In Abrahamic religions, the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility says that God is not able to be fully known. Isaiah 40:28 says "his understanding no one can fathom".[1] Most theologians will balance this by saying that God is able to be known in some ways.[2]
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In Christianity[edit]
Protestant theologians are usually quick to clarify that we are able to know God, since God reveals himself to us. R. C. Sproul notes, "Theologically speaking, to say God is incomprehensible is not to say that God is utterly unknowable. It is to say that none of us can comprehend God exhaustively."[3]
Some older English versions of the Athanasian Creed confess "the Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible" as a translation of the Latin immensus.[4] Modern English translations have "immeasurable",[5] "infinite",[6] or "unlimited".[7]
Divine incomprehensibility was said to be a point of conflict in the Clark-Van Til Controversy in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church during the 1940s,[8] but John Frame argues that the issue there was the relationship between human knowledge and divine knowledge, rather than human knowledge and the being of God.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Barrett, Matthew (2019). None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God. Baker Books. p. 38. ISBN 9781493417575. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ Zed, Rajan (11 December 2014). "Faith Forum: Is God incomprehensible?". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Sproul, R. C. "Divine Incomprehensibility". Ligonier. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ "Athanasian Creed". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ "Athanasian Creed". Christian Reformed Church in North America. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ "Worship Formation & Liturgical Resources Athanasian Creed (Quicunque Vult)" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ "Athanasian Creed (English)". ChurchPOP. EWTN. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ Muether, John R. "Van Til the Controversialist". Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Frame, John. "Van Til: The Theologian". Retrieved 19 June 2023.