Rocks and Trees

Many people have made the argument that since God is everything, all religions are valid. If he is in the trees, and the rocks, and all of creation, then worshiping these things is just another way of worshiping God. They deny the idea that this type of religion is pagan, and use it to justify the idea that God does not care how we seek him, merely that we do so in our own way. That an Indian, who worships a god of stone, is the same as one who worships the God of the Bible. Now there are many things wrong with this argument, but let us take a look at their first major assumption. The idea that God is everything.

A creator is not his creation. He is something completely different and greater than it. Now, the creation might have a part of him in it, but the two are not in any way, shape, or form the same. Consider the potter. Suppose a man makes a pot of clay. Are we then to declare that he is the pot of clay, and the pot of clay him? No, of course not. We would call such a statement foolish. The potter is not a pot of clay. He is a thinking living man. His value and power extend far beyond that of the mere pot. Of course, it can be said that a part of him, as creator, is in the pot of clay. That it bears a mark and connection with him in that relationship of creation and creator. But this does not make the two one and the same. God is not a tree or a rock or an ocean. He created the trees, the rocks, and the oceans. He is the almighty creator and should be esteemed as such. He is greater than us, his knowledge and power far outrank our own. We cannot hope to even remotely compare ourselves to him. If the potter were to suddenly become a king, would his subjects pay homage to his creations as if they were he? Of course not, such a venture would be an insult to him. They might praise the beauty of the pot. They might sing of his skill and craftsmanship. But they would not praise the pot as if it were a king. God is God. He is not an object. He deserves our respect and our praise for his majesty and power. He deserves recognition for the might and glory he displayed in all of creation. When we view creation, its majesty should bring us to praise the work of God, not the result of his efforts. The two are intrinsically separate. Do we praise the painting or the painter for its beauty? Do we exalt the sculpture or the artist who brought it to life? As much as the created is esteemed, still more to the one who devised it! You cannot praise the creation in of itself. The creation is not intrinsically deserving of any praise directed to it. Rather, the glory and praise belongs to the one who created it.

-BlackFox

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