Yesterday, during a wonderful training session in Maoritanga, a claim was made that Maori believe in the God of Jesus Christ and the gods of the sea and the forest (as 'departmental gods'). Some discussion - inevitably - resulted. We did not conclude the discussion but promised ourselves that it would continue at a future date.
For readers new to these things, the subject of God, gods, and the understanding them framed within a Maori understanding (rather than a 'Western theological understanding') is 'Atuatanga'.
Here I make no attempt to resolve such discussion but to share some observations which came to my mind during the discussion we held yesterday.
(1) We cannot properly engage in such discussion if we approach solely from a Western perspective (which is entirely against concepts of 'gods' existing as realities alongside 'God'). We need first to get inside the mind of Maoritanga, not least to understand the 'theology' of Maori religion which first received the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
(2) We should be scrupulously fair: if we are minded to critique ideas about 'departmental gods', are we self-critical of our Western world-view? We do not think, for example, in terms of 'the god of the sea' but we have ways of talking about 'the sea' or 'nature' (or, indeed, 'Nature') which imply at least a personification of aspects of nature or nature itself (e.g. 'the sea can be cruel' or 'nature has a way of asserting itself when abused by humanity').
(3) Why do we still call the days of the week after Norse gods?!
(4) To what extent are '-isms' such as 'nationalism', 'capitalism', and 'consumerism' our gods? Similarly 'success', 'luck' and forms of 'fate' ('it was just meant to be')? To be sure, when challenged about such idolatry we seek to reform ourselves, but sometimes we run out of steam ... and go out to buy a new TV!