God As Symbol: What Our Beliefs Tell Us

Although this work is written from a Christian viewpoint, it also presents the symbolic visions of the non-believer. The symbolic examination of God helps us to uncover what it means to be human, and where we are heading as a species. Symbols aid in conveying the abstract ideas that human languages are too limited to express. In the broadest sense, God symbolizes all the mysteries of existence. Any thinking person must ask the question, ’what is the ultimate significance of this frail and vulnerable flesh that clothes the human ego?’ God symbolizes these important mysteries, and beckons us to approach him for answers.

John M. Shackleford, retired, taught courses in Anatomy for thirty years, before earning a second graduate degree in Theology. He is also author of Biblical Body Language (University Press of America, 2000).