“But Only That He Is”

Points To Ponder About God

We only see the effects of God, but are these effects indeed, Him? Are these effects His essence? Are these effects His substance?

“We cannot understand the divine substance, for we do not know what God is, but only that he his”

-Damascene

“We do not know God in His essence but think of Him in His effects…..The saints in heaven who see God in His essence, in seeing God, see His goodness”

-Aquinas.

Is physical matter (substance) God or is physical matter a creation of God, an effect of the first cause, which is God? Is essence, which is the intrinsic nature of God nothing more than man’s attempt to describe Him?

We know God “is”, but what is God? Is limited intellectual capacity what hinders our complete understanding of Him? Is it sin which blinds us thus limiting us? Is our limited capacity due to lack of revelation by God?

“For in Him we live, and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Our very existence is dependent upon God. Our existence is not dependent upon on faith in God, for if it were, then those of no faith would not exist. We of course know that they do.

God cannot be defined, only described through His effects, or through negation, which describes what He is not.

We know that God exists. We experience His effects. Through this experience of His effects we derive and conclude essence, nature and intent. Substance is part and partial to effect in our present environment and is a method of relating and understanding essence and intent.

Can man understand essence, nature and intent without substance? Can man desire God strictly for His intrinsic qualities and character, minus the benefits of substance? Does man want God, His nature or His substance?  

The “who” of God is described by His effect. The “what” by the cause. Man describes the cause, God, as uncreated, unoriginated, from everlasting to everlasting, immutable, etc. These intangibles are used to describe the cause of all things.

We have knowledge that God “is” through His effects, but “what” is God beyond describing Him as the first cause of all things?

Our knowledge of God through the effects of God is further limited to our awareness of those effects. Is man aware of all that God has manifested? Part of the Christian life of an individual is searching and becoming aware of what God is and has done. But the picture mankind has painted of God, has he used all of the colors God has given him to create the painting? Is our current knowledge of God deficient due the fact we are not aware of all God has effected (already done)?

Bill Hitchcock