Saturday, 15 April 2017

9. We ought not to rack our brains about God: but rather we should contemplate him in His works


According to Calvin “no long or toilsome proof”  is needed to show God at work.  This is because God’s work can “be easily observed with the eyes and pointed out with the finger”.  Cast your eyes around your surroundings, how hard do you have to look to see signs of God’s work?  Knowledge of God for Calvin will be “sound and fruitful” if it “takes root in the heart”. What knowledge of God has become deeply embedded in your heat?

Calvin cites Paul speaking in the centre of the Areopagus as emphasising that God is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27-28) and he mentions David declaring God’s greatness (Psalm 145:5-6).  Using teaching from Augustine on the Psalms Calvin stresses that human beings “cannot grasp” God.  How caught up are we in a world that grasps for knowledge, for money and for meaning?  How can we replace such grasping with “sound and fruitful” knowledge of God?

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