Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Short Prayers 13: Faith

Short Prayers 13: Faith

Last updated on: February 23, 2022 at 6:16 pm by Ted Peters

1 Comment

Short Prayers 13: Faith 2022-02-23T18:16:52-08:00 Ted Peters

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Short Prayers? By Faith, not Sight.

My atheist social media partners snarl and demand of believers: prove that God exists! But, what I find more important than proving that some sort of deity exists is this question: what kind of God do we have? I only want a gracious God. and, I believe that is the kind of God we have.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (John 20:29b)

I can’t see God!

Elizabeth was four years old. Each day I had to pick her up at the Bancroft Nursery School and drive her home. This particular day she looked pensive.

“Daddy,” she said, “I can’t see God.”

“What?” I asked. Oh, I had heard the question all right. I was asking her to repeat it just so I could buy some time to think up a response.

“I can’t see God,” she went on with increased frustration. “I look everywhere. I look at home. I look at church. I look at the nursery school. But nowhere do I see God. How come?”

Divine Ubiquity

On the one hand, the question worried me because I thought Elizabeth might be exhibiting the tendency of the modern post-Enlightenment mind to rely solely upon empirical knowledge, thereby leading to premature atheism because spiritual realities cannot be empirically verified. On the other hand, I felt confident because I, a fully trained systematic theologian with a doctorate in the field, should be well prepared to take on just such a query. So I launched into what I thought was a rather astute response.

“Well, Elizabeth, remember that God is omnipresent, ubiquitous. This means God is everywhere. Now if God is everywhere—strewn throughout the length and breadth of this gigantic universe—then there is nowhere where God is not present. Now to perceive anything we have to be able to distinguish what it is from what it is not. We need to see it in relief. But there is nowhere we can go to see where God is absent. We cannot physically contrast God with what is not God. We can contrast God only according to qualities such as righteousness versus unrighteousness, love versus non-love…..”

Does God love little children?

Elizabeth was growing perceptibly impatient with my dissertation, despite my erudition. So, she interrupted. “Daddy, does God love little children?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good,” she said with a smile returning to her face, and the conversation came to an end.

In the centuries of long battle between faith and reason, faith had a little victory that day. Elizabeth believes in what she cannot see, because what she cannot see is the source of divine love.

PRAYER

Unsearchable, invisible, God only wise, give us the faith of your children. Amen.

▓

Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus seminary professor. He is author of Short Prayers and The Cosmic Self. His one volume systematic theology is now in its 3rd edition, God—The World’s Future (Fortress 2015). He has undertaken a thorough examination of the sin-and-grace dialectic in two works, Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society (Eerdmans 1994) and Sin Boldly! (Fortress 2015). Watch for his forthcoming, The Voice of Public Christian Theology (ATF 2022). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.

▓

Atheism

Evangelical

progressive Christian

Spirituality

Systematic Theology

Ted Peters

Short Prayers 13: Faith

About Ted Peters

Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus seminary professor. He is author of Short Prayers and The Cosmic Self. His one volume systematic theology is now in its 3rd edition, God—The World’s Future (Fortress 2015). He has undertaken a thorough examination of the sin-and-grace dialectic in two works, Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society (Eerdmans 1994) and Sin Boldly! (Fortress 2015). Watch for his forthcoming, The Voice of Public Christian Theology (ATF 2022). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

February 23, 2022

Short Prayers 12: Fool

Next Post

February 23, 2022 Short Prayers 14: Hope

Recent Comments

1 Comment | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Afterlife America in Crisis Ancient Alien Apocalypse Art Artificial Intelligence Astrobiology Astrotheology Atheism Big History Buddhist Catholic Christian Nationalism Christmas Comparative Theology Death Ecology Ethics ETI Evangelical Evolution Existential Questions Free Will General Christian Hermeneutics Hindu https://www.patheos.com/blogs/allsetfree/2020/12/sins-we-need-to-talk-about/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Christians+For+a+Better+Christianity&utm_content=43&lct Interreligious Islam Jewish Justice Latter-Day Saints Literature Literature and Theology Lutheran Methodism Mormonism Nonreligious ontology Orthodox Pagam Prayer progressive Christian PT 6 Dignity Public Theology Race racial justice Religious Liberty Romance Satan Scapegoat Science & Religion Science and Religion social justice Spirituality SR 8 Transhumanism Systematic Theology Taoism Ted Peters UAP UFO Uncategorized War

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What happened when Peter tried to walk on water?

Select your answer to see how you score.

He sank when he doubted He led other disciples out The Spirit descended upon him He ran ahead of Jesus