Why is God mysterious?

[GoldenBoy89]

Seems like He isn't very straightforward in His existence, from my perspective.

You always hear talk about "God works in mysterious ways" and all that jazz.

Why is that? Why all the mystery?

Believers: Would you agree that God is mysterious?

 

[Gottservant]

I have tried to figure God out for at least a decade now.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I'm gonna predict that the answers to your question will be a mixture of...

1. God is so far above man our puny people minds can't comprehend him.

2. He doesn't reveal himself unless you already believe in him.

3. He doesn't reveal himself because he wants us to have faith...and that would defeat the purpose.

 

[Chesterton]

Yes we have puny minds. Reality is mysterious.

Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. - J.B.S. Haldane

 

[terryjohn]

Familiarity breeds contempt. If God were any closer, we would have no excuse for our sins. Is it not true that no man can see God and live?

 

[orangeness365]

The prophet Ezekiel had a vision with God in it, but he didn't see anything other than bright light. So he didn't see the face of God per se, but he did get a vision of Heaven.

Ezekiel 10:20
20These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim.

If he revealed himself directly in person in our physical realm, then we would all die the second we saw him. He has talked to many prophets in the old testament in visions and dreams, but not everyone believes the prophets. Heck, I wonder if someone who did talk to God could turn around and lose faith despite the conversation and wonder if it was just a dream instead of something more?

 

[juvenissun]

Seems like He isn't very straightforward in His existence, from my perspective.

You always hear talk about "God works in mysterious ways" and all that jazz.

Why is that? Why all the mystery?

Believers: Would you agree that God is mysterious?

God loves you.

Is that mysterious or not?

 

[single eye]

The faith once delivered to the saints was first by Jesus in person followed by The Spirit of Truth. The saints then produced scripture. All those other opinions are what make it seem mysterious. Clarity is available, but few know where to look.

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Chaos and complexity in nature and society. God's "mysterious ways"? Maybe in the olden days they included disease, gravity, light etc too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5evD6AQeCQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnlkKdDXk-I

 

[Colter]

Seems like He isn't very straightforward in His existence, from my perspective.

You always hear talk about "God works in mysterious ways" and all that jazz.

Why is that? Why all the mystery?

Believers: Would you agree that God is mysterious?

God constitutes a mystery to the finite mind because there is such a vast gulf between mans intelligence and Gods reality.

 

[Resha Caner]

Why is that? Why all the mystery?

Several different flavors have been given as an answer, so I won't repeat them. Rather, I'll add what I find curious about the question, which is that many discussions about God between believers and unbelievers center around something along the lines of, "Where is the evidence?" When that discussion ends in a swirl of mystery, it's understandable that the unbeliever is disappointed.

And yet ...

I don't sense that same level of disappointment when discussions of science (something like QM or GR), as they unpack the evidence, end in that same swirl of mystery ... wave/particle duality - yep, it's weird. Whatever. Deal with it.

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

Several different flavors have been given as an answer, so I won't repeat them. Rather, I'll add what I find curious about the question, which is that many discussions about God between believers and unbelievers center around something along the lines of, "Where is the evidence?" When that discussion ends in a swirl of mystery, it's understandable that the unbeliever is disappointed.

And yet ...

I don't sense that same level of disappointment when discussions of science (something like QM or GR), as they unpack the evidence, end in that same swirl of mystery ... wave/particle duality - yep, it's weird. Whatever. Deal with it.

The difference is that science has a workable epistemology, providing a means by which its own mysteries may actually be solved, and an immensely expansive history of producing critically robust, tangible results.

Whereas theology has no epistemology at all, and a history of producing nothing except more theologians.

 

[Resha Caner]

The difference is that science has a workable epistemology, providing a means by which its own mysteries may actually be solved, and an immensely expansive history of producing critically robust, tangible results.

Whereas theology has no epistemology at all, and a history of producing nothing except more theologians.

My point was that some of the mysteries haven't been solved. Bohr seemed to be of the opinion that they never would be.

 

[Stellar Vision]

God loves you.

Is that mysterious or not?

First of all, yes. The claim that God loves you is mysterious given his actions.

Second, the OP's question refers to existence, not how God feels about you.

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

My point was that some of the mysteries haven't been solved.

And my point is that science has a means by which to solve mysteries, and has done so, while theology does not, and has not. That is why you can expect a different reaction to a scientific mystery than a theological/supernatural/magical one.

Bohr seemed to be of the opinion that they never would be.

And he might be right. That doesn't change the fact that we're still talking about two categorically different things, and your analogy still fails.

 

[Resha Caner]

And my point is that science has a means by which to solve mysteries, and has done so, while theology does not, and has not. That is why you can expect a different reaction to a scientific mystery than a theological/supernatural/magical one.

You're creating a confused mix of assertions here.

1. Has science provided answers to what were considered mysteries in the past? Yes.

2. Does this mean science can answer all current mysteries? No. In fact, many take the conclusions of science to mean there are existing mysteries it can't answer.

- - -

A. Are there theological answers to past mysteries? Yes.

B. Does this mean theology can answer all current mysteries? No. In fact, theology says there are existing mysteries it can't answer.

- - -

A. equates to 1.
B. equates to 2.

 

[ananda]

Seems like He isn't very straightforward in His existence, from my perspective.

You always hear talk about "God works in mysterious ways" and all that jazz.

Why is that? Why all the mystery?

Believers: Would you agree that God is mysterious?

That is a good question.

Which begs the question ... if God is mysterious and He intended it to be that way, why are theologians trying so hard to unravel and/or decode that mystery?

 

[Eight Foot Manchild]

You're creating a confused mix of assertions here.

You're welcome to fix your broken analogy by being the first person in history to outline a workable epistemology for theology. Until such time, there is no comparison to be had.

A. Are there theological answers to past mysteries? Yes.

Name one.

 

[Resha Caner]

You're welcome to fix your broken analogy by being the first person in history to outline a workable epistemology for theology. Until such time, there is no comparison to be had.

Based on the terms you're using, it appears to me you're mixing philosophy and theology. IOW, you may be creating a strawman where theology has to be a certain thing, and then shooting it down because it can't be that thing.

I didn't invent theology. It's something that's been workable for thousands of years.

Name one.

God exists.

Why didn't you ask the same question about proposition #2? You can't say the analogy fails simply because you disagree with my theology. It's going to take more than that. We'll have to unpack these statements.

1. Has science provided answers to what were considered mysteries in the past? Yes.
2. Does this mean science can answer all current mysteries? No. In fact, many take the conclusions of science to mean there are existing mysteries it can't answer.
A. Are there theological answers to past mysteries? Yes.
B. Does this mean theology can answer all current mysteries? No. In fact, theology says there are existing mysteries it can't answer.

First of all, if we agreed that theology has answered a question, would #1 equate to #A? IOW, are the statements worded appropriately?

I would ask the same for #2 equating to #B. So, let's agree on appropriate wording for the analogy before we start debating the truth of the statements.

 

[prov1810]

Mystery is inescapable. Mystery is what we are. In the act of examining yourself, you have transcended yourself by being an observer. In the attempt to define yourself your answers will only raise more questions. What is the origin of this mysterious way of being? What is its destiny?

Instead of trying to put the mystery of human existence in a container, we can accept mystery and in doing that we entrust ourselves to Mystery - we have faith.