In this post we return to a discussion of the book, Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. We are on a journey through chapter 1, with my summary covering three themes:

  • Road Map
  • Reason
  • Recipe

Today our subject is the second theme, Reasons, that is, the reasons we study God at all.

Packer asserts that today we don’t study God the way we used to. He writes:

We shall have to deal with the Godhead of God, the qualities of deity which set God apart from humans and mark the difference and distance between the Creator and his creatures: such qualities as his self-existence, his infinity, his unchangeableness. We shall have to deal with the powers of God; his almightiness, his omniscience, his omnipresence. We shall have to deal with the perfections of God, the aspects of his moral character which are manifested in his words and deeds–his holiness, his love and mercy, his truthfulness, his faithfulness, his goodness, his patience, his justice. We shall have to take note of what pleases him, what offends him, what awakens his wrath, and what affords him satisfaction and joy.

For many of us, these are comparatively unfamiliar themes.

Fast forward to 2010 and I think it’s fair to say that these themes are even less familiar than when Packer first penned these words. We just aren’t used to studying God in such a way. My opinion I that many of us–often myself included–are more interested in what pleases us. Packer is calling us to think in a new way, confronting fresh ideas about our infinite God.

There is temptation that must be avoided. Packer writes:

We need to ask ourselves: What is my ultimate aim and object in occupying my mind with these things? What do I intend to do with my knowledge about God, once I have it? For the fact that we have to face is this: If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians…

I dare say that pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge also promotes an air of superiority over non-Christians. I’ve experienced the cold glances of those whose accumulated knowledge has made them puffed up.

When we study, therefore, the reason must be so that we can know God better. Period.