在讨论了“圣经是什么？”“我们为什么应该相信它？”之后，今天我们来看圣经的主题──神。在这一讲里，我们要讨论的题目共三条：

　　一、神是可知的
　　二、寻求、认识神的努力是合情合理的、崇高的
　　三、神是美善的

　　这几条看上去再简单不过了，但我们这些需要被纠错的基督徒常常能把甚至是最简单、最明了的概念搅成、挤成一根根缠扰不清的神学麻花。

一、有一位可知的神

　　基督徒在关于神的知识上有许多东西需要进行纠错。我们听到的教导常常把神视为不值得去知道、去了解的。另一种倾向是：神就是不可知的，理由是他之所以不可知是因为神与我们之间的差别是如此之大，以致于在与神交往的事上我们根本就不知道东西南北。

　　1) “同龄人”般的神

　　在今天的西方教会里，神常常被视为与我们是同龄人，是“哥儿们”(buddy)。在一定意义上，神看上去好像是这样的。我们在《出埃及记》三十三章11节读到：“耶和华与摩西面对面说话，好像人与朋友说话一般。”主耶稣在《约翰福音》十五章 11节中教导说：“以后我不再称你们为仆人，因仆人不知道主人所做的事；我乃称你们为朋友，因我从我父所听见的，已经都告诉你们了。”

　　这么看来，神是我们的朋友。但当摩西代表神向以色列说话时，他的脸发光，以致人们都因害怕而不敢走近前来(出34:30)。尽管基督称他的使徒们为朋友，可他们从来未用过“朋友”这个称呼，而都是自称是基督的奴仆。《路加福音》五章8节里彼得对耶稣行了神迹之后的反应，才真正表达了人对基督应有的态度：“西门彼得看见，就俯伏在耶稣膝前，说：‘主啊，离开我，我是个罪人！’”

　　在我们所一头扎进的、将基督教加以简化的传福音的努力之中，我们将神降到了一个地步 ──神是如此容易地被认识，以至有些人就不再把神看作是值得我们寻求、认识的神了。神成了一位超级心理学家、一位老好朋友，或是我们从未有过的亲人或配偶。但是，假如我对自己的生活(朋友、家人或婚姻)已很满意，那么神对我还有何用？我不需要再多一位朋友。

　　2) 不可知的神

　　另一种流行的有关神的错误概念是：神是根本不可知的──他远远高过我们，在一个不可知的范畴内运作，甚至与人类行事的方式是完全相反的。当我们存着这种不符合实际的“谦卑”心态来想像有关神的概念时，我们就得出了另一种结论，即：神既然是无限的，那么我们思考神的一切努力就都是徒然的。

　　但神的无限本质并非使他不可完全企及。保罗在《罗马书》十章8~9节中写道：“他到底怎么说呢？他说：‘这道离你不远，正在你口里，在你心里。’就是我们所传信主的道。你若口里认耶稣为主，心里信神叫他从死里复活，就必得救。”

　　因此，我们需要纠正我们关于神的错误观念。他既不是“哥儿们”，不值得特别花时间去认识；也不是远到外太空里哈伯望远镜^[注1]探不到的。我们若将这两种极端折衷一下，或许就离真理近了一步。神既是无限伟大崇高的，又是降卑而使我们可以认知的。他既是住在我们中间的神，又是天上永恒的神，既深不可测，又是可知的。下面我们就来对此加以讨论。

　　3) 无限而又可知的神

　　“神是谁？”“圣经里是如何定义神的？”问这个问题的人本身就有点过于骄傲了。我在听到别人谈论神的时候以及当我自己谈论神的时候，我总有点不自在。人在试图定义神的时候，就有点儿像是那些正在被鲸鱼吞入口内的浮游生物想要为鲸鱼下定义一样愚蠢可笑。我不知道浮游生物的认知能力到底有多少；有一点可以肯定的是，鲸鱼绝不局限于它们窃窃私语的认识范围之内。

　　基督徒认为：神已经向他的被造物显明他那些可知的方面。

　　让我们真诚地谦卑下来，承认神的不可测性。但也让我们清楚地知道，神并非因为他所具有的无限性及不可测性就使我们对他完全不可认知。换言之，我不能完全认识神并非意味着我就一定不知道任何关于神的事。你们中间的绝大多数人大概不能面面俱到地向我描述垒球的详尽规则和全部所在，但这不等于你不知道什么是“三振出局”^[注2]。

　　4) 有理性、讲逻辑的神

　　另外一点我们同样应该清楚知道的是：我所掌握的那点关于神的有限的知识，对于我、对于神，都是真的，是绝对不矛盾的。也就是说，当我知道神不能说谎(多1:2)，我就应该知道，“说谎”就是说谎，它在神眼里和在人眼里都是同一种行为。例如 2+2对于我来说等于4，那么2+2对于神来说也等于4。假如两条平行线对于在地球上生活的我是不相交的，那么在天上神的国里也绝不会相交。我们也可以这样说：“当我明白真理的时候，我就知道了神的心思(当然是在定性的而不是定量的概念上)。”

　　我并不是想要把问题搞得过于复杂化、过于哲学性；但只要稍微作点解释，我们就能看出，认识“神的可知性与合情合理性”有多么重要。无论如何，假如神是不可理喻的，那么他当然就是不可知的，因为你是无法了解捉摸不定的东西的。

　　地上的真理之所以是真理，是因为此真理是神头脑里的真理。有人说，“平行线在天上或许是相交的；反正神在逻辑之上，是超逻辑的。”这话听上去也没有什么害处，甚至还显得挺谦卑的；这样做也很容易来解释神学上的难题。有了问题，只要说上一句“ 神是超逻辑的”，问题就迎刃而解了。但是我们必须知道，平行线之所以在地上不相交，是因为它们在天上不相交(这里所说的天上是指神的规律、法则)。

　　请允许我来说出这里的关键所在。假如平行线在天上不相交，那么我们就必须承认神可能是自相矛盾的。倘若真的如此，当他说“是”时就意味着“不”；说“相信”时就是指“怀疑”，对我们说“信的人必得救”而实际上可能是“信的人被定罪”。那么问题可真是严重了。

　　我们已经确定圣经是我们知识的起始点。既然神是圣经的作者，那么他就是我们知识的起始点。圣经宣告说：“敬畏耶和华是智慧的开端”(箴1:7)。使徒保罗在《歌罗西书》中写道：“神的奥秘就是基督，所积蓄的一切智慧和知识都在他里面藏着。”

　　在这些声明以及圣经中其它多处经文所不言而喻的是，知识来自神，我们是可以获得智慧与知识的。这也就毫不奇怪为什么当初蛇在对人类的第一次进攻时说：“神岂是真说......？”(创3:1)。

二、合理的追求

　　我的第二大点是：人类最高的追求目标是认识神。不信的人用来反对有组织的基督教信仰常用的一个论点是：“基督教内部就充满了对圣经中关于神的教导的不同理解”，就仿佛没有组织的宗教之间矛盾就少似的。

　　最近，我在与一位基督徒朋友为神学上不同的意见争论时，被一位不信主的朋友听到了。他就说：“真有意思，教会到今天还在那么多的事上争论不休！”言下之意就好像教会外面就没有争论似的。按他这句话的逻辑，有争论的东西是不值得追求的，或者是不会有结果的。但我们不应该对教会里的争论感到泄气(我们以后还会对基督徒之间的争论详加讨论)。

　　从前我有一位教练，他曾训练出无数的创田径记录和金牌得主。他在田径运动上的知识远远超过了我的智力与能力所能企及的。难道这就意味着我找这样的人作教练是不理智的蠢举吗？假如自己无知而且能力太差，就不能在这位天才教练之下受训练──这是一种何等扭曲的逻辑啊！

　　假如人类因着自己找到正确结论的能力很差就放弃对认识神、事奉神的追求，那就是无理性的。归根结底一句话，神是可知的──这是神自己的应许：“爱我的，我也爱他；恳切寻求我的，必寻得见”(箴8:17)。

三、神是美善

　　1)我的最后一点是：神是美善。这点看上去是如此一目了然，实在没有什么好讨论的。但是，作为一个需要被纠错的基督徒，我发现自己甚至在关于“神是美善”的这一点上都是认识不足的。我思考问题时的缺陷是，关于神我有一个观念，关于美善我则有另一个观念，然后我下了个结论，说神与美善是可以划上等号的。下面我来解释一下这意味着什么。

　　神常常被描绘成一位好心的老人，想要帮助把世界搞得有条有理。我们都喜欢这样的好心老人。我们在金球奖和艾美奖颁奖大会^[注3]上也说“感谢他”，可是在圣经里神却要求我们忠心于他，要求我们敬拜他。他是一位忌邪的神，要惩罚否认他的人。神的这一以他为中心的绝对性也被教会给轻描淡写了。突然之间，那位“老好人”变成了“萨达姆．侯赛因”(胡森)。这样的神就成了“男权主义者”、“憎恶同性恋者”、“好战分子”、“反对妇女有生、杀自己胎儿权利”者了；他也因为人有罪而把他们“送到地狱去”。这样的一位神在奥斯卡颁奖大会上是不受欢迎、也不会被提到的。

　　这里的问题是：神被视为仅仅是被造物中的一分子；一般说来，他做出的和选择的都是好决定。有时候，人们觉得神越了界，任意称邪恶为美善。在知识分子中，我们常常听到对这位“好战的”、“令人不可忍受的”神进行严厉指控。

　　但神不因为某些事情是好的就选择它们或制定法律来肯定它们(仿佛它们之所以好是出于它们本身)；它们好也不是神任意说它们是好的──好与善本身就是由神的本质和特征所定义的。

　　《威敏斯特信仰告白》是这样说的：

　　一切生命、荣耀、善良、祝福都在神自己里面，也属于他；......唯独在神自己里面，且归给他自己时，才有完全的充足；他是万有的独一根源，万有都是属于他、藉他而立，也归于他。(第二章第2节)

　　2)恨神就是恨善

　　《诗篇》119篇68节：“你本为善，所行的也善。”使徒保罗这样说：“因为万有都本于他，依靠他，归于他”(罗11:36)。换句话说，当我们说某事、某物是善的，那善本身就与神的特征相和谐。得罪神就是得罪善；恨神就是恨善。“我恨上帝 ”是今天很流行的口头禅。《箴言》八章35~36节将神自己与生命等同起来：

　　因为寻找我的，就寻得生命，也必蒙耶和华的恩惠。得罪我的，却害了自己的性命；恨恶我的，都喜爱死亡。

　　恨恶神就是恨恶生命。生命、真理、美丽、纯洁、善良、公义、爱......不仅仅恰好是神所具有的属性，也并不仅仅是神能够来为这一切下定义；这一切都是神本身的特征，都源于神，当然也由神来定义。

　　我记得当初自己在考虑要不要成为基督徒的时候，还在那里详细考查，看看基督徒的信仰是否真的符合伦理道德，是否真是那么好？圣经里的上帝是否值得我去为之献身？他真的是美善的吗？希望现在我们大家都能认识到这种态度的傲慢、自恃。当时我想做的是，不知天高地厚地试图要来判断美善本身是否美善，于是我就自以为是地作起了美善和神的检查官。简直是疯了一样！但这却是人思考问题的常用方式。

　　3)寻求认识一位美善的神

　　根据圣经，有一位美善的、可以认识的神。世上没有什么比寻求、认识这位神更高尚的追求了。他是那联接轮子上所有齿条并驱动它们运转的齿轮。当神被从平衡式里挪走之后，家庭的事、政府的事、人与人之间的关系、教会里的事......都会遭瓦解、破坏。主耶稣在《马太福音》六章31~33节里教导说：

　　所以，不要忧虑说吃什么？穿什么？这都是外邦人所求的。你们需用的这一切东西，你们的天父是知道的。你们要先求他的国和他的义，这些东西都要加给你们了。

　　神不仅仅是美善；他就是美善之源。丢弃“神”的观念就是丢弃“美善”的观念。这样的例子我们看到的难道还少吗？

　　4)神是良善，我们不是

　　到此为止，假如我不向你们指出我们都为之痛苦但又清楚知道的一件事，我就是失职了。那就是：神是良善，我们不是。耶稣明确地指出：“除了神一位之外，没有良善的”(可10:18)。神的公义、圣洁与美善是如此高出我们，从一定的程度上说，人寻求、认识神的努力实在是愚人之举。人不可能造出一座“德行塔”或搭起一架“公义梯”去认识神。以赛亚先知教导我们说：“我们都像不洁净的人，所有的义都像污秽的衣服”(赛64:6)。

　　那么我们的希望何在？我们的希望不在于我们自己，而在于神，在于神找到我们。神通过他儿子耶稣将他的爱赐给我们、找到我们：

　　他本有神的形像，不以自己与神同等为强夺的，反倒虚己，取了奴仆的形像，成为人的样式。既有人的样子，就自己卑微，存心顺服，以至于死，且死在十字架上。(腓2:6-8)

　　这是神自己为我们提供的人能认识神的唯一方式：神的儿子变成为人，倒空他自己，变成为有罪，自己卑微，以至于死，好使我们拥有生命──拥有唯靠与神联合才能找到的生命。人与美善的神和好的唯一途经就是通过信基督，唯独信基督。愿神赐给我们眼睛看见此真理！让我们永远求告救主的名字！

__________

[注1]
　　世界上最强大的射电望远镜。

[注2]
　　垒球是美国最大众化的运动项目；“三振出局”是家喻户晓的一条比赛规则。

[注3]
　　美国电视界年度颁奖大会，级别次于奥斯卡。

Remedial Thoughts Regarding the Knowledge of God

　　Having discussed what the Bible is and why we should believe it, we now turn to the main topic of the Bible—God. I have only three goals in this present section. To show: (1) that God is knowable, (2) that the quest for knowing God is reasonable and noble, and (3) that God is good. This seems simple enough. But we remedial Christians are capable of taking even the most simple and straightforward concepts and twisting them into theological pretzels.

A Knowable God

　　There are many things Christians encounter regarding our knowledge of?God that require remedial instruction. First we are often presented with a God?who may not be worth knowing. Another is a God who simply can’t be known. He can’t be known because He thinks so differently from us that in our?interaction with Him; we can’t really know which end is up.

　　A Contemporary God

　　Today the church is very hip on viewing God as a contemporary. In a certain sense it seems that God desires this. We read, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Jesus taught, saying “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15 NASB).

　　So God is our friend. But when Moses spoke to the people on behalf of?God his face shone in such a way that the people were afraid to come near (Exodus 34:30). And even though Christ called His apostles friends, they never used that title for themselves. Instead they referred to themselves as servants or?slaves of Christ. Peter’s response to one miracle of Jesus accurately portrays man’s proper response to Christ: “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke?5:8)!

　　In our headlong pursuit of seeking to make Christianity significant, we often bring God down to a level where He is so knowable that some reckon He is?no longer a God worth knowing. Instead of a God who is to be revered and worshiped, He is a super-psychologist, a phenomenal friend or the parent or spouse we never had. If I’m happy with my life, friends, family, or marriage, what use is God to me? I don’t need another friend.

　　The Unreachable God

　　Another popular remedial view is that God is not knowable at all; He is so?above us that He operates in a realm that is unknowable, and perhaps even contradictory, to mankind. With a sort of false humility, or cop-out (since if there is a God He no doubt has a certain claim on our lives), we reckon that there is no?point in trying to extend our thoughts to such an infinite being. But God’s infinite nature does not make Him unreachable. Paul writes,

　　But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:8, 9).

　　So, in our remedial thinking, God is either my buddy who may, or may not, be worth knowing or He is so far in outer space that even the Hubble can’t pick Him up. If we could somehow put these two together, we might be closer to the truth. God is both immanent and transcendent. He is the God who is among us and the God of heaven and eternity. Either way, God, though incomprehensible, is knowable. I’ll explain.

　　An Incomprehensible God, A Knowable God

　　Who is God? How does the Bible define God? The question itself seems so arrogant. I’ve always found it a bit disquieting to hear people talk about God. I’ve always felt a bit uncomfortable talking about God myself. For men to seek to define God is like plankton seeking to define the nature of the whale that’s swallowing it. I am not sure at what level plankton might know things, but there does seem to be a certain aspect of the whale to which they are privy. Christians believe that there are certain aspects of God that He has revealed to His creation.

　　Let us, in all humility, acknowledge the incomprehensibility of God. But let us also recognize that simply because God is incomprehensible, in terms of His immensity or vastness (quantitatively), it does not follow that God is entirely unknowable in any sense whatsoever. In other words, the fact that I don’t know everything about God does not mean I don’t know anything about God. Most of?you could not give me an all-encompassing, comprehensive definition of baseball but that doesn’t mean that you don’t know what a strike-out is.

　　A Logical God

　　It’s also important to recognize that the limited number of things I do know about God are as true for God as they are for me (qualitative). In other words, when I learned that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), I had to understand that lying is to God what lying is to me. If two plus two equals four for me, it equals four for God. If parallel lines don’t intersect for me on earth, they will never intersect for God in heaven. It might be said this way, “When I know the truth, I know the mind of God (in a qualitative but not quantitative sense).”

　　I don’t mean for this to sound overly philosophical, but a few quick explanations can reveal the importance of recognizing the knowableness and reasonableness of God. After all, if God is not reasonable, He certainly is not knowable; you can’t know nonsense.

　　The truth is the truth on earth because it is the truth in the mind of God. Some have asserted that parallel lines may intersect in heaven—after all, God is above logic (supra-logical); seems harmless enough, even humble. It’s also an easy method to explain away difficulties in theology; we have a problem, we merely consign it to a supra-logical God. But we must realize that the reason parallel lines don’t intersect on earth is due to the fact that they don’t intersect in heaven (if by heaven we are speaking of the economy or rules of God).

　　Allow me to bring this closer to home. If parallel lines intersect in heaven, we must acknowledge that God can be a God of contradictions. If God is a God of contradictions, “yes” may mean “no” and “trust” may mean “doubt”; “believe and be saved” to us may mean “believe and be damned” to God.

　　We established the Bible to be our starting point of knowledge. Since God is the author of the Bible, it makes Him our starting point of knowledge. The Scriptures declare that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The Apostle Paul writes of “the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2, 3). Implicit in these statements, and the hundreds like them in Scripture, is the assumption that knowledge proceeds from God and that we can have access to that wisdom and knowledge. It is no wonder that the serpent’s initial assault on humanity was “Indeed, has God said” (Genesis 3:1)?

A Reasonable Quest

　　So Many Disagreements

　　Now to our second point, this, my friends, is the ultimate quest of humanity—to know God. A common argument against organized religion (as?if?unorganized religion has any less difficulty) is that there is so much disagreement regarding what the Bible teaches about God.

　　Just recently I was discussing some theological disagreements with a Christian friend within earshot of a non-Christian friend. My non-Christian friend commented, “It’s amazing how the church still disagrees on so many things” (again, as if the non-churched all see things eye to eye). The tenor of his statement betrayed his thoughts on the futility of pursuing something of which no one can seem to agree. But we should not be discouraged by the fact that there are disagreements in the church. There is a great deal of disagreement on how we should approach treating cancer and heart disease; this does not mean these pursuits should be abandoned.

　　I once had a coach who had instructed numerous world record holders and gold medalists in track and field. His knowledge of the sport far exceeded the boundaries of both my intellect and talent. Would it have been reasonable for me to fire him because I was so inept? What kind of tortured logic would compel me to dispose of such genius due to my own ignorance and inability? It?is unreasonable for humanity to abandon its mission to know and serve God simply because we are poor at coming to the correct conclusions. All this to say that God can be known; it is a promise made by God Himself. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me” (Proverbs 8:17).

God is Good

　　A Truncated View of God

　　My final point is that God is good. This seems so blatantly obvious that it?is hardly worth arguing the point. But, as a remedial Christian, I even found my notion of viewing God as good to be lacking. The primary defect in my thinking was that I had a notion of God on one hand, a separate notion of good on the other hand, then came to the conclusion that they matched up okay. Allow me to explain.

　　God has often been portrayed as a sort of George Burnsish, kindly old man who is seeking to keep the world in good working order. We all like this kindly old man. We thank him at the Golden Globes and Emmy’s. But as we read the Bible we see that He demands our allegiance, and even worship. He is a?jealous God who exacts His judgments on those who refuse to acknowledge His Godhood. This alter-ego side of God is downplayed in the church. All of a?sudden, George Burns seems more like Saddam Hussein. This God is sexist, homophobic, pro-war, and against a woman’s right to choose. He also sends people to hell because of sin. That God will never be given a chair, or mention, at?the Academy Awards.

　　The problem lies in viewing God as a mere part of creation; he generally makes the right decisions and picks things that are good. Sometimes, however, people feel He oversteps His boundaries and arbitrarily calls things good which may be evil. It is not uncommon for those in the academic world to question the decisions of this militant, overbearing God.

　　But God does not pick things, or make laws, because they are good (as if?they were good out there all on their own) nor are they good because He arbitrarily decides to say they are good. Goodness itself is defined by the character and nature of God. The old confessions put it this way.

　　God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all–sufficient…He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things.

　　Hating God=Hating Good

　　The Psalmist writes, “You are good, and do good” (Psalm 119:68). The Apostle Paul put it this way, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). In other words, in order to actually say that something is good, it must be in harmony with the character of God. To offend God is to offend goodness. To hate God (a popular saying these days) is to hate goodness. Notice in Proverbs that God equates Himself with life.

　　For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; 36?but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death (Proverbs 8:35, 36).

　　To hate God is to hate life. Life, truth, beauty, purity, goodness, justice, and love are not merely qualities that God happens to be good at, or is capable of?defining; these things are defined by, and flow from, the very character of God?Himself.

　　I remember, when examining whether or not I wanted to be a Christian, scrutinizing whether or not the Christian faith was really ethical—did it have its act together? Was the God of the Bible truly worthy of my devotion? Was He good? Hopefully now we can see the hubris of such a disposition. Essentially what I, in my over-inflated view of self-importance, was seeking to do was determine whether or not goodness was actually good; and I was the personal oracle of judgment over the essence of goodness and God. Sounds crazy! But it is pretty much the norm of man’s thinking.

　　Seeking to Know a Good God

　　According to the Scriptures there is a good God who is knowable by man. There is no greater or nobler pursuit than to seek after this God. He is the sprocket to which all spokes connect. When God is left out of the equation, all things—familial, governmental, relational, ecclesiological (church) crumble. Jesus taught,

　　“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 67:31-33).

　　And God is not merely good but the fount of goodness itself. To abandon the notion of God is to abandon the notion of good; and have we not seen this to be the case?

　　.God is Good, We are Not

　　I would be remiss in my duties, at this point, if I did not direct our minds to something painfully clear to us all. Though God is good, we are not good. Jesus states the obvious, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18). The righteousness, holiness, and goodness of God are so above us that this quest for knowing God in a certain sense, quite frankly, becomes a fool’s errand. There is simply no tower of excellence or ladder of righteousness that man can build to find God. Isaiah teaches us what we already suspected, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

　　So what hope have we? Our hope lies not in us finding God but in God finding us. He finds us by extending His love toward us through His Son Jesus,…who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8 NASB).

　　How clear this should be to us. The only way man can know God is by?God extending Himself to us. Jesus, God the Son, became a Man, He emptied?Himself, He became sin, He humbled Himself to the point of death that?we might have life—life that is found only in union with God. It is by faith in Christ, and Christ alone, that men have hope of reconciliation with God who is good. May God grant us vision to see this truth and may we ever call upon the name of the Savior.

Questions for Study

　　1. What are the dangers of over-emphasizing God as our friend (page 1)?

　　2. How would you respond to the assertion that God is not knowable (pages?1, 2)?

　　3. Does God’s incomprehensibility mean He can’t be known at all? Explain (page 2)?

　　4. Why is it important to understand that God is logical or reasonable, as we understand logic and reason (pages 2, 3)?

　　5. What was the serpent’s initial assault on humanity? What, do you suppose, was his reason for this (page 3)?

　　6. Are disagreements in the church a reasonable motive to avoid seeking after God (pages 3, 4)?

　　7. Discuss the relationship between God and goodness (page 4).

　　8. What someone says they hate God, what are they actually saying(pages 4, 5)?

　　9. If God is good and man is not, what is the answer to this dilemma(pages 5, 6)?