To know God is an aspiration inherent in the rational being who recognises His existence.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the immortal and ever-present One, the omnipotent and omniscient One, the Creator who expresses the ideal of every being, of every existence. Every supreme virtue is embodied in Him and becomes the absolute standard of goodness. No matter how great a value we may imagine, God surpasses it, and the very fact that we can conceive of such a supreme Being indicates the necessity of His existence. If we accept the idea of His existence, it becomes inevitable that we will seek Him, whether out of desire or love.
The burden of finding God
If there is such a supernatural being, so different from us that it is practically impossible to know Him on our own, then the burden of finding God as our responsibility disappears, because we know from the beginning that we cannot find Him by ourselves. All that remains is the challenge of seeking God, a process in which He reveals Himself to us of His own accord, and we seek to understand Him more and more. To know God fully, however, is a superhuman task, for our finitude collides with His infinite vastness. Even in science we recognise that subjectivity and the limits of understanding are integral to the process of discovery. All the more so when it comes to God. But even if we cannot find Him on our own, we are always in His presence, because He wants to be found.
Infinity, an expression of the Godhead
In mathematics, the multitude of natural numbers cannot be counted. The finite and the infinite have different properties that cannot overlap. Even more so in philosophy, infinity is described as an abstract construct, intangible from the perspective of human reality.
David Hilbert’s paradox illustrates this fundamental tension between the infinite and the finite. Faced with the idea of accommodating a new guest in a hotel with an infinite number of occupied rooms, Hilbert suggests two strategies: one in which each guest moves to the next room, leaving the first room free, and the second in which the rooms are doubled. If you have a finite number of new arrivals, you can move each existing guest from room ‘n’ to room ‘2n’. In this way, all the odd-numbered rooms become free. Here’s one way in which mathematical concepts can lead to paradoxes in the physical world. Hilbert’s hotel paradox explores how infinite crowds can be manipulated and how this can lead to counterintuitive conclusions.
Objective and subjective knowledge
Objectivity is the central issue in the debate between realism and anti-realism. Realism argues that there is an objective reality that exists independently of the observer, and that we can approach this reality through knowledge. On the other hand, anti-realism argues that what we know is heavily influenced by our subjectivity and that there is no independent objective reality.
The concept of scientific paradigms, developed by Thomas Kuhn, emphasises that scientific communities in different historical periods may have different perspectives on what is considered objective because of the paradigms in which they operate. He emphasised the social and historical nature of scientific knowledge, pointing out that major shifts in scientific thinking are based not only on empirical data, but also on sociological, cultural and psychological factors. Subjectivity and personal interpretation can therefore play a significant role in the process of knowledge. Even when we seek objective knowledge, we interpret data and information according to our experiences, cultural perspectives and personal beliefs.
Revelation is the only way to know God
The inscrutability of infinity and the utopian nature of purely objective knowledge are magnified when it comes to knowing God. According to the Bible, no one has seen God as He is, and no one can see Him and remain alive at the same time. The Bible says this not only to emphasise the unworthiness of sinful man to see the holy God, but also to underline the fundamental distinction between Creator and creature. The creature cannot fully perceive the nature of God. What humans can do is to consider the names God takes upon Himself, the deeds He has done and recorded in the Holy Scriptures, the communications He has had with the prophets, and revelation in general.
Revelation is a theological concept that refers to the communication of immeasurable truth about God and from God to created rational beings. Revelation is a unilateral endeavour—it takes place only at God’s initiative. Thus, revelation is the communication of that truth in a way that is understandable to the being for whom it is intended.
Contextual understanding of revelation
In this sense, the understanding of revelation is subjective. Even the most precise revelation of God, Jesus, was accomplished by a descent of His nature into human nature. This incarnation, the kenosis, is not only about bareness in the sense of humility, but also about God’s descent within the limits of human perception. Whoever has seen the God-man Jesus has seen the Father. Jesus is the incarnation of God in a human system of reference.
The subjectivism of the knowledge of God is manifested not only from the perspective of His revelation to humanity. It is also connected with the diversity within the human species. We are not all the same, we do not all have the same contexts and we do not all live in the same way.
To some God has revealed Himself as the Almighty, to others as the God of peace, or the Holy One, the One who is, the God of armies, the One who sees, and so on. Even salvation is offered to everyone in a personal manner, without anyone else being able to judge. Some know God’s law as the essence of His revelation of Himself, some know Him without law, but all know Him by grace through faith. And each one will be judged according to his own light, understanding, and knowledge.
Knowledge of God is conditioned and transforming
The biblical perspective describes the interaction between people and truth as dynamic, conditioned and transformative. Scripture affirms that he who does not love does not know God, nor has he ever known Him (1 John 4:8). To the one who wants to do God’s will, God reveals Himself. The knowledge of God is conditioned by man’s motivations and by putting into practice the perceptions revealed to him. At the same time, the infinite facets of God are revealed to man according to his needs, pains, abilities and character.
Thus, the revelation of Scripture is given to people through a collaboration between the divine and humankind. Each book of the Bible bears the seal of God, but it also bears the stamp of the individual, their personality, their education, and the culture of which they are an exponent. Although the Evangelists John, Luke, Matthew and Mark all write about the same events, each Gospel bears the stamp of its specific author. This is the synoptic beauty of the Gospels. Together they describe reality better and more accurately.
Creation is revelatory
To the common testimony of the revelation of the books of Scripture is added not only the revelation through Jesus Christ, but also the revelation through the whole of creation—the heavens, the earth, the sea, human beings, animals, plants, the interactions between them, and so on.
Aristotle had come to understand that God, who cannot be seen by anyone, is seen in His creations. Voltaire could not even imagine that a clock could exist without a watchmaker. This perspective is in fact found in Scripture: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
Faced with the complexity of the universe, it is impossible not to seek its Creator and, in seeking Him, not to see Him in His own creation. The very presence of the most primary form of existence points to a primordial cause. Nothing can be its own cause. Cause always precedes effect. Otherwise anything would have to exist before it exists. It becomes absurd to go back infinitely from cause to cause, without stopping at a particular cause which does not presuppose another, and whose existence necessarily presupposes its continued existence.
The law of nature bears the image of God as its manifest form, even though sin has brought about its degradation. The same author who wrote the moral law also wrote the law of nature. Both speak of the Creator. Therefore, a violation of the law of nature is a violation of the law of God.
Revelation through conscience
In the Scriptures, the Apostle Paul mentions people who have not had the blessed encounter with written revelation or with Jesus Christ, but who are not deprived of the saving knowledge of God. Scripture says of them that they are their own law. This statement must be interpreted in the light of an understanding of the individual as the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in the individual. Therefore, in response, the individual should meditate, question everything they see and believe, examine their beliefs, values, and motivations, try to know human behaviour as well as they can, and so on!
On the tombstone of the philosopher Immanuel Kant are two of the writer’s wonders—one about the starry sky, the other about the moral law in man. Love, as the quintessence of morality, is opposed to the evolutionary principles and survival mechanisms at work in nature, which has been degraded by sin. Where does love come from without a pattern, without a designer? In a flawed system, love is vulnerability and weakness. It is long overdue to disappear. So love also speaks of God. God is love and dwells even in human beings.
Final suggestions on seeking God
Let yourself be led by your natural curiosity, and in this way you will begin to search for God.
Test the authenticity of your faith by the depth of your search for God.
Remove the burden of finding God on your own. God is the way and never the destination. God is inscrutable!
Encountering God is gradual, contextual and according to His will. The closest communication with God is through theophany, but this depends on God alone. No one can do anything to become a prophet. God chooses to whom He will reveal Himself.
Enjoy the journey of seeking! Marvel at each discovery and follow in His footsteps hoping for deeper knowledge.
Knowing God is conditioned and transforming. You know in direct proportion to how much you live.
The purpose of knowing God is not to create a theory/knowledge about Him, but to become what we are meant to be—loving beings.
The surest way of revelation is through the Holy Scriptures. Even Jesus allowed Himself to be tested by it!
The most faithful form of God’s revelation came through the incarnation of His Son.
The whole of creation speaks of God, if you look closely at the features of God that can be seen in nature.
Look for His attributes in the sciences.
Give up trying to know the whole truth about God! It is more likely that you will not know anything at all than that you will come to know everything.
Don’t be fooled by the ease of definitive convictions; always question!
Only through revelation can we know God.
Often the information we discover about God can seem contradictory or dialectical. As a representation of the infinite, God is not reducible to a single description, and His personality and actions are of a magnitude beyond human comprehension.
Pray, study and meditate daily.
Talk to others about Him.
Seek advice from experienced people.
Get involved in helping people in need. God is to be found in the places where Jesus Christ went.
Finally, accept the mystery; there are many things we will never understand in this life.
Ștefăniţă Poenariu believes that we cannot know Divinity completely and objectively. Although man seeks God precisely because he believes in His existence, finding Him is exclusively a divine gift.
