Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Slater
Such a god would indeed be pointless, but that's the kind of god that Stevens is asking for in the poem. He would just as soon there not be a god at all, but if there must be one, he's hoping it will stay on the sidelines and not bother us too much. He has no use for a god, and that's an attitude you might not approve of but one that I find appealing.
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Roger, just out of curiosity, are you familiar with Spinoza? I'm sure you've heard that when Einstein was asked if he believed in God, his famous response was, "I believe in the God of Spinoza."
Naturally, much has been made of that quote, and Einstein himself explained himself, but there's no need to go into that (unless you'd like to, in which case I'm game), since I'm more interested in Spinoza than Einstein at the moment.
Lots of people still insist Spinoza was a closet atheist, and there's much good reason for people to think that, being as the man's life was in danger all the time, once his beliefs were made public, and especially after his excommunication from the Jewish community in Amsterdam.
My reason for believing that he was not an atheist lies more in my reading of his letters than in any of his other writings, save for his extraordinarily unique and perceptive interpretations from the Bible, both old and new testaments. He actually got quite impatient with a few people who flatly misunderstood his ideas, especially those who accused him of atheism.
You'd have to read all through the
Ethics at the very least, and a good deal of his other writings, particularly the
Theologico-Political Treatise, to really get a grip of him.
Spinoza's God isn't one that creates the world and then retreats, without interest, like the Deistic God, or the Aristotelian Prime Mover. He's an ever-active, ever-creative entity; He's in all things, in all places, in all times.
In my travels I've encountered too many people who are turned off from reading Spinoza due to over-exposure to overly-simplified summations of his thought. As I say this, I should also say I won't be the least surprised to hear that you know far more about Spinoza than I do. I have found, so many times, that it's never a good idea to be presumptuous.
Back to Stevens: I don't think WS is necessarily saying he "has no use for a god." I am more in agreement with Julie, if I understand her right.
We shall see.
Michael F, it looks—to steal something John Whitworth said of his recent thread—as if you've created the thread that "will not lie down". How jolly!
