BY LARRY JORDAN

There are many paths to the top of the mountain and many ways of looking at things.

Often, desert cultures are monotheistic; forest cultures are polytheistic; hunting cultures are patriarchal and shamanic; farming cultures are matriarchal and communal.

Patriarchal cultures worship male deities, and matriarchal cultures worship female deities. Some anthropologists believe that we create God in our image, not vice versa.

Many Christians believe that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Perhaps God knows our pasts (but not our futures) or our actions (but not our thoughts).

Perhaps God changes; perhaps God co-creates with us, as process theologians say; perhaps God is all-knowing (but not all-powerful) as the relational theologians say.

When we encounter a reality that conflicts with our theology, do we conform our “reality” to match our theology, or do we conform our theology to match our reality?

Western Worldview

Greek and Roman philosophy and Judeo-Christian theology color the Western worldview. Our culture is suffused with philosophy and theology, even if we are not philosophers or theologians ourselves:

The universe was created ex nihilo, out of nothing.

There was a cosmic rift between God and man, caused by original sin.

God is personal, and he is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

Time is linear, not cyclical, and there is a beginning and an ending.

The Universe is orderly and purposeful; life has intrinsic meaning.

Morality is absolute, and actions are either right or wrong.

We have individual souls, and we may live beyond our physical lives.

We have free will, and we may influence our lives and our afterlives.

A personal God is a being who can enjoy a relationship, like a person. Although many people in many places and many times believe in a higher presence, the belief that God is a person (or three persons) is more common in the Western worldview.

Eastern Worldview

Chinese and Indian philosophy color the Eastern worldview. It is difficult to generalize, because Eastern religions are not creedal and because Eastern religions do not agree, but there are some assumptions that are more common in the Eastern worldview:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/youmightberight/2024/02/all-religion-is-cultural-all-theology-is-speculation/