Quote by Dr. Jeannie Constantinou

 

 

Scripture is God’s condescension to human beings. We have to always remember that all human language is inadequate to talk about God.


Source:

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftoday/the_eastern_orthodox_approach_to_the_bible



In the article, “Rationalism and Fundamentalism,” we quoted what some Saints of the Church had to say about conveying God’s language into ours.

In his work, The Hexaemeron, St. Basil the Great says the following:

"It must be well understood that when we speak of the voice, of the word, of the command of God, this divine language does not mean to us a sound which escapes from the organs of speech, a collision of air struck by the tongue; it is a simple sign of the will of God, and, if we give it the form of an order, it is only the better to impress the souls whom we instruct." (Hexaemeron II: 7)

St. Gregory of Nyssa, on his part, has this to say:

"…human speech finds it impossible to express the reality which transcends all thought and all concept; and he who obstinately tries to express it in words, unconsciously offends God." (Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Homily 7)

And, again, he writes:

"Lifted out of himself by the Spirit, (the Prophet David) glimpsed in that blessed ecstasy God’s infinity and incomprehensible beauty. He saw as much as a mere mortal can see, leaving the covering of the flesh, and by thought alone entering into the divine vision of that immaterial and spiritual realm. And though yearning to say something which would do justice to his vision, he can only cry out (in words that all can echo after him): I said in mine ecstasy, every man is a liar (Psalm 115:2 ). And this I take to mean that anyone who attempts to portray that ineffable Light in language is truly a liar — not because of any abhorrence of the truth, but merely because of the infirmity of his explanation." (From the Homily on Virginity)

Thanks to John Sanidopoulos, source:

http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/05/why-orthodox-christians-prefer_27.html