Collecting Points on the Hiddeness of God and his revelation. A refelction from Karl Barth's writings.

10th July

 

We will now finish this chapter by looking at the Knowability of God.  How God reveals Himself to us.  So, we have seen that God is not made of the same stuff as his creation.  God is eternal and without God revealing himself God cannot be seen although one can speak of God because of the effects.

 

We don’t even know anything of God’s life within Himself of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But this is a big but (page 197). God has revealed Himself by the Son… By the fact that the Son became man, ‘and by the Holy Spirit, His outpouring on all flesh ‘, ibid.  God’s revelation is by ‘grace’…ibid.   Barth qualifies this grace; ‘That is, it is a bestowal which utterly transcends all our capacity, being and existence as such but does not destroy us, does not consume and break our being and existence’ (page 197 to 1980).  Then Karl Barth goes into thanksgiving of what God has done for us.  By faith in his Son we are brought into communion with God.  God has done and prepared all this groundwork.  

Then Barth continues page 199 and I have to say, I really like these precious sentences; ‘In His Revelation in Jesus Christ, the hidden God has indeed made Himself apprehensible.  Not directly but indirectly.  Not to sight but to faith’. (page 199).  Barth then talks about signs; ‘The Word became flesh: …’. This Word is the eternal Word.  Through the Church and the sacraments, the Gospel is physically present (page 199).

 

So we touched on the unknowability of God by looking at Barth’s Hiddenness of God.

The Hiddenness of God

1.     God can only be known by God

2.     This speech about God has been done by what cannot be said about God… i.e. what God is not. 

3.     Barth has proof texts that point to God being beyond human knowledge in Himself. 

What can be said of God’s revelation

1.     God’s revelation is really grace.

2.     God has revealed Himself by the Son… By the fact that the Son became man, ‘and by the Holy Spirit, His outpouring on all flesh ‘.

3.     We can be thankful to God because; By faith in his Son we are brought into communion with God.  God has done and prepared all this groundwork.  

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