The 'God-Problem' in Communication Studies
Quentin Schultze, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Calvin College
Journal of Communication and Religion
Vol. 28 (March 2005) 1–22

One of the oldest and most persistent problems in the study of human communication is the “God-Problem.” If God exists, and if God communicates with human beings, how can we study human communication comprehensively without taking into account the agency of God? At the same time, however, how can a scholar identify and interpret transcendent speech? Perhaps some scholars think that such claims should be relegated to speculative theological studies. This problem is not as arcane as we might imagine. Historically speaking, the God-Problem was one of the most recurring themes in communication
studies. During the last 300 years, however, it was largely silenced because it represented an unpopular, potentially even subversive research agenda that called into question the naturalistic assumptions of modernity.

In the postmodern context, Enlightenment rationalism and Cartesian dualism are under assault from within and without. For some scholars, this turn has reopened the question of where God’s possible speech agency fits into human interaction.

Is God’s speech a figment of human imagination any more than our own scholarship is? A parable from my own life might help illustrate this God-Problem for scholars of communication.

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