If God Exists, Why Is He So Mysterious?
In philosophy of religion the topic of “divine mystery” tends to lead down long windy contentious debates about divine hiddenness, and atheistic claims that if God existed he’d be more obvious. But if we set aside that philosophical problem for a moment, there’s a theology question that shouldn’t be overlooked. Granting that God exists, why is he so mysterious?
Peering down Emmaus Road
An adult student brought this “divine mystery” issue to mind in a class with Online Christian Courses, a partner ministry with Crossexamined.org. Nancy asked the following question:
My question pertains to Luke 24:16 (“But they didn’t recognize him, for God kept them from it”). Why did God intervene to prevent the two followers from recognizing Jesus? Wouldn’t Jesus’ message have been just as effective if the two followers had known who He was (v 21: the glorious Messiah…come to rescue Israel) during their walk together?
That’s a good question. In the class we reference the Emmaus Road encounter a lot, so if there’s a theological problem, or something’s not sitting right about that scene, she might have a hard time getting the most out of that class.
The Emmaus Road encounter in Luke 24:13-35 is a specific scene in a specific moment in history. But this line of question unveils a vast landscape of divine mystery. And that mystery is an important part of biblical Christianity.
Now this particular bit of mystery might just be a feature of good story-telling, revealing a secret identity later in the story. That way the confusion and heightened tension can resolve with a satisfying “reveal.” God is, after all, the ultimate author, and he knows the best way to narrate history. Maybe that’s what’s happening here.
At some level, however, we can’t fully know what God’s reasons are for specific moments of mystery that He didn’t explicitly state to us. Fortunately, whatever tension might arise from that mystery, it’s soon resolved when Jesus reveals his true identity in verses 30-31.
Furthermore, we take this scene as a lesson for articulating the doctrine of divine mystery and even offer some educated guesses about how God uses mystery to lend depth, meaning, and beauty to story of human history. We can base those inferences on what God has revealed already, and how He’s interacted with the human story before.
First, Divine mystery is only part of the story.
God isn’t entirely mysterious. He does make Himself known through Jesus Christ – the incarnate God, fully God and fully man (Heb. 1:1-3; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-20). And He intervenes in history through miracles, theophanies, prophecies, and more. This Emmaus Road encounter doesn’t end with mystery, but revelation, as Jesus makes himself known.
Second, Divine mystery is biblical
Divine mystery is a normal part of biblical historic Christianity. Even when we don’t understand why, we can know that. We can know that it’s part of divine mystery it’s biblical (1 Kings 8:27, Ps. 147:5, Romans 11:33). And because it’s only part of the story, we don’t have to surrender to hopeless agnosticism as if God is entirely unknowable. Bear in mind that Divine mystery is entirely compatible with Jesus being the “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3). These two truths about God – His mystery and His revelation – are compatible because we can still know God without knowing everything about God. We can have true, incomplete, knowledge of God even if it’s impossible to fully comprehend the same God.
Third, Divine mystery is beautiful
There’s a kind of artistry about God’s measured self-revelation, restraining himself at some points, and making himself known at other points. Just as shadows accentuate the light, so God’s revelation can be emphasized in contrast with darkness (sin) and dimwits (ignorance). There’s also a certain beauty in storytelling where a vexing mystery resolves in glorious revelation, as people are led by the evidence through an adventurous search for answers, discovering truth, learning about themselves and others along the way, growing through the process, and finally realizing they had the answer with them the whole time. The Emmaus Road is no exception.
In Luke 24, the people who failed to see Jesus in the Old Covenant era needed a lesson in recognizing the foreshadows of Jesus from Adam, to Moses, to Jonah, and more. In learning to see him then, they were gaining sight so they would be ready to see him now – standing right in front of them. It sounds almost scripted that people who couldn’t recognize him in the Old Covenant era, didn’t recognize him under the New Covenant either. We probably shouldn’t be too hard on these guys. They are typical schmucks, like you and me, doing what we likely would have done in the same situation. Even with the keys to kingdom laid plain before us, we still won’t know what we’re looking at unless God miraculously opens our eyes. In the case of Emmaus, Jesus (metaphorically) grabbed them by the collar and shook them saying, “Do you see me now?!”
Fourth, Divine mystery is wise
God paces out His revelation so that people receive progressively more knowledge and awareness of Him over time, suitable to their growth and maturity. He gives us more revelation as we grow in our ability to handle it. In theology, this is called progressive revelation. Some mystery is just part of that measured self-revelation, as God is making sure mankind isn’t biting off more than we all can chew.
Fifth, Divine mystery protects us
Sometimes God lets us be ignorant about something because he knows how we’d misuse that knowledge. He’s protecting us from the inevitable punishment for misusing it. And/or he knows we’d be judged more strictly for it, just as teachers are judged for their knowledge and influence over others (James 3:1). We’re responsible to God for what we know, and we can’t plead ignorance on judgment day unless we’re ignorant.
Sixth, Divine mystery is theologically necessary
Some things we won’t know because we couldn’t understand them even if God told us. God’s ways are above us because God is ineffable, meaning beyond full expression; beyond comprehension (Rom. 11:33; Ps. 145:3; 2 Cor. 12:4). There could be some aspect of this event, this timing, this context that we just don’t understand, wherein God knows that the original audience isn’t ready/able to understand Him if He were to reveal His true nature at that moment.
Closing thoughts
Christianity involves knowledge and mystery. That’s just part of the deal. That’s true of reality in general, and that can be frustrating. But at least Christianity just admits that fact.
Now, that’s not an excuse to revel in ignorance and to avoid knowing God. Knowing God is the greatest treasure there is. Of course we should seek to know God. To Know God is to Love Him, and we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).
God never quite lets us know everything. He always has some big reveal about the big story, and about Himself, that He’s saving for later. And, you know what? I’m okay with that. I’ve been married long enough to know that I don’t want to know everything, not yet at least. I don’t want to know every detail of every dream my wife has had, or every stray, meaningless temptation she’s felt. There’s a certain blissful ignorance that God graciously allows us, so we aren’t overwhelmed with fear, anxiety, paranoia, or depression.
Knowledge is power but a burden as well. Sometimes we’re better off learning how to apply what we already know, growing into the responsibility that comes with that knowledge. We can figure out how to draw out some good applications from that knowledge before moving on to the next lesson. That next lesson will bring all sorts of new responsibilities with it. Indeed, any good teacher knows that you have to pace out the lessons at a rate that the students can digest. Mere “knowledge” can be a shallow empty experience if we don’t understand what it means, how to apply it, and why it matters. In a way, we don’t really “know” something till we can appreciate the wider implications of that fact. It would seem God’s self-revelation works like that.
So, thank you Nancy for the great question. I hope that answer helps make sense of the mystery.
Recommended Resources:
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Paperback), and (Sermon) by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek
Debate: What Best Explains Reality: Atheism or Theism? by Frank Turek Mp4, and Mp3
Oh, Why Didn’t I Say That? The Hiddenness of God: Why Isn’t God More Obvious? by Dr. Frank Turek Mp3, and Mp4 Download
What is God Really Like? A View from the Parables by Dr. Frank Turek (Mp3, and Mp4)
Dr. John D. Ferrer is a speaker and content creator with Crossexamined. He’s also a graduate from the very first class of Crossexamined Instructors Academy. Having earned degrees from Southern Evangelical Seminary (MDiv) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (ThM, PhD), he’s now active in the pro-life community and in his home church in Pella Iowa. When he’s not helping his wife Hillary Ferrer with her ministry Mama Bear Apologetics, you can usually find John writing, researching, and teaching cultural apologetics.
