Brad Pitt on God
Oct 3, 2007 Quotes | Print This Post
.:mood:. You know
.:itunes:. Brand New Day by Sting
OK, so here’s an interview of Brad Pitt from Usmagazine.com. Brad, who grew up Southern Baptist, went down the road of many college students: he rejected his faith. Here’s why:
“I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, ‘You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I’m the best, and then I’ll give you eternal happiness. If you won’t, then you don’t get it!’ It seemed to be about ego. I can’t see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.”
-Brad Pitt
This line of thinking is one I have encountered from time to time. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what my answer usually is.
You go first, though.
What would you say to a friend who brought you this objection to God?
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
[...] Celebitchy wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOK, so here’s an interview of Brad Pitt from Usmagazine.com. Brad, who grew up Southern Baptist, went down the road of many college students: he rejected his faith. Here’s why:. “I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, … [...]
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
If I was talking to Brad I would say, “What did you say? I couldn’t hear a word you were saying because you’re so good looking.”
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I just had a similar conversation with my friend about an hour ago. The argument presented wasn’t a reason to not believe there is a god, but really an argument on why you should reject God. Pitt’s doing the same thing. He isn’t listing a reason why God does not exist, but a reason why he does not want to worship God, which is what most people seem to do when they talk about why they don’t believe God exists.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Is it really about a ‘have’ to, or the choice? God is always proposing the question, do you choose to acknowledge me, do you choose eternal happiness? He’s not forcing his hand on anyone…and He’s not withholding it. We withhold it from ourselves if we choose to persue happiness here in our own pride and wordly desire. It’s about our own egos standing in the way, not Gods.
And I don’t know that it’s neccessarily about saying ‘well golly God, you sure are the best’ (look at Job) so much as saying, ‘wow, I am a flawed and broken person’.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I would say that it’s based on the flawed idea that God is like us.
If God was a human, he absolutely would be egotistical for demanding to be acknowledged.
If God is a human, then I don’t want to worship him either.
So, if we operate out of the idea that God is not human, that he is so completely “other” that we can’t comprehend it, then we can start to think about why he would ask this of us.
If this God exists, if he’s the omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent creator of all things great and small … then it seems like his very nature demands worship and acknowledgment. If such a being exists, the fact that he offers us ANYTHING at all for worshiping him is a great mercy.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Apparently Neil knows about my man crush on Brad.
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:50 pm
i don’t keep up with the celebs… are he and Angelina married? maybe his idea of marriage is too screwed up for this to work, but I would probably start with the biblical proposal/marriage analogy. is a man proposing to a woman arrogant to think they would have a better life together? etc, etc
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I’d start by asking Brad where he got that idea about God. Why do you see God like that?
Then, I’d probably give my view, saying I had a similar view until I thought about it this way: God wants us to know Him, but our own attempt to know God is feeble. God has to tell us about Himself before we can know Him. If God tells us that He is greatest and the only thing worth living for… and it is true, He would be doing us a terrible injustice to diminish that. Doubly so if “eternal happiness” comes only as a result of truly knowing and connecting with God. Then it makes since to me that God tells us all about Himself, it is necessary to knowing Him and experiencing the “eternal happiness.” It’s not for His sake but ours.
There is more that could be said but I believe that it is important to ask questions first… then offer a Christian perspective. “Interesting…Why?… I see it this way. What do you think?”
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I think one thing that helps me a lot is to realize the Trinity is unselfish by nature. Each person in the Trinity is actually trying to glorify the OTHER persons, which is not ego-centrical at all, but rather God-centered, if that makes sense.
The other thing is that it’s not like God is somehow withholding any happiness, rather the “eternal happiness” Brad is talking about is by *essence* only possible by knowing God who by *essence* is Supreme. In other words, it’s not God’s fault that we can only be happy by knowing Him - that’s simply the way things are. ;)
And resulting from that, God is really doing us a favor by a) offering us Himself and thereby our greatest joy, and b) allowing us to say no, thereby submitting to *our* will.
I’d also ask him for his autograph, but only after our conversation was over. ;)
October 4th, 2007 at 12:32 am
I think I would begin by saying that he’s absolutely right, it’s all about ego. God has every right to hold us to a higher standard than he does but he has long since accepted us for the faulty ‘ego-centric’ beings that we are. He (that is the big “H” He, God) isn’t concerned with his own cred or how hott people think He is; the issue about ego is letting go of out own.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:53 am
My response would be, “oooooh… you’re gonna go to hell! don’t stand so close to me. i don’t want god to strike me down too.”
October 4th, 2007 at 7:55 am
I’d frame the conversation as such: find out what he’s trying to get at by saying God “grants eternal happiness.” I think the problem with his view, and with many people’s view, is they think Christianity means that you say, “Okay, Jesus is God,” and then God gives you a ticket stub to go hang out when you die in this great place called heaven. But Jesus said “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Eternal happiness isn’t about sitting on clouds and playing harps; it’s knowing and having a relationship with God. And doesn’t it make sense that in order to have that relationship, you have to actually acknowledge the One calling you into the relationship? If I want to have a happy marriage for the rest of my life with Wendy, the first step is acknowledging Wendy’s existence, and then letting her know that I love her, etc. So if there is only one means to gain “eternal happiness,” and that means is in a love relationship with God, then why wouldn’t you express admiration, love, and honor to him? Especially given what he did on the cross to reconcile the relationship?
October 4th, 2007 at 9:22 am
It would depend on the friend… but if I were responding to Mr. Pitt: “Maybe your experience was like mine. With a Baptist Evangelist Uncle growing up I can understand projecting hellfire ego between me and the Love in Christ. As a child, loving direction was easy to confuse with an injustice. Unlike human ego Christ loves regardless of my mistakes and this act of faith you speak of is to shed what blinds me from Him.”
Then I’d tell him I needed an autograph for one of my pastors.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Sean, Jesus isn’t human?
I think that we as humans hold autonomy as way too high of a value. We want to buck authority, and we don’t want to serve authority. And if you think about it there are good reasons for that-if you look at corrupt politicians, corrupt police, corrupt pastors… But really it’s not authority that is bad, it’s abused authority that is bad. In the same way worshiping things and people here is completely flawed because the objects themselves are flawed, but God is very different (and good), just like good authority is very different and should be followed.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I’d tell him he’s been sold some bad theology, and then invite him along for the ride as we try to figure it out together.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Brad may not know this, but someday, he IS going to bow down and worship God as in “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
Such a waste of gorgeous…sigh.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
[...] Brad Pitt quote. [...]
October 4th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
[...] Connie: Brad may not know this, but someday, he IS going to bow down… [...]
October 4th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
nope
Jesus isn’t human
October 4th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Wow, we need to get you back in GCLI man!
It’s called “the duel nature of Christ.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
October 4th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Sorry, I meant “dual.”
October 4th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
how could I have been so blind
October 5th, 2007 at 4:03 am
I didn’t go to read all of the interview, but, if the ‘acknowleding God’ and ’saying God is the best’ is referring to ‘worship’ I don’t think that worship comes before an encounter with God through Christ. It is the same with a human relationship. You can’t really love or adore someone if you really don’t know what they’re about. It’s when you really get to know them and see their truly kind and wonderful traits, then you admire and love them. It’s the same with God. We ARE required to worship God but God doesn’t aggressively demand it from us. But those of us who truly know God and the awesome God that He is, we DESIRE to worship and praise Him without really being forced to do so.
And about ‘eternal blessing’ if Brad is referring to eternal life, then whether Brad (or anyone else for that matter) likes it or not, Christ IS the only way to eternal life and that’s the truth. Just like you can’t argue about gravity or earth being round, it’s the truth. And God has the right to make that the truth because He is the ultimate creator.
That’s my response to Brad Pitt.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:25 am
If you get a chance, make sure you listen to Michael Spencer’s podcast: Coffee Cub Apologetics.
He talks about this quote from Brad Pitt and references a CS Lewis passage where he details this precise objection. It’s really good. The bottom line argument is that if God really is God than it would be idolatry for him to elevate anything above himself. It would be a “sin” for him.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:13 am
[...] Noel H turned me on to this Brad Pitt quote about God’s egotistical flaw, and I talked about it on the last CC Apologetics. The discussion is interesting. What’s your response? (Hint: Pitt has tossed a softball that CSL already knocked well out of the park.) Posted by: Michael Spencer @ 10:13 am | Trackback | Permalink [...]
October 18th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Wow, John, that was a good thought man. I like that you put it that God is the ultimate joy and there is only sub-ultimate joy with out him by nature of who he is. I.e. God’s the bomb and you’ll be super happy around him, but away from him, life sucks because, well, you’re not with God. Like telling a joke without the punchline.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Who said god is a male? why all of the he stuff. If he’s made in our image that makes him a woman too.
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:17 am
Gina -
Genesis 1:4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
God said that He was a He
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I was raised a southern baptist, much like Mr. Pitt and later in life I converted to Catholicism, and now I am stuying wiccan, but there was never a doubt in my mind nor a waiver of who God is and what is the choice that we are all given. I would never reject God, nor say that the highest being isn’t God. Just because he gives us the choice to believe and worship who or what we will and tells us the consequences of those actions doesn’t mean that God is an egoist. There is only the choice of following what is innately given to us or denying this and believing the alternative, and if you make this choice then what God says the consequence is is not relevant because you do not believe in God. If by chance you do believe in God and deny what Jesus has taught all of us who know God is the way to live then you by choice have decided to suffer the consequences of that action by knowing what is true and denying it. :)
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
*studying
February 8th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
His parents really screwed him up!
February 17th, 2009 at 9:11 am
lol, why does it always get blamed on the parents? He is a big boy, with his own brain, and his own consequences for actions taken, whatever he does is his choice, not his parents.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I know, but it sounds to me that his parents may have told him that God doesn’t like this or that and when he went to college he was like are you kidding me?! Rock n Roll is not Devil music and I can have sex before I tie the knot and I my penis won’t fall off! But it sounds like he does believe in God.