God is a mystery. While we are wayfarers through created time, this will always be the case. Still, there are truths about God we can explore. So, what are they?
Perhaps it is safest to start from the most basic fact at our disposal and, using common sense, extrapolate from there. Arguably, the most basic fact about God is His name, “I AM,” spoken to Moses on Mount Horeb.
There are some revealing logical conclusions which can be drawn from this alone.
“I AM” means, I exist. The present/future tense takes us to being itself. “I” takes us to person, person takes us to communion and communion takes us to freedom. Notwithstanding the fact that books have been written about the ontology of being, still the humble heart can discern what God is telling us through Moses, he is Being Itself. Well, that’s not quite right; he is the hypostasis of the Father.
Ok, we’re still in the realm of common sense here. Hypostasis is a wonderfully descriptive term derived from the first theologians.
The early church fathers, St. Basil, for example were called to wrestle with and explain the theological implications of what it means to have One God, three Persons. It all gets very complicated, but one thing they determined was that, to say God is “Being Itself” kind of gives one a sense of some “substance” called “being,” which could mean a lot of things, Aristotle’s “unmoved mover” for example.
But, if God is Trinitarian, then where do the three persons come into the picture? This is where the term hypostasis helps out. Basil and later St. Maximus developed a way of explaining the Trinitarian God by saying,
“God, the one God, and the ontological “principle” or “cause” of the being and life of God does not consist in the one substance of God but in the hypostasis, that is, the person of the Father. The one God is not the one substance but the Father, who is the “cause” both of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit. Consequently, the ontological “principle” of God is traced back, to the person.” Furthermore, “Being does not exist in a ‘naked state,’ that is, without hypostasis.” (See Being As Communion, by John D. Zizioulas, Vladimir Seminary Press.)
So, we have…being, (life,) personhood, (personableness,) communion and freedom, all in a name. We have something else as well. The Jewish tradition put great significance in a name. A name held inherently the very essence of one’s being. To give ones name is to give oneself, to surrender to the other, to give oneself in covenant.
Mystical love, a spousal relationship, Agape.
We have reached the mountain top with a little common sense and His name. Yes, God is a mystery, but the mystery is a love story.
“Ehyeh asher ehyeh”
Perhaps it is safest to start from the most basic fact at our disposal and, using common sense, extrapolate from there. Arguably, the most basic fact about God is His name, “I AM,” spoken to Moses on Mount Horeb.
There are some revealing logical conclusions which can be drawn from this alone.
“I AM” means, I exist. The present/future tense takes us to being itself. “I” takes us to person, person takes us to communion and communion takes us to freedom. Notwithstanding the fact that books have been written about the ontology of being, still the humble heart can discern what God is telling us through Moses, he is Being Itself. Well, that’s not quite right; he is the hypostasis of the Father.
Ok, we’re still in the realm of common sense here. Hypostasis is a wonderfully descriptive term derived from the first theologians.
The early church fathers, St. Basil, for example were called to wrestle with and explain the theological implications of what it means to have One God, three Persons. It all gets very complicated, but one thing they determined was that, to say God is “Being Itself” kind of gives one a sense of some “substance” called “being,” which could mean a lot of things, Aristotle’s “unmoved mover” for example.
But, if God is Trinitarian, then where do the three persons come into the picture? This is where the term hypostasis helps out. Basil and later St. Maximus developed a way of explaining the Trinitarian God by saying,
“God, the one God, and the ontological “principle” or “cause” of the being and life of God does not consist in the one substance of God but in the hypostasis, that is, the person of the Father. The one God is not the one substance but the Father, who is the “cause” both of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit. Consequently, the ontological “principle” of God is traced back, to the person.” Furthermore, “Being does not exist in a ‘naked state,’ that is, without hypostasis.” (See Being As Communion, by John D. Zizioulas, Vladimir Seminary Press.)
So, we have…being, (life,) personhood, (personableness,) communion and freedom, all in a name. We have something else as well. The Jewish tradition put great significance in a name. A name held inherently the very essence of one’s being. To give ones name is to give oneself, to surrender to the other, to give oneself in covenant.
Mystical love, a spousal relationship, Agape.
We have reached the mountain top with a little common sense and His name. Yes, God is a mystery, but the mystery is a love story.
“Ehyeh asher ehyeh”
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