Challenging our understanding of God - Recorded meeting
Report of the meeting from our October newsletter:
At our September meeting we considered different images of God. We recognised that the traditional view of God is one that is static, that is unchanging. This is because the Christian understanding of reality is that God created the universe out of nothing. God created time and space. Plato and Aristotle thought that God cannot change, that nothing could be added or subtracted from perfection. Augustine saw an unchanging God as necessary for human happiness. Aquinas saw God as an unmoved mover. Since God is infinite, God cannot acquire anything new. So, in summary, this traditional view of God is one that is static, unchanging.
However, at our October meeting we examined a Richard Rohr meditation in which he writes “Either God outgrows our present limited, understanding and we grow with God, or we regress due to our inability to love and trust what is happening.” The first part - contrary to Aristotle, Aquinas and Augustine - implies a God that is changing. And the second part - if we don’t change, we will regress - because we don’t have the ability to love and trust what is happening. That implies change is underway and we must adapt.
Our discussion revealed a majority view that God did change and our relationship with God enabled us to also change. After considering whose responsibility it is to nurture our personal growth, the majority view was that personal responsibility was paramount. We then turned our attention to applying our conclusions to the current contested debates over AI. Understandably, there is much concern about the harm AI can wreak upon our lives. Such dramatic changes invariably will be stressful. But, on the other hand, change also brings opportunities. As Rohr suggests, must we learn to love and trust what is happening?
Our discussion relied, in part, on this article, Connection is not Communion, by Ilia Delio, and this 14 minute YouTube video, Anthropic's Chloe Lubinski explains how AI works, that explains how AI is developing and can have a moral compass. Chloe Lubinski leads Anthropic's research partnerships with the world's faith and philosophy traditions, convening scholars, clergy, philosophers, and ethicists alongside the company's most senior researchers to help inform the moral formation of AI. She trained in cognitive neuroscience at UC Berkeley, completed four years of Ignatian spiritual direction formation, and holds a graduate degree at the intersection of theology and psychology from Trinity College Dublin.
Recording
Unfortunately, due to a technical issue, we missed the start of the meeting! We apologise.
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