On knowing God

One of my Christian professors once said that they were a skeptic about God. He continued, saying that he was skeptic about God in the sense of us - humans - ever being able to know God exhaustively. There is no shame in saying, "I don't know," regarding God if we cannot know the concept in question, or in admitting that we can't know it completely. Even with eternity to know God, those who are saved will never know everything about God; there's always going to be something new.

Take the Trinity, for example. We don't know how God is able to be three persons, yet remain one God, and even so, that's what's true. We need to accept that this, or some parts of it, will remain a mystery to us, and still be satisfied by that truth. We should explore further and meditate (thinking about the issue and trying to make as much sense as possible), but accept that some aspects of it are beyond our understanding.

To admit that we can't know something (or not know it completely) is not necessarily a bad thing; in the right spirit, its an admission that God is infinitely greater than us and that there is always going to be more mystery to uncover. Such an answer is - in that spirit - giving glory to God. At the same time, willful ignorance is different from trying to know and discovering that you cannot. We should do our best to know what we can, absolutely. Just saying, "I don't know," about something you could know is not enough, to put it lightly. The Bible was given to us as a means to know God, insofar as human beings can know Him, and we should use that knowledge in the service of God.

Still, we should not pretend to know everything about God, because we can't (Job 26:14 38:4, Psalm 145:3-4, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 11:33). We need to be humble and admit we don't know everything while still striving to know what we can, and to put that knowledge to good and true use in His service.