9 Ways Humans Can Know God
To what extent can humans know and understand God? a reader asks. In answering, I start at the beginning. These 9 ways are not prioritized, but they do move from the first to the second half of life and the thread of incarnation runs through them. Everything we experience of God is embodied, en-fleshed. Even our contemplative reverberations occur in the cells our spirits inhabit on this Earth. This reality, this fact of human existence, is appreciated by all traditions in various ways. But Christianity centers incarnation in a way that I appreciate.
Parental love. If we are so fortunate, we start knowing and understanding God as newborns, when loved and mirrored well by our mothers and fathers. From the moments we enter this world and throughout our childhoods, the self-giving, grace-filled, attentive love of healthy parents may be the closest we get to encountering divine-infused love. In this way, such love gives us “eyes to see” God and prepares us for one-on-one encounters with the divine. Human, parental love is always—even in the best of circumstances—imperfect and flawed; but at times, it can be revelatory.
Nature. Nature allows us to know and understand God. … {Read remainder of article on Patheos HERE.}