Is God Too Far Beyond Human Understanding To Know Anything About?

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody about the faith and, after immediately walking away, started thinking, “Man, I definitely should have said…!” You’re not alone! I have certainly had this happen on numerous occasions. This is not a bad thing, nor does it mean you’re a poor apologist or Christian. Rather, it is how we grow and improve in our defense of the faith. Meanwhile, who knows what the Lord is planting in the other person’s heart with each conversation. It could be that the thing you thought you should have said would have been way worse concerning their consideration of the Gospel! 

Nevertheless, this happened to me recently. I was speaking to a nonbeliever who said, “I believe in god, a higher power, but the higher power I believe is too vast to understand and infinitely beyond our understanding to know anything about.” Now, you might have picked up on what I didn’t. My response focused on who that higher power was and why the Christian view of God made the most sense of what we see in reality, especially given through the revelation of the Person of Jesus. While this answer is sufficient, a better approach was available to me that I unfortunately neglected. Namely, I should have asked an important question (it is better to use questions instead of statements, whenever possible).

I should have asked, “To clarify, are you saying we cannot understand anything about this higher power you believe in?” He would answer, “Yes, he is so vast and far beyond mere human understanding, that it is foolish to assume we can know anything about this higher power, nonetheless claim to know him or it personally.” I would respond by saying, “Okay, got it. I have a question. How is it that you can understand and know that this higher power is beyond our understanding? Isn’t that claiming to understand something about this higher power (that he or it cannot be known), despite our apparent inability to understand him (or it)? It seems you would have to at least know and understand something about this higher power, namely, that he or it cannot be understood!”I think this is a thought-provoking way to address the common Deistic claim that if a god exists, we cannot know Him or He is beyond our understanding. See, he is claiming to understand something about the nature of the higher power that is beyond our understanding, which is self-defeating. 

Now, the nonbeliever may respond by saying something like, “This higher power is beyond our understanding because it is so vast and infinite, while we humans are merely cosmically irrelevant and fallible.” This response falls victim to two errors. First, he asserts that the greater the difference of vastness (for lack of a better word), the greater the implication it has. For there is no problem with saying God is so vast and infinite (which He is), yet He chooses to interact with humans whom He purposefully created. I am much larger than an ant. However, I can still interact with the ant, and it surely knows when I am doing so (especially when it’s with my foot). One can also say that God personally intervening with humanity and revealing Himself to them, given His vastness, is an even greater display of His power. This view of God seems to be ultimately rooted in some naturalistic worldview, where the key point of contention is not the existence of such a higher power, but the possibility (or impossibility) of miracles. For more on whether miracles are possible, check this article out!

Second, the same problem I posed at the beginning of this article still applies. The response that humans cannot understand the higher power because humans are fallible is self-defeating. It is being asserted by the nonbeliever (a human being) that the higher power is beyond understanding because humans are fallible. But why should we trust his claim then? How does he know this higher power is incomprehensible if he, too, is fallible?

This is also similar to the objection that skeptics raise about the Bible, which is commonly put forth in this manner: “We can’t trust the Bible because men wrote it and men make mistakes.” Do humans make mistakes? Absolutely. But do humans always make mistakes? No. Case in point would be the information on medication bottles, books in our libraries, and the advancement of scientific discoveries and technology. If somebody makes this claim, they can't live consistently with such a view, since the reliability of human knowledge is often trusted, and rightly so.

Nevertheless, this view of God is called Deism. Deism is the belief that a “higher power” exists but does not intervene in the universe, being impersonal and incomprehensible. This belief gained popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries. It views God as the great “clockmaker” who created the clock, wound it up, but then let it go and never touched it again. Therefore, Deists deny the Trinity, reliability and inspiration of the Bible, the deity of Christ, miracles, and any supernatural intervention, including salvation. Thomas Jefferson was a famous deist who often addressed his writings to “Providence.” 

Therefore, deism is undoubtedly not a biblical concept. But it also has significant internal problems, as mentioned above. How can one claim to know a Deistic god exists, yet does not interact or reveal itself to human beings, and at the same time is claimed to be beyond our understanding by the same human beings who cannot understand him or it? How can one “know” the “unknowable”?

This is what I should have said to the person I was speaking with. But maybe my reflection afterward may be of use for you, the reader, if you encounter someone similar. To claim that we can know nothing about God overlooks the evidence of how He has revealed Himself to humanity, through general revelation (nature) and special revelation (the Bible, miracles, and Jesus). He is not hidden, but can be known by all who genuinely seek Him. As the Apostle Paul said of His presence revealed through nature,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-23)

Lastly, my initial answer to the nonbeliever remains critically important. For Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. If you know Jesus, you know the Father. As Jesus Himself said,

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7).

Even when one of Jesus's followers, Phillip, responded to His words above and asked to be shown the Father. And Jesus clarified His initial response as clearly as possible when He said,

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. (John 14:9-11).

Therefore, to claim that a higher power exists but we cannot know him or it personally is to be internally inconsistent (for how else would you know that?). If, then, we can at least know about the vastness and infinite nature of God, why assume we can't also understand how He has revealed Himself to mankind? To say God hasn't is to ignore or reject the evidence we have (i.e., the Bible and the Person of Jesus), which is a heavy burden to carry. However, it all leads to the most critical question: Is Jesus Christ who He said He was? If so, Christianity is true, and that has massive implications for whether one believes or not. Seek after Him, and He will indeed reveal Himself to you. God Bless!