God
The sermon emphasizes the unknowability of God and the futility of human attempts to describe or understand Him.
W.R. Inge delves into the ineffable nature of God, emphasizing that human language and understanding fall short in describing His essence. Inge challenges conventional notions by stating that God transcends qualities like goodness and wisdom, asserting that He is beyond the concepts of good, better, and best. He echoes St. Augustine's wisdom that silence is the best approach when discussing God, as human words often lead to falsehood and sin when describing the divine. Inge also presents a unique perspective by portraying God not only as a Father but also as a Mother to all creation, sustaining and nurturing His creatures to prevent them from falling back into nothingness.
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GOD is nameless, for no man can either say or understand aught about Him. If I say, God is good, it is not true; nay more; I am good, God is not good. I may even say, I am better than God; for whatever is good, may become better, and whatever may become better, may become best. Now God is not good, for He cannot become better. And if He cannot become better, He cannot become best, for these three things, good, better, and best, are far from God, since He is above all. If I also say, God is wise, it is not true; I am wiser than He. If I also say, God is a Being, it is not true; He is transcendent Being and superessential Nothingness. Concerning this St Augustine says: the best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement.
Therefore be silent and prate not about God, for whenever thou dost prate about God, thou liest, and committest sin. If thou wilt be without sin, prate not about God. Thou canst understand nought about God, for He is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I could understand, I would never hold Him to be God. (318)[37]
God is not only a Father of all good things, as being their First Cause and Creator, but He is also their Mother, since He remains with the creatures which have from Him their being and existence, and maintains them continually in their being. If God did not abide with and in the creatures, they must necessarily have fallen back, so soon as they were created, into the nothingness out of which they were created. (610)
Sermon Outline
- God's Nature
- God's Relationship with Creation
- Human Understanding of God
- Human understanding of God is limited and flawed
- True wisdom lies in acknowledging the limits of human understanding
Key Quotes
“If I had a God whom I could understand, I would never hold Him to be God.” — W.R. Inge
“The best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement.” — W.R. Inge
“Whenever thou dost prate about God, thou liest, and committest sin.” — W.R. Inge
Application Points
- Recognize the limits of your understanding and be silent about God to avoid sin.
- Acknowledge God's transcendence and unknowability.
- Seek wisdom in acknowledging what you do not know about God.