《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。
20 奥祕——神的伟大叫人惊奇
Mystery - God is surpassingly great
“耶和华啊，尊大、能力、荣耀、强胜、威严都是你的；凡天上地下的都是你的；国度也是你的；并且你为至高，为万有之首。”（代上29：11）
圣经说神是伟大的，伟大得过于我们所能领会。神学用不可理解的一词来描述神的伟大——其意思不是说，神的逻辑和我们的有所不同，以至于我们一点儿都不能明白祂心思的运作；而是说我们永远不会完全了解祂，只因为祂是无限的，而我们是有限的。圣经描绘神不只是住在密云和穿不透的幽暗中，祂也住在人不能靠近的光里；这两个喻象表达了同一个思想：我们的创造主高过我们，祂远在我们以任何方法测度祂的能力之外。
有时人们用神的奥秘一词来表达神的不可理解性；但他们对奥秘一字，却不是按圣经的意思来用，即并非指神如今已启示出来的一个秘密。他们采用的是晚近所发展的那种意思：认为不论人谈论神有多少，总是缺少正确了解神的度量。神在圣经上告诉我们，创造、天命的管理、神的三位一体、道成肉身、圣灵重生的工作、信徒在基督的死和复活里与祂联合，以及圣经乃神所默示的等等——不用再说下去了——这些都是事实，这些教义怎么说，我们就怎么接受；我们虽不明白这些是怎么可能的，却相信它们是事实。我们既身为受造之物，就不能全然理解创造主的实存或祂所有的作为。
就如我们若假设能知道有关神的每一件事，这种看法是错的一样，怀疑我们的观念能否构成认识神的真知识，也是错的。人是照着神的形像造的，此事实所代表的部分意义乃是说，人能够知道关乎神的事，而且这种认识可以是与祂发生关系的一种认识，虽然这种认识十分有限，但却是真实的——而神在圣经上论及祂自己的话，就其所讲的，全都是真实的。加尔文说，神在圣经的默示以及令神子道成肉身这两件事上，都已经降卑以进入我们的软弱里，将就我们以迎合我们的度量，为的是要将对祂的真知识赐给我们。就如为人父母者与婴孩谈话的形式和实质，不能和他们与另一位大人讲话时，所用来将心思表达完全的内容相比；可是孩子从婴孩式的谈话里，所领受到关于他父母亲的实情讯息，即使是有限的，却仍是真实的，所以他回应父母的爱与信靠就随着增长。这是一个类比的说法。
现在我们来看为什么我们的创造主要用拟人化的方法，将祂自己举荐给我们，就如神有脸面（出33：11）、有手（撒上5：11）、有膀臂（赛53：1）、有耳（尼1：6）、有眼（伯28：10）、有脚（鸿1：3）、坐在宝座上（王上22：19）、随风飞行（诗18：10）、在战场上争战（代下32：8；赛63：1～6）。神不是用这些描述来形容自己是一位怎样的神；而是要告诉我们，对我们而言祂是一位怎样的神：祂是超越的主以父亲与朋友的身份，和祂的百姓关联在一起，表现得像是他们的盟友。神用这样的方法把祂自己摆在我们面前，好吸引我们去敬拜祂、爱恋祂、信靠祂，即使我们的观念总是像听到父母婴孩式谈话的小孩，只能稍微认识那位说话者一点而已（林前13：12）。
无论如何，我们永远不要忘记，神学是为着颂赞神用的：信靠一位伟大的神最真实的表达方式，永远是敬拜祂；而由于神远远大过我们所能认识的，因此从心里所生出的赞美，也永远是合宜的敬拜。
MYSTERY
GOD
IS SURPASSINGLY GREAT
Yours,
O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the
splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the
kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 1 CHRONICLES 29:11
God
is great, says Scripture (Deut. 7:21; Neh. 4:14; Pss. 48:1; 86:10; 95:3; 145:3;
Dan. 9:4): greater than we can grasp. Theology states this by describing him as
incomprehensible—not in the sense that logic is somehow different for him from
what it is for us, so that we cannot follow the workings of his mind at all,
but in the sense that we can never understand him fully, just because he is
infinite and we are finite. Scripture pictures God as dwelling not only in
thick and impenetrable darkness but also in unapproachable light (Ps. 97:2; 1
Tim. 6:16), and both images express the same thought: our Creator is above us,
and it is beyond our power to take his measure in any way.
This
is sometimes expressed by speaking of the mystery of God, using that word not
in the biblical sense of a secret that God has now revealed (Dan. 2:29-30; Eph.
3:2-6) but in the more recently developed sense of a reality that we lack the
capacity to understand properly, no matter how much is said about it. God tells
us in the Bible that creation, providential government, the Trinity, the
Incarnation, the regenerating work of the Spirit, union with Christ in his
death and resurrection, and the inspiration of Scripture—to go no further—are
facts, and we take his word for it that they are; but we believe that they are
without knowing how they can be. As creatures, we are unable fully to
comprehend either the being or the actions of the Creator.
As it
would be wrong, however, to suppose ourselves to know everything about God (and
so in effect to imprison him in the box of our own limited notion of him), so
it would be wrong to doubt whether our concept constitutes real knowledge of
him. Part of the significance of our creation in God’s image is that we are
able both to know about him and to know him relationally in a true if limited
sense of “know”; and what God tells us in Scripture about himself is true as
far as it goes. Calvin spoke of God as having condescended to our weakness and
accommodated himself to our capacity, both in the inspiring of the Scriptures
and in the incarnating of the Son, so that he might give us genuine
understanding of himself. The form and substance of a parent’s baby talk bears
no comparison with the full contents of that parent’s mind, which he or she
could express in full if talking to another adult; but the child receives from
the baby talk factual information, real if limited, about the parent, and
responsive love and trust grow accordingly. That is the analogy here.
Now
we see why our Creator presents himself to us anthropomorphically, as having a
face (Exod. 33:11), a hand (1 Sam. 5:11), an arm (Isa. 53:1), ears (Neh. 1:6),
eyes (Job 28:10), and feet (Nah. 1:3), and as sitting on a throne (1 Kings
22:19), flying on the wind (Ps. 18:10), and fighting in battle (2 Chron. 32:8;
Isa. 63:1-6). These are not descriptions of what God is in himself but of what
he is to us: namely, the transcendent Lord who relates to his people as Father
and friend, and acts as their ally. God sets himself before us in this way to
draw us out in worship, love, and trust, even though conceptually we are always
like the young children who hear their parents’ baby talk and know the talker
only in part (1 Cor. 13:12).
We
should never forget that in any case theology is for doxology: the truest
expression of trust in a great God will always be worship, and it will always
be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we can know.
