension?
3. Mark Twain once suggested that we should not let our schooling get in the way of our education. In what ways do you see organized religion as getting in the way of our relationship with God? In what ways does organized religion serve as a positive force in enhancing our spirituality?
Themes of Liberating the Holy Name
1. The author differentiates between “the Divine,” which he sees primarily as being shrouded in mystery, and words like “God” and “the Name,” which he claims are human tools to better assist us in understanding or encountering the Divine. Does this distinction resonate with you? Is the author correct that our names for God belong to us, whereas the true God is beyond the limitations of language and inevitably remains beyond our grasp?
2. Do you agree with the author that the denotation of “God” is the Ultimate and that the Lord of Scripture is merely the most common connotation of “God”? (To clarify the use of these terms, the denotation of “snake” is a reptile that slithers on the ground, whereas common connotations of “snake” include words like sneaky, slippery, dishonest, etc.?)
3. Are you convinced that the Holy Name needs to be “liberated”? Why/why not?
1. Of the conceptions of God discussed in Part I of the book (God the Nurturer, the Planner, the Summoner, the Source of All That Is, etc.), which resonated the most with you? Which one resonated the least?
2. How would you evaluate the conception of God that the author ultimately embraces at the end of Part 1 of the book?
3. Do you think of God as beneficent? As loving? As merciful? To what extent has this book caused you to question your previous perspectives about God’s feelings for humankind?
4. What statement about God that was raised in this book did you find most enlightening? Most thought provoking? Least appealing?
5. The author spends a fair amount of time talking about pantheism (the idea that the world is God) and panentheism (the idea that the world is in God). Do you see one or both of those perspectives as fundamentally religious or non-religious?
6. How, if at all, do you reconcile a belief in God with the existence of evil? If your answer is that “God works in mysterious ways,” do you feel compelled to view God essentially as mysterious? Or are you willing to conceive of God in terms of human-like personality characteristics?
7. Do you think of God as “perfect”? Do you think of this world as perfect? Do you think of this world as belonging to God? How do you harmonize those views, to the extent they are in tension with one another?
8. After reading this book, what is your reaction to the old cliché, “we all believe in the same God”? Does that ring more or less true than it used to?
How we Relate to God
1. What are your strongest emotional reactions when your encounter the name of God?
2. Do you approach God primarily intellectually or emotionally? Leaving prayer aside, when you contemplate the topic of God, do you do so mostly based on logical thinking or emotional reactions?
3. The author clearly attempted to avoid conceiving of God in human-like terms, yet he also strove to encounter God in an emotionally fulfilling way. Do you think he succeeded or failed in striking this delicate balancing act?
4. In what environments do you find yourself most open to learning about, praying to, or otherwise encountering God? How would you explain why those environments are so effective in that regard?
Organized Religion and the Interfaith Movement
1. Do you agree with the author that a surging interfaith movement is critical if religion is to become a unifying, rather than a divisive, force in our world? What do you see as the factors that have kept the interfaith movement from becoming more prominent? What can be done to change that dynamic?
2. What fundamental religious tenets do you think can unite people of different faiths as well as non-theistic humanists? Do you see any grounds for agreement outside of the domain of values? For example, would you expect there to be a societal consensus embracing such views as: the sanctity of nature; the unity of nature; the existence of dimensions of reality that transcend human comprehension?
3. Mark Twain once suggested that we should not let our schooling get in the way of our education. In what ways do you see organized religion as getting in the way of our relationship with God? In what ways does organized religion serve as a positive force in enhancing our spirituality?
Themes of Liberating the Holy Name
1. The author differentiates between “the Divine,” which he sees primarily as being shrouded in mystery, and words like “God” and “the Name,” which he claims are human tools to better assist us in understanding or encountering the Divine. Does this distinction resonate with you? Is the author correct that our names for God belong to us, whereas the true God is beyond the limitations of language and inevitably remains beyond our grasp?
2. Do you agree with the author that the denotation of “God” is the Ultimate and that the Lord of Scripture is merely the most common connotation of “God”? (To clarify the use of these terms, the denotation of “snake” is a reptile that slithers on the ground, whereas common connotations of “snake” include words like sneaky, slippery, dishonest, etc.?)
3. Are you convinced that the Holy Name needs to be “liberated”? Why/why not?