I apologize immediately for directly jumping into a difficult subject - and giving it short treatment at that. I listened to a remarkable (podcast) homily today which brought this subject to my attention. According to the homilist - one of my favorites, a Benedictine from the Chicago Monastery of the Holy Cross - the notion that God is a projection of man has at least some of its origin in the 19th century pre-Marxist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. Feuerbach wrote Das Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity) among other things. That this notion, which has become as the homilist points out a "plank" in the modern atheist's platform, is false, can be be seen if one thinks of the "model" God gives us in the parable of the widow's mite (giving all) and comparing that to the theology of the cross (sacrificing all). That God does this not out of "excess" love, but out of a true offering, "out of His Poverty so to speak" the homilist says, is not a human projection. Why is that so? Something for us to think about as we continue to number our days.
Note this is is also a corollary to an idea from one of my other favorite, unnamed homilists, who has said that one of the basics of his exegetical approach is that the "Bible doesn't mean what he (the homilist) wants it to mean." (So - what does it mean?)
By the way, the Benedictine homily* was from Good Friday.
Happy Easter Monday.
*Monastery of the Holy Cross
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