Christian Comment with Laura Huxford, Christian Science Reading Room, Lansdown, Stroud

IT’S cool to deny the existence of God; comedians even make fun of God and some of their jokes are very clever.

I laugh, not just because they are funny but also because their jokes portray a God that I too find it impossible to accept.

Over generations human beings have created a changeable, angry God that has to be placated; a Deity who may or may not satisfy our desires, who favours some over others and has created a world in which worshippers will be ‘saved’ and non-believers ‘damned’.

No, this is not God.

The God at the core of most religions was revealed by Christ Jesus as only good – totally benign, as unconditional love.

He called him ‘Father’ and even ‘Daddy (‘Abba’) indicating a tender, precious relationship.

Jesus reflected God’s power and demonstrated God’s love by living among the poor and unloved, healing thousands of people and teaching his followers how to do the same.

His concept of God makes the power of good available to every one of us.

In their latest book, father and daughter, Desmond and Mpho Tutu write, ‘When we unleash the power of unconditional love we create an environment for positive change’.

Mary Baker Eddy, a nineteenth century spiritual thinker and philosopher explained that Jesus saw people in their spiritual perfection.

She writes in her best-selling, seminal book, Science and Health with key to the Scriptures, ‘In this perfect man, the Saviour saw God’s own likeness and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy.’

An understanding of God as infinite good, everlasting love has massive implications for us.

As God’s expressions we are, of necessity, good.

Seeing the good in ourselves and others heals.

To fail to do this is to deny the existence of God, good.

Denying the existence of good, everlasting love is perhaps not so cool.