Christ is risen!
The word of the day is "know." In our Divine Liturgy, we profess that God, the Holy Trinity, is ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing, and eternally the same" (St-Tikhon's 1984). This profound statement about God's nature might make us wonder, is the Almighty truly unknowable? About three in four Americans say that they are "convinced" that God exists. But does that mean they know God or even care to know Him?
Today, in Acts 17:19-28, we read of Paul's speech to the philosophers at the Areopagus (Mars Hill) of Athens. To begin his argument, Paul points out an altar in the city with the inscription "To an Unknown God." And he states, "Therefore, the One you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you" (OSB vs. 23). Today, we consider from Paul's sermon what it means to know God and further that He is known in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who reveals Him. We will focus on this personal aspect of our relationship with God and close with the thought that to grow in our knowledge of God, we must remain rooted in the faith passed down to us.
Superstition Erects an Altar to an Unknown Deity
When Paul arrived in Athens, the profusion of the idols in the city aggravated him. So when some Greek philosophers invited him to speak to them, he began, "I perceive that in all things you are very religious" (OSB vs. 22). The superstition of these philosophers was so great that they wanted to ensure that they did not anger any god because they did not know of this deity. Paul takes the opportunity to introduce the One True God made known by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paul argues that God so made humans that they would seek him, that is, try to find Him or desire Him (Strong's #2212, 169). But Luke adds that they might "grope" for Him (OSB vs. 27). The Greek term comes from the sense of "manipulating by contact" and develops into the idea of feeling for or fumbling for something (Strong's #5584, 275). In other words, humans are like people without sight who feel around in the dark for a lost object.
God is Near Us, His Offspring
Though humans rummage around for God, Paul says that even your poets know that He is near to everyone everywhere. St. John Chrysostom says, "He so ordered things, that neither by place nor by time were men hindered" (NfPf:1.11, 236). Thus, the poets have said, "In Him, we live, and move and have our being" (OSF vs. 28). Using a material metaphor, Chrysostom says that God is like the air, "diffused on every side around us" (NfPf1:11, 236). Thus, the preacher says that God shows His providence and power in every time and place. In Him, all things have their existence and their "working" (energhein), that is, their operation or activity (Strong's #1753, 88). And from Him, all things are preserved and "do not perish" (NfPf1.11, 236).
Indeed, Paul says, "We are his offspring" (OSB vs. 8). Surprisingly, this statement is a quotation from a Greek poem by Aratus, a hymn to the pagan God Jupiter. Chrysostom comments, "Though it spoke of Jupiter, Paul takes it [the poem] to refer to the Creator." But that does not mean that Jupiter and God are the same beings. God forbid! However, Paul suggests that Jupiter had some of the attributes that are properly predicated on God. Likewise, Paul approved the altar to the "unknown god," not any supposed being worshiped by the altar (NfPF1.11, 236). In other words, Paul is saying that the faint impressions that pagans had of God are not fully revealed in the brilliance of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For Reflection
We learn from carefully reading our passage that there are fruitful and unfruitful ways of seeking God. There is a difference between groping for God in the darkness of ignorance and finding God in the light of revelation. Our seeking of the Lord must have a different basis than those who construct idols, believe myths and fables, empty their minds by meditation, induce visions and trances, punish and starve themselves, create fables, or try to capture God by reason. None of these things have given their adherents a personal relationship with God, even though He is always near us.
The Almighty is ineffable, invisible, and incomprehensible." Thus, we know nothing of God except his power and deity (Romans 1:20) unless He had revealed Himself to us.
The Lord Jesus proclaimed, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7). This is not merely a valid claim. It does not simply prove the existence of God. It describes a way of knowing God.
God is Known Only In a Relationship to Him
"To know" in Greek refers to recognizing or understanding something. But we attain that realization in and through a personal relationship with what is known. In short, knowing is established in a personal relationship. We know God to the extent that we enter into this personal rapport. Paul said, "If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing, yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him" (OSB 1 Cor. 8:2-3).
This kind of knowledge is a mutual relationship of love, an abiding in Christ and He in us (John 15:4). This loving relationship is based on faith, the complete trust in and reliance on Christ, and the free and total dedication of ourselves to the Lord that the Holy Spirit inspires.
A Hen That Stops Sitting Does Not Hatch Any Chicks
In our information age, many resources are readily available to seek the Lord, but, in fact, there are too many. A story from the desert fathers gives good advice: "Syncletica said, 'If you live in a monastic community, do not wander from place to place; if you do, it will harm you. If a hen stops sitting on the eggs, she will hatch no chickens. The monk or nun who goes from place to place grows cold and dead in faith." (Erenow, "Fortitude).[1]
Likewise, wandering from book to book, spiritual advisor to spiritual advisor, church father to church father, or church to church is a form of groping for the truth. Yet the church fathers point out that a tree cannot grow and bear fruit if one keeps digging it up and planting it elsewhere.
No, to know God, one must stay awake, stay faithful, and stay put. So, let us pray for the Lord's blessings to give us the spiritual resources we need to grow in the faith. And then let us use these means thoroughly, wisely, and faithfully. Let us stay the course laid out for us, trusting that this is how we will grow in our knowledge of the ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, and incomprehensible God.
Works Cited
St-Tikhon's. 1984. Service Books of the Orthodox Church. Third ed. South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Monastery Press.
[1] Erenow. "Fortitude." https://erenow.net/common/the-desert-fathers/8.php
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