I thought that this article by Chris Rosebrough was worth passing along. The following is the statement he quotes from Ambrose of Milan::“The things which God wishes to be hidden are not to be examined; and the things which He has made manifest are not to be rejected, lest we as ingrates be improperly curious toward the former and damnably ungrateful for the latter.”
This part of my journey to becoming a Lutheran has been one of the hardest. It has been so ingrained in the way that I think about God is that He speaks to me through a quiet voice, and therefore gives me more information in regards to mysteries of the faith. Ambrose nails it when he states that God has made 'manifest' through the Scriptures all that I need to know regarding Christ and the salvation He gives as a gift and that it would be to my detriment to reject and disregard that in favor of searching for more of God in places that He has left hidden.
I agree, it is hard to let go of that power to "know God better than He knows Himself"? Also, for me, to let go of that "still small voice" that constantly whispers condemnation in my ear. To be confident of the work that has already been done in Baptism and the Lords Supper. Good Thoughts!
ReplyDeleteSomething that occurred to me after writing this post was that the inate desire to know more of God than what He has revealed takes us back to the Garden and the original rebellion against God. Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the very same thing.
ReplyDeleteFrom Genesis 3:
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.