One of the things that the Christian Church and other faith groups have done is to construct a theology which articulates their understanding of divine revelation and divine-human relationships in the words of finite human language. This limited language reflects the feeble human effort to comprehend how God relates to humans and vice-versa.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, the Christian faith is distinguished from other faiths (except Jewish and Muslim) in that it emphasizes God's initiative in divine-human relationships. In other words, the stress is on God and not humans taking the initiative to bring about those relationships.
In Christian theology, God's initiative is demonstrated in the Christ event (birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus).
Some Christians would go as far as questioning the need for theology. They say that an experience with God is the crucial thing, and that theology is just a game to distract from that experience. Others would say that the experience is best expressed through the articulation of theology.
This writer (yours truly) believes that the dichotomy that some wish to establish between experience and theology is a false one. It is not either/or but rather both/and. God takes the initiative in revealing Godself to humans and encountering them in the person of Jesus. I would also add that in Jesus, God allures humankind to Godself. Theology, on the other hand, seeks to explain how that encounter takes place, and how the relationship is subsequently established.
To the question of whether God encounters humanity or does humanity discover God, my only humble response can be that humanity cannot discover God. Why do I say this? I say this because God is not "lost." Neither is God an entity waiting to be "found" as if God were hidden. To say that humanity discovers God is akin to saying the Columbus "discovered" America. I think that it is safe to say that it is a well-known fact by now that no such thing happened. America was there way before Columbus came upon it and invaded it. In the same vein, God was always there, throughout history, and in many ways making Godself known to humans.
I would like to invite you, the reader, to contribute to this discussion by telling us where you stand on the divine-human encounter. Does God encounter humanity or does humanity discover God?
Whatever your position is, share it with us and let us know why you hold to such a position.
Grace and peace,
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
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