The essence of God is completely unknowable, FK. Humans cannot know or contemplate Ο ΩΝ.
The essence of God is completely unknowable, FK. Humans cannot know or contemplate Ο ΩΝ.
I appreciate what you mean, and I would certainly agree that we cannot know His essence completely. However, I do think that God does share SOME understanding with us about it. For example, is it God's essence that He is Holy? Of course. Does the Bible give us ANY understanding about what that means? Yes, over and over. Christ is the bridge to what we can understand and know. And of course there is no shortage of writing on the subject. Here is an excerpt with scripture references from Holiness by Joel R. Beeke, a Reformed professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary: (You might even like some of it :)
HOLINESS IN SCRIPTURE: SET APART -- In the Old Testament, holiness is spoken of primarily in relation to God. “The LORD our God is holy” (Psa 99:9). Holiness is God's very nature—the very foundation of His being. Thrice holy, intensely holy is the Lord (Isa 6:3). God is Holiness. Holiness is God's permanent crown. It is the “shining of all His perfections,” as the Puritans used to say. Holiness is the backdrop for all else the Bible declares about God.
The Old Testament concept of divine holiness presents three cardinal truths about God: First, it denotes the separateness or otherness of God from all His creation. The most common Hebrew word for holy, qados, has as its most fundamental meaning—to be separate or apart. God is above and beyond all His creation. Nothing is like Him. “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?” (Isa 40:18). “The LORD He is God; there is none else beside Him” (Deut 4:35,39; I Kings 8:60; Isa 45:5,6,14,18,21,22; 46:9; Joel 2:27).
Secondly, it denotes God's total “apartness” from all that is unclean or evil. God is moral perfection. His holiness is total righteousness and purity (Isa 5:16). His eyes are too pure to condone evil (Hab 1:13).
Thirdly, due to God's being set apart by nature and from all sin, He is unapproachable by sinners apart from holy sacrifice (Lev 17:11; Heb 9:22). Only with bloody, life-giving sacrifice can the holy God justly dwell among sinners (for the wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23)—and that for Christ's sake, the Sacrifice to come. In and through the coming Messiah, the unique and perfect God of Israel can live among His chosen people: “I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee” (Hosea 11:9). This apparent contradiction— Holy One in your midst —is explainable only through Jesus Christ, God's appointed sacrifice, for the Holy One sees only a perfect Christ when He looks upon His own (cf. Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 60).
From this threefold concept of God as the Holy One, it naturally follows that all associated with God (that is, divine phenomena ) must also be holy. Hence, God's instituted sabbath is “a holy sabbath” (Exo 16:23); His home is the “holy heaven” (Psa 20:6); He sits on a “holy throne” (Psa 47:8); Zion is His “holy mountain” (Psa 2:6); His very Name is holy (Exo 20:7). So, too, His church is called to be a “ holy assembly “ (Exo 12:16) and His covenant people a “holy people” : “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deut 7:6).
Israel, God's covenant people, is called to holiness by means of holy separation from sin (Deut 7:6), holy consecration to God (Lev 11:44), holy worship of God (cf. the bulk of Leviticus), and inner holiness or cleansing (Lev 16:30; Psa 24:3-4).
I am sure that the Fathers have devoted thousands of pages to God's Holiness as well, with scripture references. So, I just don't think the door is completely shut in our faces as to knowing anything about His essence.