This sermon was presented at Stevens Chapel on July 7, 2002, by Rev. Judith Campbell.

A Theology for Skeptics (- It ain't necessarily a joke !)

In researching this sermon I came across a definition of religion which really caught my eye. "RELIGION": a system of human beliefs, ideals and practices which is harder to define than it may at first appear"! How true, how true - but here goes anyway!. And Theology! If there are entire libraries devoted to the subject, how in the world am I going to say that makes any sense at all in under twenty minutes? Wish me luck!

The idea of a theology for skeptics is not an oxymoron. Theology, and systems theology, are human attempts to explain and even codify religious belief systems. As I began thinking about this Sermon, I chose the title as much of a personal challenge as anything else. Then I realized that the questions I keep asking myself, and so many of you keep asking me - and so many of us within the larger denomination are asking - is just that: what is a Unitarian Universalist theology and do we have one? And if we do, what in the world might it possibly be that would or even could offer a common meeting ground for such a spiritually diverse group of people? These were the questions I had in my mind when I headed off to General Assembly three weeks ago.

Theology, briefly defined, is the study of the knowledge of God. And because there are so many differing interpretations of the nature of God and more broadly defined as the divine, or the "Holy Other" or the "Numinous" and the "One" .there are a number of "theologies" to choose from. When I read the program of GA events, I elected to attend as many workshops and lectures as I could find that were directly about or related to the enormously broad and varied subject of Theology. And interestingly. this year there many more to choose from than I had noticed in other years. (Am I on to something? I ask myself?) I am not alone in noticing that the denomination as a whole is definitely leaning towards the more spiritual and away from the almost militant humanism and rationalism of the sixties and seventies, the period right after the merger, the period when use of the bible was actually banned from a number of churches, and the word God was not permitted to be used in more than a few congregations. Today, More and more Unitarian Universalists are purposefully seeking to add or expand a spiritual component in their lives. This has taken many forms ..and this is not news. We cherish and elevate our diversity, but is that enough.?

Increasingly, the answer is "I don't think so". But where do we go for more .. without returning to a creed or a rigid dogma? Can you believe that our Pres, the Rev. Bill Sinkford, addressed this in his Annual Report! As he spoke to us so eloquently about our need for growth, and our need for a deepening sense of the spirit, he urged us to consider and emphasize our unity ..our unity that encompasses our diversity, rather than a diversity that is our common thread.

In his message, Bill Sinkford suggested that, by continually emphasizing our diversity rather than our unity, we give a picture of a collection of nice little parts that are sort of, but not necessarily all together. "Come to the Unitarian Universalists where you can say anything, believe anything and do almost anything"! This image does not even remotely suggest a RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION and yet, we are listed as a RELIGIOUS denomination.. so where is the religious part? And I'm just as responsible. I have certainly preached sermons praising and celebrating our diversity ..and that spiritual and intellectual diversity is very important, and it is one of our unifying factors. But how do we "acknowledge and explain it in a way that sounds like we mean it and we understand what we are saying. What is the unifying factor? What and where is the theology in all of this? Show me. I'm a skeptic! Show me how you can pull a rational "THEOLOGY" out of this intellectual "grab-bag" and come up with anything that will hold water, holy water even!

We have our Principles and purposes. But they are really commonly agreed upon guidelines for respectful living together and respecting the planet we call home. But do they comprise our theology? Again I ask: where is the Theology? Can there be a theology for a group of people who have agreed to be unsure about the nature of the divine or even the possibility of a divine that might indeed have a nature?

I think there is.

Simply stated, many religious belief systems have culturally and historically come into being because people (that's us) try to explain what they don't understand, the big questions namely: why were we born in the first place, and what happens after we die? More simply: is this all there is? And if so, what am I killing myself for? And is there someone or something in charge here that I can bargain with or curry favor with to insure my safety and happiness?

If we can put this thing we call our life journey into some sort of belief system that gives it shape and meaning and tells us what to do when and why life is less complicated and less worrisome. We aren't terrified of the unknown because there is no unknown. And if there is something we still don't know, we accept it on "Faith" because someone in religious authority tells us it's OK. .which means believing something we can't possibly know or understand and that's all right! Confusing isn't it! The skeptic says "I can't take it on faith, ya gotta show me". And frankly, I have trouble with belief systems that start by telling me that God is ultimately unknowable, and then proceed to tell me all about this unknowable God, and what he/she likes, dislikes and how to stay on the good side and what happens if I don't. This doesn't make sense. I believe that religion, and reason can co-exist. The conundrum is how and the answer just might be what will one day become the working definition of a Unitarian Universalist . Working because like the rest of our liberal religious journey, it is a process of inquiry and discovery, and the light of truth burns ever more brightly the more we learn about it.

UUism has been called the child of the enlightenment. Briefly this means, that people, that's us again, in the light of scientific discovery and theories of evolution, people started asking questions about those things that they were expected to accept on faith, that were clearly cast into doubt by scientific inquiry and discovery. The battles were long and fierce - science and religion - and they are still waging. But what we have going on right now and right now in our denomination is an attempt to somehow bring together the unfolding truths offered to us by scientific thought and inquiry with those things in our lives that transcend the physical and the material which we may never understand or at least not yet, and despite of all of these unknowns to have a life that has meaning and vision and hope for a better tomorrow in community. So where is the unifying or common theology?

In preparing this, I started thinking that many of the most highly regarded theologians were perhaps in fact skeptics themselves. A skeptic is one who does not take anything at face value. A skeptic looks at the world of dogma and established tradition and says: "oh Yeah, prove it". The doubting Thomases of the world are skeptics, and where would we (we particularly) be without them? We wouldn't be a denomination that thrives on diversity and questions, that's for sure. But then, is a Unitarian Universalist theology an oxymoron? Is it even remotely possible to have a theology that unifies and unites us?

My final answer is: "I think so". But like revelation, and evolution and the expanding universe, for us, a Unitarian Universalist Theology will not be fixed in place for very long. But I do see some points of general consensus.. From the Unitarians, we have the idea of a single truth or deity or idea or source from which all things have come and to which all things are connected. That's the Uni in the Unitarian, rather than a multiplicity of gods, goddesses or other supernatural spirits. Some will choose to call this God; for some it is a creative consciousness, and for others it is a giant question mark. The name is not important. what is important is the word connectedness. This is a way of seeing our seventh principle. We are all a part of an interconnected web of existence.

For the Atheist this is a scientific, evolutionary, archeological, geological and biological fact. Who needs theology for that? Who needs the study of the knowledge of god when you don't believe in any sort of God or prime mover? My answer to that: maybe we don't, and maybe/probably; we'll never know. But as long as there have been humans on the earth, humans have been constructing religions, and within those religions, they/we have also been constructing Gods in their/our own images, although the Hebrew bible would tell us the reverse - that we have been made in God's image.

Process theologians would say both views are correct. Everything is a part of the whole, and that whole is God who is connected and also separate from that whole. We think of Hinduism as having a whole "army of Gods and goddesses" but the reality is they are all major and minor manifestations of the one God Krishna. Taoism speaks of "the Tao or the "way". The true path that will be present to us if we respect the interconnected harmony of all things manifest and invisible. The Tao does not invoke a deity for this. The Navajo call it the "beautiful way". Beauty before me, Beauty behind me, beauty above me, beauty below me, beauty all around me. When the Navaho stray from the beautiful way, disharmony, illness, spiritual chaos and disorder are the result. We as a nation have strayed from the beautiful harmonious interconnected way with disastrous results. But there are some of us out there who are seeking to restore it. I hope it is not too late

But is it possible to have a Theology without a specific idea or picture of a God?

There is no concept of a higher power or intelligence in Buddhism. In Buddhism, the work of our life is ultimately to become one with the perfection of the cosmos. To let go of our earthly "hang-ups" and material needs and attain perfect peace. The state of nirvana. The great Lutheran Theologian, Paul Tillich, made reference to the "God Beyond God". He said that the word God was the best we could do for lack of concrete evidence but beyond the idea of a humanized "father-god-figure" created in the past, there was a far greater presence or interconnection or organizing principle, the magnitude and scope or which we poor mortals could never ever comprehend or understand.

Sir James Jeans, in his mind-blowing and bending book written in the 20's, entitled "The Mysterious Universe", suggests that "God" is in actuality ultimately something like a mathematician, and that ultimately, all of the great mysteries will be explained through mathematics. It makes you think? And if you are still thinking about this next month, come back for the sermon on the "God Continuum" .the broad spectrum of Unitarian Universalist thinking about "GOD" Anyway..Theology.Unifying principles..I'll never say EVERYONE in this denomination, ...but I will say a very large percentage of Unitarian Universalists are agreed that we are interconnected, and there is something which connects us. That something runs everywhere and in every direction from DNA to the divine in me which blesses the divine in you .Namaste, the Hindu Greeting of Blessing and farewell.

So from the Unitarians, we have the idea of a single unifying and connecting principle. And from the Universalists, who are definitely deists, that is they believe in one GOD, and are Christian with a small "c", in that they followed the TEACHINGS of Jesus, we have the concept that God is love. And a great percentage of UU's agree with the idea that Love can transcend fear and hate, and the power of love can work miracles, or at least make it look that way. In fact, when conducting a worship service, many UU's will invoke the power of love which has many interpretations rather than using the word god which has so many stereotypic images and unhealthy baggage.

Finally, the third thing that most of us agree upon is the commitment to making this world a better place for our being here. We just don't all agree how to do it best. That's why most churches have "Service committees". And why every year, the Association, at the national level, at GA, votes on Study action issues that address issues of social and economic justice on a world-wide level. Part of our religious activity is social action. We need to make a difference, and we DO!

So in summing this up, we would seem to have three commonalties: the idea that we are all part of a greater whole. For some this will be solely biological, for others, this connection will be understood as being both biological and spiritual or religious in nature, we are agreed that the power of love can work to strengthen that connection, however we understand it, and through the power of that universal love we can work together for a more just world and a more sustainable life on this planet.

I could spend the rest of my life subdividing and defining this statement into a book, a theological book, a treatise a tome - and I might just, because I like doing this stuff; but then I would be a theologian and not a minister. I like being a minister and doing religion rather than theorizing about it. But my job and your job and our job is to not worry about the semantics, or the angels on the head of the pin. Our job is to go out and live this theology, this religion. That's why the annual service at General Assembly is called the Service of the Living Tradition. Ours is a living religion, and like any living thing, like any process, we are always evolving and becoming and after a period of relative stability, we will grow and stretch again. But if we grow and stretch in love, and if we grow and stretch in communion and in community, and we never stop moving towards that beautiful way of light and truth for all people, I think we can call ourselves a true religion.with a real theology, - a unified theology which celebrates reason, encourages a responsible search for truth and meaning.just so long as every once in a while, one of us remembers to pause in transcendent wonder at the incomprehensible beauty of a sunset or a symphony or the smile of a loved one.and simply says.."thank you".

Blessed Be.