A Deep Knowledge of God

This is a quote that I bumped into written by a fine Christian man who stood for the truth when that needed to happen. And what he was writing about was a truth that needed to be declared to the Church. 

We rise from the Bible — I think we can say it without irreverence — with a knowledge of the character of God. There is a real analogy here to our relation with an earthly friend. How do we come to know one another? Not all at once, but by years of observation of one another’s actions. We have seen a friend in time of danger, and he has been brave; we have gone to him in perplexity, and he has been wise; we have had recourse to him in time of trouble, and he has given us his sympathy. So gradually, with the years, on the basis of many, many such experiences, we have come to love him and revere him. 

So it is, somewhat, with the knowledge of God that we obtain from the Bible. In the Bible we see God in action; we see Him in fiery indignation wiping out the foulness of Sodom; we see Him leading Israel like a flock; we see Him giving His only begotten Son for the sins of the world. And by what we see we learn to know Him. In all His varied dealings with His people He has never failed; so now we know Him and adore Him.

This is really good and was especially needed when he wrote it. But it is not enough. To be sure, knowing what the Bible says about God is indispensable. But our author leaves something out. And I find it interesting that he actually points to this important element. Note his words 'with many, many such experiences'. If someone is going to become a good friend, someone whom you will know well and really trust, as the author describes, you will need to have lots of experiences with him so that you can see his character in action. The same is true if you want to intimately know and unhesitatingly trust God. Bible knowledge is necessary, but it's not enough. There are, sadly, too many people who know the Bible quite well but do not know God, not at all well. In fact, they may not know Him at all. They have not experienced Him. 

What I am saying is simply a reflection of something David wrote. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34.8 

You can read all about some great dish, but that isn't enough. What you want to do is experience it. You want to taste the food. 

Knowing God is about experiencing God and doing that in the day-to-day routine of life. It's expecting Him to act and then watching Him as He does act. It's about communion with Him as the living God. This is what deep knowledge of God is about. Without this all you have is some religious information. 

Knowing God: Information and Experience

If asked, 'How can I come to know God?', there are those who will say, 'Read your Bible', or the like with the assumption that the solution involves the intellect. Many strict Reformed types think in this way. Now, it is not possible to come to know God without dealing with some  facts, things like sin, faith and grace. But there are ways to be confronted with such ideas that are not about books and deep theological conversations. Another door involves experience. The ideas are still necessary, but it just may be that they will be driven home by something felt. 

Consider Job. How did he come to know God better? To be sure there was that deeply theological conversation that he had with God. But I think that it is necessary to remember that it came after all that happened in the preceding chapters of the book. If not, then why did God bother with them? If it's just a matter of Job being told some things, then the whole thing could have started  with chapter 38. Job's experiences of the first few chapters and then his interactions with his friends were a necessary prelude to God's confronting him. It was a matter of ideas being presenting in the context of experiences. 

So, there is to be an integration of both ideas and experiences for someone to come to know God. Thus when someone talks about how he came to know God because of some experiences or that people are to know God by means of some experience, he is not to be ruled completely out of bounds. He may be entirely wrong, but he may also be a little bit right, just in  need of the addition of some accurate ideas to explain the experience.