None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God

by Matthew Barrett

Augustine once wrote that whenever we think about God, “we are aware that our thoughts are quite inadequate to their object, and incapable of grasping him as he is.” Yet Scripture commands us to “think about the Lord our God always,” though we “can never think about him as he deserves.” How, then, should we approach him? “Since at all times we should be praising him and blessing him, and yet no words of ours are capable of expressing him, I begin by asking him to help me understand and explain what I have in mind and to pardon any blunders I may make. For I am as keenly aware of my weakness as of my willingness.”25 That may be one of my favorite passages Augustine ever wrote. Every time he sat down to write about God, he put down his pen, got on his knees, and prayed. He knew he would never exhaust the mystery of the one who is incomprehensible. Augustine also knew that his finite attempt to describe him who is incomprehensible was tainted by Augustine’s own weakness. To describe God, Augustine desperately needed God’s own help.