and ultimate goodness. So conceived, God is believed to have created the entire universe, to rule over it, and to intend to bring it to its fulfillment or realization, to “save” it. Thus as a functioning word in our own cultural world, God in the first instance refers to the central and sole object of religious existence, commitment, devotion, dependence, fear, trust, love, and belief—and to the center of worship, prayer, and religious meditation. Secondarily, “God” has been the object of religious