Day 7 – the universe: a window to God
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. –PAUL, the Apostle
When speaking of God, some people have used the word “ineffable,” which is defined by Webster as “incapable of being expressed in words: indescribable.” These people believe God exists but consider His character completely beyond their understanding. They, in essence, have ascended the slope of God’s existence and said “yes” but have come to believe the second leg of our journey serves no useful purpose. It is impossible, they say, to know what God is really like. They readily point as evidence the dizzying portraits of God throughout history, as alluded to yesterday. They say this smorgasbord of opinion stems from the fact that He is hidden from us, totally beyond our grasp. Consequently, when we try to determine His nature, we have no choice but to project ourselves—our desires, fears, experiences, and presuppositions—onto God. Then we proceed to call our image of God the correct one. No wonder, say these proponents of God’s ineffability, there are so many different views of what God is like!
The fact that I am writing this book exposes me as one who disagrees that God is completely hidden from humanity. I readily admit there is a limit to what we can know about God and that parts of our descriptions will be proven wrong when we behold Him more transparently after death. Nevertheless, I am a firm believer that God’s nature is partially discernible. And while I am aware that the numerous opinions about God among us may have the appearance of a theological free-for-all, I believe a common white thread of truth can be noticed amid the multiple colors, a thread that can be discerned by all of us if we seek it in earnest, one which inevitably leads us to God as He really is.
I make these claims not from a stance of superior objective knowledge or subjective insight or from the position that I have all of the answers. As was true when I approached the subject of God’s existence, my claim that we can know God’s nature has its origin in the universe we all inhabit. Just as we looked at the world around us and determined it was best explained by God’s existence, I believe we can look at it again and perceive aspects of His character. Starting with five basic facts about the universe, we can ascertain a long list of divine attributes. We can declare these attributes true, because to deny them would be to disown these facts. To dismiss these attributes of God would be as irrational and inexplicable as saying that water cannot be found as solid, liquid, and gas.
It is now time to review these five irrefutable facts and to explore what each has to say about the nature of God.
Daily Quotation
Romans 1:19-20 RSV
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