Acts 17.28

I've recently been updating my theological viewpoint. Acts 17.28 has become my headquarters for theological work.


It says: In God we live and move and have our being.


Paul Tillich referred to God as the Ground of Being. Vaclav Havel seems to refer to God as Being-Itself (a Heideggerian term. St. Paul seems to be saying that our 'being' lives inside the Being of God (or God as Being itself). 


So, God is not a being. Rather, God is Being itself. There is no being outside of Being itself. Therefore, no one nor no thing is outside of God if it has being.


In God we live and move and have our being.


In Being we have our being.


We live and exist IN GOD. God is not 'out there' somewhere. We are in God. There is no distance from us to God. Like fish in the sea, we live in God.


Much theological trouble has been created by thinking of God as 'a being' out there, separate from us. If God were a being, then God would be 'a thing' -- an object. But God is 'no thing' (nothing). To objectify God is to take away God's pervasive presence. 


If all beings are in Being--which means all people are in God--then, no one is outside of God and God's grace. God encompasses all things and all people. 


I find it very helpful to think about the fact that we live and have our being inside of God. God is the ocean of love. God is the atmosphere of meaning. God is the milieu of life.


Evangel (Good News): You are in God.