How to Learn About God
H. W. Beecher. Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus said the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might… The knowledge of God is not a thing which can be fixed in the beginning, except in words; in its very nature, the knowledge of God among men must, to a large extent, be progressive; and it must follow the development of the race itself. There has been, and there is recognised in the Word of God from beginning to end, a steady progress in the disclosure of the Divine nature; and we see that in the thoughts respecting God among men there has been a gradual augmentation of the conception of the Divine character, arising from the process which I have already delineated. It is true that in the Bible there is much sublime portraiture representing the character of God; but, after all, no man knows God until he has personally found Him out in such a way as that he feels that God has touched him. No man can say, "I know God as a living God." except so far as he has interpreted Him out of his own living consciousness. Now, suppose you say of God, "He is just, true, righteous, pure, benevolent, lovely." Those qualities being enumerated, there will probably be a thousand different conceptions of the personality which they go to make up. What are the circumstances which will make this difference in your conceptions of the Divine nature? I will explain. Some there are who are far more sensible to physical qualities than others. The sublimity of power is to their thought one of the chief Divine attributes. God is omnipotent. That idea touches them. He is omniscient. Their eyes sparkle when they think of that. He is omnipresent. They have a sense of that. He is majestic. He has wondrous power. According to their conception He is God of all the earth. None can resist His might. That is your sense of God. If you only have such a God, you are satisfied. Another person wants a scientific God. He says, "I perceive that there is a law of light, a law of heat, a law of electricity; I see that everything is fashioned by law; and my idea of God is that He must be supreme in science; that there are to be found in Him all those qualities which science is interpreting to me." His God will be just, generous, faithful; but He will be just, generous, faithful after the fashion of some Agassiz, or some Cuvier, or some Faraday. Another man conceives of God from the domestic side, It is the mother nature that he thinks of — the nature that is full of gentleness; full of kindness; full of sympathy; full of sweetness; full of elevated tastes and relishes; full of songs; full of all manner of joy-producing qualities. Another, who is an artist, will feel after the God of the rainbow — a God of beauty. So every person will be dependent upon the most sensitive parts of his own soul for his interpretation of God. What is it that makes one flower blue and another scarlet? No flower reflects all the light. If a flower is purple it absorbs a part and reflects the rest. If it is blue it absorbs some of the parts and reflects others. The same is true if it is red. And as it is with the colours of flowers, so it is with our conception of God. What you are susceptible of, and what you are sensitive to, in the Divine nature, largely determines what your conception of God is. Each individual puts emphasis on that part of the character of God which his own mind is best fitted to grasp. For instance, God is said to be a God of justice, of truth, and of benevolence. Now, which of those elements is first? Which governs the others? If God is first sternly just, and then suffers and is kind, that is one sort of God. If He is first loving, and then in the service of love is stern, and severe even, that is another kind of God. I hold that the emphasis which you put upon the Divine attributes determines the character of God in your mind; and when you say, "I hold that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, just, good, true, faithful, benevolent," you have said what this man says, what that man says, and what I say. We are all agreed, then, are we? Oh, no! If I could take a Daguerrean picture of the conception which each one forms of God, it would be found that one puts more emphasis on justice than love, and that another puts more emphasis on love than on justice. It would be found that one emphasises one attribute, and another its opposite; and that the conception which each one forms of the Divine character depends upon the quality which he emphasises most. The next question which you would naturally propound to me is, "Since these are the ways in which God is conceived of by men, how shall each fashion in himself the living God?" I call the Bible a picture gallery. It is an historical record which is open to all; but it behoves us each to have some conception which we call our God, our Father's God, the living God. I know of no other way than that which has been practised by the race from the beginning. I know of no other way than for you, in filling out the catalogue which the Word of God gives you of the elements of the Divine nature, to employ the actual perceptions and experiences of this life, in order to kindle before your mind those qualities which otherwise would be abstract to you. Suppose, then, that you have built up in your mind, by some such process as this, a personal God — a God of your own — who fills the heaven with the best things you can conceive of, to which you are perpetually adding from the stores of your daily experience? for it seems to me that God is a name which becomes more and more by reason of the things which you add to it. Every element, every combination of elements, every development which carries with it a sweeter inspiration than it has been your wont to experience, you put inside of that name and you call it God. You are forever gathering up the choicest and most beautiful phases of human life; and with these you build your God. And then you have a living God adapted to your consciousness and personality. Now, let me ask you — for I come back to my text, whether it is not a good text to stand on? "Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom." Why, he is a savant! He is a philosopher! He is world-renowned. He is bathed in people's observation. Does not a man rejoice in that? A great many do. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might." A great many men do rejoice in their might. "Let not the rich man glory in his riches." If that were obeyed it would upset New York in twenty-four hours. Now and then we are brought to the edge of the great invisible realm, and then we are made to feel that we need something besides wisdom, something besides might, and something besides riches. When a man lies sick in his house, feeling that all the world is going away from him, what can riches do for him? It can be of but little service to him then. When a man is fifty years of age, and he has large estates, and a high reputation as a citizen, if he is going to leave the world, what can his wealth do for him? If he knows that he is going fast toward the great invisible sphere, does he not need something to hold him up when the visible shall have broken down in this life? The great emergencies of your life make it needful that you should have something stronger than wealth, wiser than philosophy, sweeter than human love, mightier than time and nature: you need God. For when flesh and heart fail, then He is the strength of our soul, and our salvation forever. (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: WEB: Thus says Yahweh, Don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, don't let the rich man glory in his riches;