Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 8

By Herbert F. Vetter

In terms of conversations within the liberal religious movement now and throughout the twentieth century, a great question before us is: Should the object of our supreme devotion be the human family or should it be the dynamic cosmos of which humanity is but a part?…

Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 7

By Herbert F. Vetter

Ernest Hemingway

In 1923 Ernest Hemingway gave his sister a copy of his first pub lished book. Removing the dark green paperbound volume from his pocket, he said, “Don’t show this to the family!”…

Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 6

By Herbert F. Vetter

What are the working principles of socially responsible liberal religion? How do we daily express our faith through our action in today’s society? With respect to democracy in America, what is the role of a socially concerned congregation?…

Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 5

By Herbert F. Vetter

An ancient question haunts modern men and women who face facts of both life and death: “Where is your God?”

As we ponder this problem, we may find it helpful in our present situation to rephrase this question dealing with the object of man’s authentic faith, asking in the language of secular life: Where is reliable power?…

Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 4 

By Herbert F. Vetter

Just before I talked with him, a provocative young professor who considers himself to be an atheist had been reading Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain. This assignment, an unpleasant discipline for this particular professor, was undertaken as a means of gaining insight into the life of a contemporary man who swung from a Communist orientation to a Roman Catholic orientation, in fact to life in a Trappist monastery.…

Is God Necessary? NO! and YES!

Chapter 3

By Herbert F. Vetter

In Martin Luther’s battle hymn of the Reformation are these words of fighting faith:

Still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe.
His craft and power are great;
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.…

Is God Necessary?  NO! and YES!

Chapter 2

By Herbert F. Vetter

Today there is a new movement radically critical of religion called “the new atheism” featuring Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris. Harris says faith in God or gods is the most dangerous element of modern life, citing Islamic terrorism as well as Judeo-Christianity’s growing weapons of mass destruction.…

Is God Necessary?  NO! and YES!

Chapter 1

By Herbert F. Vetter

Is God necessary? As this question has customarily been stated throughout long centuries of philosophical and theological debate, I am compelled to answer in the negative: God is not necessary!…