Knowing God – The First Questions

No matter how we may think about catechesis (our Christian learning) we always have to begin with God. All that we say or do as Christians relates to God and what we know of Him.

Oddly, though, the first thing we must say about God is that He cannot be known (with the reminder that Fr. Thomas Hopko says, “But you have to know Him to know that.”) This is extremely important in any beginning understanding of the Orthodox faith and what it has to say about God.

It is certainly true the ancient philosophers (as well as modern philosophers) posited ideas about God – even that there was one God. They posited (at least some of them) that God was all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good, etc. But these are only ideas about God and are never the place we begin as Orthodox Christians. God cannot and could not be known through the rational efforts of man.

There is something of God that can be known, or inferred, from the things that exist. Classically, this is known as natural theology. For some, just looking at the world around them tells them that there is a creator. But it is hard to say more than that, or even to say what sort of being (thing?) the creator is.

For us as Christians, our knowledge of God does not even begin with reading the Old Testament. There is a certain knowledge of God given to the people of Israel within those writings, and within their historical experience, but this is not the place where we begin as Christians. We believe that what is seen and known of God in the Old Testament writings is not perfectly clear, nor can it be read alone and thus reach proper conclusions.

As Christians, the place we begin is with the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Although this may seem to be beginning in the middle – it is precisely where we begin if we are to know God. The most essential claim of Orthodox Christianity is that God became man and dwelled among us. Thus Christ is the revelation to man of who God is, of how God is, and of everything there is to know in our relationship with God. He is also the key to understanding the Old Testament, as He Himself said (St. John 5:39-40). Speaking to the religious rulers of Israel during his ministry, Christ said:

You search the scriptures [the writings known today as the Old Testament], because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Thus the wonder of Christ is that He made known to us the God who could not be known. He is the revelation of the only true God. Our method of understanding in this small teaching will be to follow this same pattern. We will begin with Christ and from Him will look at the various aspects of our life and faith as Orthodox Christians.

The Catechesis Project – The Problem Stated

I have served eight-and-a-half years as an Orthodox priest – pretty continuously in an American mission setting. I have used everything in English I can get my hands on for catechesis – introducing inquirers and catechumens to the Orthodox faith. Many books, such as Kallistos Ware’s The Orthodox Church, and Fr. Thomas Hopko’s The Orthodox Faith, will always be indispensable. And yet, I am always looking for something more. Sometimes I am looking for something more because nothing currently written says some things that I find need to be said to inquirers and catechumens – at least in my situation. I am increasingly finding the need to take people back to something like ground zero – to erase previous assumptions. The foundations laid in other traditions simply will not work in building an Orthodox structure. Even the word “God,” frequently has to be redefined, if not always.

I am also thinking about Orthodox Christians who, though not converts to the faith, have never been taught the faith (there are many who were born so in America, and many more who have migrated here from elsewhere). They need a very basic introduction to the faith on many levels. We cannot assume a knowledge of Scripture or even of very much Tradition.

My purpose and plan is to work on this project as I have time and to post it in progress as a blog. Comments are more than welcome and will, doubtless, prove helpful. I cannot promise speed. My life stays pretty full – but the need seems worth spending time on, along and along. Thank you for your patience and your help.