How Well Do We Know God
How Well Do We Know God¹
Many of those who say that they know God with complete knowledge and worship Him are, in reality, not truly acquainted with God! This is because there are different kinds of knowledge concerning the relationship between God and man.
The simplest type is intellectual knowledge, in which a person says: Yes, I know that God is the great Creator who created heaven and earth and all that is in them of all heavenly and earthly creatures; God alone is eternal, not confined by place, omnipotent… God is unlimited in every one of His attributes; He is above time and above place. He is all-knowing. He knows what is in the depths of the earth and in the depths of the mountains, and He knows what is in the hearts of people, their thoughts and their intentions… This intellectual knowledge alone is not sufficient, because all it does is fill the mind with ideas, while the heart may remain empty, without feelings, without love, without emotion or sensation. It is the state of a person who has read about God or studied Him, without having a special relationship with God.
It is the knowledge of the mind, not of the heart… the knowledge of scholars in religion, not the knowledge of worshipers… Even this intellectual knowledge still has room for increase and growth, through study or contemplation. And for some, it turns into a sphere of debate in religion and dialogue about matters pertaining to God, glory be to Him.
As for our true knowledge of God, it is experiential knowledge in our lives. It does not come through books, lectures, or various kinds of learning, but through God’s dealings with us: through His kindness to us in our needs, our touching His wisdom in His management of our lives, His forbearance with us in our mistakes, or His disciplining of us or His forgiveness, or His opening before us the doors of repentance… along with all that we see of God’s beautiful attributes… whether from God’s dealings with us or with others, or from His divine governance of events…
Our experience with God gives us greater knowledge. The more we know Him, the more we love Him and glorify Him; our knowledge of Him increases, our faith in Him grows, and we see in Him the great heart that shows compassion and that guides… so our knowledge of Him increases and our reliance on Him deepens. And although God may reveal Himself to us in many and various ways, we also need to pray in reverence, saying to Him: Grant us, O Lord, the knowledge of Your knowledge… Yet our knowledge of God—although it begins here on earth—must also continue in eternity until it reaches its perfection. For no matter how much we know about God, and no matter how much we study His beautiful and glorious attributes, all that we can say is that we know only a part of the knowledge. Because while we are in this world, surrounded by the fog of this material body, we will not reach complete knowledge of God, blessed be His name. But when we put off this body, our transparent souls will know more in the other world.
But will we then know everything about God? No, because we are limited creatures, and God is unlimited. And it is impossible for the limited to know everything about the unlimited!
So will our knowledge of God in eternity remain deficient? No. Rather, God will expand our hearts and minds so that they can contain more knowledge of Him. That wondrous knowledge of God, in His greatness and splendor, His beauty and perfection, will astonish us, to the point that we cannot bear more… and we will spend some time in amazement at what He has revealed to us. Then we awaken—though I do not know when!—while contemplating what we have seen and known, feeling an indescribable happiness, and how sweet is what we have tasted of knowledge… Then God again expands our hearts and thoughts so that they become able to bear more knowledge, according to what our limited human nature can endure. And with all that God reveals to us of Himself, He remains as He is: the unlimited God, and we remain as we are: the limited human nature that cannot bear knowing everything about God. Rather, God reveals Himself to it according to its capacity, so it grows in the knowledge of God according to what it can endure… Thus, in eternity, we grow in the knowledge of God—but to a certain extent! Indeed, even a single attribute of God we cannot grasp in its fullness, no matter how much time passes.
God, glory be to Him, has previously given us knowledge through revelation and divine disclosure, and He has given us knowledge about His heaven, His angels, and His glory… He has given us knowledge sufficient for us to love life with Him and to love praising and glorifying Him to the extent that suffices us and that our nature can endure. If God in eternity will also give us knowledge of the beauty that surrounds His pure angels and His heaven, and of the light that surrounds all this, then how will be the majesty and beauty surrounding His very essence and His throne!!
If here on earth we have not been able to know the planets, stars, and galaxies, how will we comprehend the knowledge of the Creator of all these? Indeed, if while we are on earth where we live, we do not know what is in the depths of the earth of secrets, nor what exists in the depths of the seas, and we continue to explore in order to know some knowledge… Indeed, forgive me, dear reader, if I say that until now we have not even known ourselves! For what do we know, for example, about the soul, its essence, and its departure from the body… and if we do not know what the spiritual body with which we shall rise is… and if we have not known the human being and what pertains to him of mysteries… then is it boldness for us to ask: How will we know God in eternity?!
All that I can say is that we will grow in knowledge and know things about the Lord God that we did not know before. We will be amazed at what we reach of knowledge that will delight us in the other world, to the point that we will despise every other knowledge… and what we know about God and about eternity will be a source of happiness for us in heaven that cannot be compared to any other pleasure; rather, it is the eternal bliss, and nothing of the pleasures of this trivial earthly world in which we live can be likened to it.
We thank You, O Lord, for what You grant us of the grace of knowing You.
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Al-Ahram newspaper on 13-9-2009.
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