One of the great questions of theology is whether we can actually know God. If we cannot know God then why do theology? Remember, from our perspective the existence of God is presupposed. If that’s the case then we must ask the next question, “Can this God be known?” After that question comes, “If he can indeed be known then how do we know him?”
Berkhof says,
Reformed theology holds that we can know God can be known, but that it is impossible for man to have a knowledge of Him that is exhaustive and perfect in every way. (30)
He goes on to say,
Religion presupposes such a knowledge. It is the most sacred relation between man and his God, a relation in which man is conscious of the absolute greatness and majesty of God as the supreme Being, and of his own utter insignificance and subjection to the High and Holy One. And if this is true, it follows that religion presupposes the knowledge of God in man. (30)
With the presupposition of the existence of God we also presuppose that God is knowable. If we have no access to God as knowable at all then we are sunk before we’ve begun. So, we hold that man can indeed know God. This knowledge though is imperfect. There’s a fancy term for this imperfection: incomprehensibility. This means that we cannot comprehend God at the level of essence. We can only know God as much as he reveals himself to us.
How does God reveal himself? Reformed theology believes that God has revealed himself in two ways. These two ways are general and special revelation. General revelation is what God reveals about himself through the natural world. The Scriptures tell us as much in Psalm 19:1,2 and Romans 1:19, 20. This general revelation of God is enough for us to know of God’s existence and even, in some sense, his care. Through the natural world God provides for basic needs. We can know of him through the general revelation.
God didn’t stop there, he also revealed himself through special revelation. This is how he has spoken through the Scriptures. The Scriptures provide us with a clearer knowledge of who God is. And how he is working out the redemption of all things. I like how Berkhof says it,
Special revelation is rooted in the redemptive plan of God, is addressed to man as sinner, can be properly understood and appropriated by faith, and serves the purpose of securing the end for which man was created in spite of the disturbance wrought by sin. (37)
To summarize, God is knowable, though not in the full. We know him only as much as he reveals himself. He reveals himself through the creation and the Scripture. It is through the Scripture that we are “made wise to salvation.”
The post The Knowability of God appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.
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