The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Light Unapproachable: Divine Incomprehensibility and the Task of Theology
Ronni Kurtz
IVP Academic (2024). 194 pp.
Ronni Kurtz, assistant professor of theology at Cedarville University, offers a thorough and readable introduction to the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility. His thesis is that because God is different altogether from his creation, he “is incomprehensible in terms of theological knowledge and ineffable in terms of theological language” (p. 6). Kurtz examines the biblical witness behind the doctrine, its reception in several key voices in church history, and why it matters for the task of theology.
In part one, Kurtz focuses on biblical texts and historical reception. He embraces the apparent tension between texts which reveal God to be utterly transcendent and those which command creatures to meaningfully know and praise him. Kurtz argues that the key to holding these together is the doctrine of revelation. While God is absolutely other and therefore beyond the grasp of the creature, he graciously reveals himself. Kurtz then turns to discuss how the church has worked this out theologically, focusing in one chapter on the Cappadocians and John Chrysostom, then in the next on Pseudo-Dionysius, the anonymous Cloud of Unknowing, Thomas Aquinas, and several leading voices in the Reformed tradition such as John Calvin, Franciscus Junius, and Petrus von Mastricht.
In part two, Kurtz turns towards dogmatic implications of the doctrine, showing how it informs the way we conceive of ourselves as creatures, the limitations (and gift) of language and knowledge of God, and the humility which it requires.
Throughout, Kurtz includes tables to clearly summarize his data (also gathered in an appendix) and provides an appendix of ten theses which articulate what the doctrine of incomprehensibility means for theological method.
Kurtz’s project offers a helpful model for how a dogmatic confession and biblical exegesis work together. Showing how Scripture reveals the dogma, he then applies it exegetically to texts which might, on first glance, contradict the doctrine. Such dogmatically-informed exegesis helps readers see through the window of the text to the Reality behind it. Kurtz could have helpfully allotted more space to demonstrating such exegesis. But there is only so much one can do in any given volume.
Kurtz also provides enough historical evidence to show how common the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility is and how it has informed the work of theology. Readers will get enough of a taste to recognize it in their own further reading in church history. To those not in the Reformed tradition who might want a more catholic overview, Kurtz openly admits the constraints of his project (see p. 24). There ought to be no surprises or disappointments.
One implication that would have been helpful to include concerns the way epistemological implications of the doctrine militate against contem porary understandings of the creature’s epistemic capacities. How does the Creator-creature distinction and its corollary of divine incomprehensibility apprehend scientific, technological creatures in their hubris? One notes such influence in the (perhaps minor) decision to use the term “biblical data” in the chapter on scriptural texts. Here is an opportunity for further work to be done.
Unfortunately, one critique must be levelled at this work which is due no fault of the author. The book has far more typographical and syntactical errors than should be allowed publication. Such errors detract from the readability of an otherwise excellent volume and, in some instances, will send the reader searching original sources to secure the exact wording of quoted material. This is subpar work from a generally thorough publisher which, I hope, is not a sign of further editorial degradation yet to come.
The payoff of this volume for pastor theologians comes in part 2 (chapters 5–7) in which Kurtz expounds on implications of divine incom prehensibility for the task of theology. A recurring emphasis is that divine incomprehensibility is due to the ontological difference between God and man: God is Creator, man a creature. This distinction, fundamental to every aspect of human experience, situates those undertaking the task of theology in the position of receivers. For us to know God, God must reveal himself. Theological reflection, then, must be done in the humble posture of prayer. As we depend on God as Creator for our being, so we depend on him as Revealer for our theological work. As receivers, we work under authority (Scripture) and, recognizing our personal limitations, in community (the church) while we labor to apprehend and bear truthful witness to the self-revealing God.
Kurtz also applies incomprehensibility to how we read Scripture. Recognizing that God is wholly other means that we must take care to remember the limitations of language, even that of Scripture, which is accommodated by God for the purpose of revealing himself in a manner fit for reception by the creature. Thus language which speaks of God in anthropomorphic categories of physicality and passion and temporality must be understood analogically. One suspects that lack of care here may be behind patterns of thinking that seek to make God more amenable to our own social projects and personal vanities.
Overall, Kurtz helpfully retrieves a key implication of the foundational doctrine of the Creator-creature distinction for the church today. May projects such as his prosper.
Seth Porch (ThM, Bethlehem College & Seminary) serves as the Publications Coordinator for the Center for Pastor Theologians.
