I think it is a category error when someone asks, “Are you an atheist?” or “Do you believe in some god?” Such questions presume that “God” refers to an ontological entity. But this may be as misguided as searching for love beneath the sea on the assumption that it is a kind of fish. If we instead define God as something beyond our control but not necessarily beyond our comprehension (which I consider perfectly plausible; believing we might one day understand everything is humble, whereas claiming absolute control would not be), then the notion of God becomes epistemic rather than ontological, contrary to what those questions assume.

If we frame God in epistemic terms, then “Do you believe in God?” really becomes: “Do you believe in transcendence within experience? Do you believe in humility? Do you believe in our limits, and yet in our willingness to strive to comprehend and to care? Do you believe in the sacredness of life itself?”

This, almost by design, bypasses the question of any particular faith, though such a faith may still be chosen as a personal commitment, just as we choose the kinds of stories we enjoy. Qualities such as humility and moral aspiration—even forgiveness and mercy, which arise from moral aspiration pushed to its frontiers—are as universal as gravity.