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The belief in God cannot become a problem till one experiences the need to
grant an ultimate explanation of the world in
which we live. Scholars feel however that it
becomes a problem when one undertakes to
construct a metaphysical system which includes
value-experiences. A system is an
explanation of all facts of experience including
value-experiences. Some thinkers hold that God
is the most significant explanation of the
existence, evolution, and so on of all the
worlds. The Vedanta considers God to be the
explanation of all the creation, sustention,
destruction of all the worlds. But there are
others who consider that Nature is capable of
explaining all facts. Some consider human
imagination is quite capable of explaining all
facts. But there are some who hold that neither
Nature nor human imagination can be the
explanation or cause of this universe.
Thee are conflicting conceptions of God. We ought to know what we mean by
God before we begin to define whether such a God
exists or is an explanation.
There are theories such as atheism- which deny belief in the existence of
God or rather deny that such a God as the
creator exists. The reasons are manifold.
Firstly he denies God because it cannot be
explained all by means of thepresent day
science. Science relying on the sensate
knowledge would come to halt if it has to take
explanations from trans-scientific data. Science
will come to stop and superstition will step in.
It is this fear of arrest of scientific effort
that has led to the dogmatic denial of God.
The others are all having belief in God. The conception of polytheism is
that there are several Gods. The corollary is
that these gods are not in quarrel with each
other. But mythologies have created myths
wherein these gods are in rivalry. Popular
religion is polytheistic and mythological. The
Gods are several superhuman powers but in
conflict and competition with one another. This
is denied because all Gods finally elect a God
who is superior to them and is the god of the
Gods. Thus a rotational Godhead or henotheistic
Godhead emerges as a necessity in the interests
of the System of the Universe. Thus Monism
involves monotheism. One system involves One
God.
Further all Gods represent several powers or values. All values finally
are regulated by the harmonizing value which is
to be one only. Thus there should be One Rulling
Godhead regulating all others.
These two above formulations do not however exhaust the conceptions of
God. God is held to an Object of human
experience. It is held that superhuman
individuals do not need a God at all. Because
they are gods. This explanation however is
simply unconvincing since supershumans will have
to have a regulative harmonizing factor and this
will their God. God thus is a human experience
or object of it, but it does not justify the
conclusion that it is not the object of the
gods.
Some thinkers pose the problem of Reality as all inclusive and God is said
to be a part of that Reality. This reality which
is all embracive is the whole of which God is a
part. This view is not quite correct since
though God is a part of Reality,he governs the
whole unity of Reality and as such is the
Sovereign of the whole and as such the word part
is entirely a misconception. God is not outside
Nature governing it, for Reality will embrace
both the Godhead and Nature Similarly the
expression that God is All Nature (Pan-thesim)
or All is God is a principle of absolute logical
groundedness of all things in God and His
Nature. All pantheism goes beyond to the
spiritual concept of dependence of all on God.
God’s spiritual Nature goes beyond all nature
but immanently or interiorly governs all
spiritually. It is not the monistic materialism
of Heackel that is meant by Pantheism. The
alternative whether Nature is a part of God
again poses the problem of dependence on God for
its very existence as nature. The world is a
part of God only in this sense that it is what
it is because of the Godhead’s nature.
All these points are clearly answered by the views of Sri Ramanuja who
held that God is All, in so far as He holds all
material nature and the souls under His
regulative direction in respect of being,
becoming and release or realization or change.
Nature and souls are parts of God in so far as
they are dependent on Him, and He is in them all
as the indwelling Being and above them all in so
far as He regulates all processes whether of
creation or sustention or destruction or
redemption. God cannot be considered to be the
Unconscious producer of values, for values are
being built up by consciousness not otherwise. |
