The Incapability of Human Reason and Knowledge of Conceiving of
Uncreated Being.
Human cognition is static and for this reason it is inadequate
to the "mysteries of God." Gregory goes as far to say that every conception of
God is an idol and a deceptive image, ειδολον.
“Every idea which is developed through natural reasoning and supposition or
which is comprehensible to the mind forms a divine idol and has no relation to
God himself.” The conceptions of the human mind are formed on the basis
of contemplation and the observation of the visible, created world and when the
mind is elevated beyond the bounds of created nature it recognizes the
inadequacy of human reason. "The distance which separates uncreated being from
every created substance is great and cannot be traversed."
God is beyond names. He does not have a proper name because
"His being is above definition and cannot be encompassed by a word or a name."
All names and all concepts entail limitation and definition but the Divinity is
infinite and boundless and cannot be defined. "We know that this Being exists,
but there is no name which can completely comprehend Its ineffable and infinite
nature. If there is such a name we do not know it."
We cannot understand the Divinity by trying to separate Its
properties and attributes because Its nature is uncompound and infinite. It had
no source and there is nothing specific which defines Its essence except for the
very fact that this essence is beyond conceptualization. In contemplating the
Divinity there is no one thing on which the human mind can concentrate its
attention. "It is like a vast sea and gives no sign by which we can discover its
source." This is because man's ability to form concepts is limited. "In
contemplating God we must not be restricted by any definition: not by time, nor
place, nor color, nor outline, nor aspect, nor volume, nor quantity, nor extent,
nor any name, thing or concept." Contemplative thought must be in constant
motion. Gregory writes: "Our most basic dogma is that God cannot be comprehended
by a name or a concept or any cognitive faculty of the mind. He is beyond the
comprehension of men and the angels and the heavenly powers. He is ineffable and
cannot be designated by words. There is only one definition which helps us to
know His proper nature and this is that He alone is greater than
definition."
Contemplation of God must be infinite and words are in adequate
to Him. "There is only one name capable of signifying the Divinity and this is
the ineffable wonder which arises in the soul at the thought of God." The soul
becomes quiet, "for it is time to be silent and to cherish the unutterable
marvel of this inexpressible force." Curiosity about the proper name of the
ineffable nature of God can only lead to delusion. "Your name is myrrh which has
been poured forth." We know the Divine myrrh by its fragrance but the nature of
this mysterious essence cannot be named. Gregory writes in conclusion, "We know
the extent of the glory of the One we venerate by the very fact that we cannot
comprehend His incomparable majesty."
The Distinction between Contemplation of God and Knowledge of
God.
The soul's contemplation of God must be distinguished from
knowledge of God. "The Lord has told us that bliss is not in knowing about God
but in having Him in our hearts," Gregory writes. At the height of spiritual
contemplation man is close to God and the Divine features he has within himself
are revealed to him. Even then, however, true knowledge of God is impossible.
"No matter how great its range of vision may be, no creature can ever completely
get out from itself, and no matter what it looks at it sees only itself, even
when it thinks it is seeing something higher. By nature it does not have the
ability to look outside itself." This is especially true when we try to know
God.
God as He is known to man is only an image which the mind has
intuited and outlined in its striving toward Him. In the contemplation of
intellectual being the mind goes beyond the knowledge provided by the senses and
"by guessing" it attempts to grasp that which eludes the senses. Each man
approaches that which he seeks in a different way and then "tries to express the
concept he has formed of his object by attempting to make the meaning of his
words correspond as closely as possible to that which he has understood." Thus
language and cognition are only symbolic. When we speak about God the names we
use do not serve to reinforce some reliable conception we have of Him but they
are only symbols or analogies which "indicate" Him or point to Him. Therefore
these words have no meaning outside the actual experience in which their
significance or symbolism is revealed and realized.
"The human mind struggles to comprehend the inaccessible
supreme Nature and to achieve contact with it. It is not perceptive enough to
clearly see the invisible, but at the same time it is not incapable of
approaching it and of guessing about that which it seeks. The mind is able to
guess at part of its object through deduction and conclusion, and it discerns
another aspect by the very impossibility of true perception. The understanding
that this object is beyond its comprehension is true knowledge of it. The mind
can understand that which is not a part of God's nature, but does not understand
what should truly be conceived of Him." This is the reason that God has many
names, and it is only in the totality of these names that the human mind can
attempt to express the knowledge of God which it can gain through contemplation.
These names are "like flashing sparks which cannot make completely visible the
meaning they contain." "But when you take these into yourself, through your
faith you will put yourself under the yoke of One who will enter you and become
incarnate in you. For you are His throne, and you can make yourself His
home."
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