PaulVanderklay God 1 and God 2 is a split between the two aspects of God that Paul Vanderklay has noted. It is important to note that the split between the two aspects is not two separate Gods but can be better seen as distinctions in how the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible relates with his creation. Thomas Aquinas in the 1200’s first popularized the distinction between so-called “General” and “Special” revelation. This can be more easily said to be the God from
- “above” (Special-or supernatural) and God from “below”(General-or natural).
- God 1: Immanent God “God of the philosophers”
- Evolution
- “Being”
- “The whole world is full of his Glory”
- Rational, intelligible through naturalistic means.
- God 2: Personal God “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”
- Agency
- Personal, yet foreign (God-Man dichotomy)
- “God who answers prayers and cares if you masturbate”
- Experiential, Paradoxical
- ”Paul doesn’t believe in 2 different Gods. He uses this frame as an example of some of the aspects of the one God that he believes in. God #1 has a bundle of attributes that folks like Sam Harris and Brett Weinstein (and certainly Jordan Peterson) would say they recognize as real. Harris and Weinstein would never refer to this as God. I expect that they’d simply call it ‘reality’ or ‘the way things are’. God #2 is a personal being with mind, and intent, and that you can interact with, that cares about you, that cares about what you do, is a person who you can be in relationship with, like your neighbor, or family member, or friend, but not in exactly the same way. Many modern people have no problem with God #1, other than actually calling it God, and attributing a mind or intent to it. God #2 is a little more difficult for a great deal of us to accept. If I understand what I’ve heard and read correctly, most if not all pre-moderns had no doubt that God #1 was a fact of life, and are open to the thought that God could and would personally interact with them.” -Jeff P
Related: God #1 and #2 again. Circumcision in America. PVK Q/A Jan 28 2022 (youtube.com) What do Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris Mean by “God”? (youtube.com)