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Incomprehensible

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (I Corinthians 13:12)
            Incomprehensible. We say that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, good, wise, holy, love, compassionate .... I pretend to have some idea of what those terms mean as I write about Him to you. You (probably) pretend to have some idea of what I'm trying to share. It's the same with most things. We think we understand gravity, genetics, the people we live with, etc., but there is always more to learn.  We understand in part.
           At the other extreme are those who say that unless one knows comprehensively and exhaustively, one cannot claim to understand at all.  This is classic reductionism. In fact, it reduces our knowledge to zero since we do not even know ourselves that well. Such know-nothing-ism is simple ignorance, the willful disregard of what can be known. God tells us in Romans 1 that He has made some knowledge of Himself available to all people in the same way that an artist does, through what He created - so that no one has an excuse. He has promised to reveal Himself further to those who seek Him. How much God reveals about Himself is His decision, and it's based on the observer's capacity to understand.  I know I understand more about most things now than I did when I was three, or five, or fifteen, or even thirty five.
           It shouldn't surprise or offend us that God is incomprehensible. In fact, it should delight us, because it means there's more to learn.

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