There's something pleasingly 'meta' about the way that Neil Gaiman interweaves intriguing fact [1], established myth, wide-ranging allusion [2], and his own ingenious fabrications: the reader is left having 'learned' an awful lot of fascinating stuff which may or may not be 'true', and is forced to confront the generally problematic nature of truth, how to get at it, and when and whether and in what regard it matters. As someone who likes to at least know the origins of the things I think I know, I found my reading of American Gods frequently interrupted by the urge to google. But, being as popular and influential as it is, much of the apparently corroborative evidence I turn up turns out to be rooted in the novel as an assumed 'authoritative source' in its own right, so that the internet (and, by extension, humanity...?) simply doesn't 'know' any more whether such-and-such a nugget of information pre-existed or was birthed in Gaiman's writing process. (I observed the same circular referencing phenomena with Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings -- the internet cannot be trusted to distinguish between these individuals' imaginations and the historical, pan-geographical imagination of people in general, let alone between imagination and reality).
It's frustrating, in its way...but more than a little bit genius. Mr. W would be impressed. Whenever I request 'constructive criticism' for my own literary efforts I usually get the same three-word response: "show, don't tell". He's right, and it's hard, and Gaiman is enviably good at it.
This adeptness inevitably adds force to his premise -- that gods and mythical creatures are called into existence by human imagination and are entirely dependent on our belief for empowerment and continued survival. (In the realm of the novel, of course, their human-originated existence is physical, not just notional...but I'm pretty sure the obvious metaphor is intended). Because of the rich and sometimes difficult history of immigration to the States, the story goes, it has become home to a culturally and geographically diverse selection of such beings, who are today competing to survive against the 'new gods' of the digital age.
It's frustrating, in its way...but more than a little bit genius. Mr. W would be impressed. Whenever I request 'constructive criticism' for my own literary efforts I usually get the same three-word response: "show, don't tell". He's right, and it's hard, and Gaiman is enviably good at it.
This adeptness inevitably adds force to his premise -- that gods and mythical creatures are called into existence by human imagination and are entirely dependent on our belief for empowerment and continued survival. (In the realm of the novel, of course, their human-originated existence is physical, not just notional...but I'm pretty sure the obvious metaphor is intended). Because of the rich and sometimes difficult history of immigration to the States, the story goes, it has become home to a culturally and geographically diverse selection of such beings, who are today competing to survive against the 'new gods' of the digital age.
People believe, thought Shadow. It's what people do. They believe, and then they do not take responsibility for their beliefs; they conjure things, and do not trust the conjuration. People populate the darkness; with ghost, with gods, with electrons, with tales. People imagine, and people believe; and it is that rock solid belief, that makes things happen. (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p536)
Even though I mostly do not share Gaiman's ultimate conclusions, I really appreciate the way he uses the world he creates as a backdrop for (mostly) sensitive and thought-provoking discussion about religion, society, humanity, the generally slippery nature of reality and what-have-you...There are new gods growing in America, clinging to growing knots of belief: gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon. Proud gods, fat and foolish creatures, puffed up with their own newness and importance. "They are aware of us, they fear us, and they hate us," said Odin. "You are fooling yourselves if you believe otherwise.” (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p138)
Religions are, by definition, metaphors, after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you—even, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers, and triumphs over all opposition. Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world. So none of this is happening. Such things could not occur. Never a word of it is literally true. (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p508)
This isn't about what is . . . it's about what people think is. It's all imaginary anyway. That's why it's important. People only fight over imaginary things. (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p427)
All we have to believe with is our senses, the tools we use to perceive the world: our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted. And even if we do not believe, then still we cannot travel in any other way than the road our senses show us; and we must walk that road to the end. (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p139)
I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. (Neil Gaiman, American Gods, p395)The Bible is wise to our propensity to set up the objects of our own worship. It is precisely in this context that it makes some pretty audacious claims about YHWH, the God of Israel -- namely, that He is, unlike the tribal gods of the surrounding nations, THE true and almighty God, eternally pre-existing mankind and choosing to create them and reveal Himself to them.
It is a prominent theme in the book of Isaiah (particularly chapters 40 to 46), which repeatedly juxtaposes created gods with the Creator God...
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols." (Isaiah 42:5-8)
"Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God." (Isaiah 43:10b-12)
“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,The idols are mute and inactive; YHWH speaks, reveals Himself to Israel, involves Himself in their history, promises and demonstrates power to save and heal. And He is unique -- "I am the Lord, and there is no other": the passage is punctuated with variations on this momentous claim.
and compare me, that we may be alike?
Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble." (Isaiah 46:5-7)
It really is a momentous claim. Christians are in danger of glibness if we cease to be staggered by it and all of its worldview-defining, opposition-provoking, order-destabilising implications. It is uncomfortable and unpopular enough to say "my religion is true", let alone to go so far as "other religions are not". I don't really want to get drawn into the "faith X vs. faith Y vs. pluralism" discussion right now, though it is something I would like be wiser about, and I've penned preliminary ponderings elsewhere. Rather less ambitiously, I'd like to sketch some of the landmarks along the road by which my senses have led me to the reasoned step of faith that God is real, outside and above mere human imagination or invention.
For one thing, I have been persuaded by history. Jesus in particular -- he did cause quite a stir. "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58b), he announced to a shocked, first century Jewish audience. Another massive claim, one aspect of which is to assert that he precedes and transcends man-made ideas and ideals. Sure, people can and have made all sorts of wild, self-aggrandising statements -- but it is what seems to have happened next which causes one to sit up and pay renewed attention to these and other startling proclamations. Indeed, if he really did rise from the dead (a belief which is by no means without historical support [3]) then that's something of a game-changer, to put it mildly. It was this belief which underpinned the birth of the church and the spread of the 'good news' of God's Kingdom.
For me, then, I believe God in part because I believe He has revealed Himself in human history. And I also believe that I can know something about Him for that same reason -- as Paul says, Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15).
But there is also considerable personal, experiential evidence reinforcing that belief. My entire life -- my mental health, my 'career', my relationships, my marriage, my passions and interests -- all of these things are utterly different for having made the day-to-day decision to trust them into God's hands and follow Him. For example (one of many), I recently came back from a huge conference an 11-hour flight away where I gave a presentation to a room (one-third [4]) full of international academics, heard a lot of fascinating talks on contentious, world-impacting topical issues, and mingled, in-between, with many interesting and lovely people. This, from a woman who successfully avoided even short-haul plane journeys for years (tube trains too, for quite a while), and was incapable of public speaking, paralysingly afraid of social encounters, and so mentally weary that she nearly didn't finish her undergraduate degree. And -- honestly -- whichever way I look at it, this 'triumphant' transformation is best accounted for by prayerful dependence and tiny steps of obedience in the directions in which God seemed to be prompting me.
BUT...whilst I clearly have a lot to be grateful for, it is NOT that 'things have gone well' which to me is the evidence of the reality of God. Nor (I hope) is my continued faith dependent on continued positive outcomes and pleasant circumstances. The New Testament writers, and Jesus himself, by no means promise his followers an easy life:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)Many things have gone well for me in recent years, and for that I thank God; but the means by which I have become open to receive and enjoy these new blessings is via a deeper transformation in my character and being to make me more courageous, more whole, more prayerful, more loving, more dependent on Him. I've a long way to go on all fronts but I hope and pray that this bigger work will equip me for whatever lies ahead in life, so that, like Paul, I can say "I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."(Philippians 4:12-13)
Of course, it is hard to convince anyone with this type of subjective, experiential evidence. Who's to say it isn't just psychology -- something akin to 'positive mental attitude'? I empathise which this objection; it features in my own grapplings with doubt. And it brings us back round to Gaiman's picture of religion as human invention -- a view shared by many whom I admire and respect. But I suggest that faith comes into play at this point whichever conclusion one settles on; not the blind, irrational leap after an abstract idea which some people understand by the word, but an active decision made on the basis of the information available having first applied reason. I am very very strongly of the opinion that every worldview requires faith -- and that reason, in this crazy who-knows-what-is-going-on-and-anyway-perhaps-we're-in-the-Matrix-after-all world can only ever take us 'so far' [5]. But sometimes, in the presence of a local, contemporary, majority consensus about 'reality', the faith-based nature of such conclusions can easily be overlooked.
Reality is a slippery customer. I'm not trying to claim a monopoly on it, just describe it, as I 'see' it, as best I can. And from an insider's perspective on my life and my 'relationship with God', the case for Him being real and powerfully at work is immensely compelling; whilst I cannot rule out alternative explanations it remains the most convincing one. The 'religion as invention' model simply isn't rich enough, by my assessment, to account for my experience on top of the considerable historic evidence (not to mention the evidence of answered prayer and transformation in situations outside the reach of personal psychology...and the existence of reason itself...and beauty, and longing, and love...and the problem of evil, and human morality -- all subjects for future occasions, perhaps). As I have doubtless quoted many times before, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else" (C.S. Lewis, Is Theology Poetry?, 1945).
[1] The discovery that the House on the Rock (chapter 5) and Rock City (chapter 17) are real tourist destinations rather bowled me for six...
[2] Including several beautifully-appropriated Eliot references, which made me very happy. For example, I'm pretty sure it wasn't coincidental that I found myself thinking of The Journey of the Magi whilst reading 'Coming to America' on page 66 onwards.
[3] Here's N.T. Wright (a New Testament scholar) presenting the historical case. This may or may not be the version of the talk I've heard before, and I haven't had time yet to listen to it again, but I remember it being pretty good...
[4] The academic track at this particular conference was small, and competing with many exciting, topical, controversial and less technical talks by famous people in bigger rooms, so audiences were not always huge but were no less intimidating for it...
[5] Indeed, faith is already required if reason is to take us anywhere to begin with... As G.K. Chesterton put it: "Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all." (Orthodoxy, 1908)
[Thumbnail image CC from Mike_fleming on flickr]
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