Can a man know God by his means?. Can man know God by his means?

No. We can only deduce some obvious truths about God, such as his existence, His greatness, His power, His splendor… But we cannot learn anything deeper about Him unless He reveals it to us unless he does not tell us about Himself, and if he does not come near to us. Love and closeness, as we spoke of in the previous theme, require mutual Knowledge. Thus, the better we know the good qualities of the other, which in this case, speaking of God, are all perfect, the more easily we can love him. It is therefore to be hoped that God will reveal Himself to man to know him more deeply and to love him more.

 “Man, created in the image of God, is called to make God know and love God. When he seeks him, he discovers certain “ways” along by which it is possible to come to the knowledge of God. They are also called ” proofs of God’s existence”, not in the sense of proofs such as those required by natural science, but in the sense of “convergent” and convincing conclusions that make it possible to reach real certainties” (CCC 31).

– “Man has faculties which enable him to know that there is one personal God. However, so that man might enter into an intimate relationship with him, God willed to reveal himself and give him the grace to receive this revelation in faith. However, the “proofs” of God’s existence can dispose to faith and help to establish that faith is not against human reason” (CCC 35).
 God has relevance.
Because man is incapable of penetrating God’s mysteries, God does not must have revealed them to man as part of the plan of communion which he wanted to have.
– For all mankind, and each man in particular, the creatures are
God’s revelation: * “The sun, by its appearance at the rising, proclaims: ‘It is a strange body and work of the Most High” (Sir 43:2).
* At the sight of the starry night, a man exclaims: “The beauty of the heavens is also the stars are bright; by them, the Lord on high enlightens the whole world. (Sir 43:10).
* Looking at the refraction of light during the rains, let us remember the beauty of His work: “Behold the rainbow and magnify Him who made it, is greatly comforted by its splendor. “The rainbow, with its splendid arc, It winds across the heavens; the hands of the Most High have unrolled it (Sir 43:12-13).
* And after describing the wonders of creation, the book of Sirach finally says: “We might speak too much, but we miss the word; let there be an end of all talk: He is present in all things. If he is to be glorified, what can we do? For He is Almighty, He is greater than His works” (Sir 43:29-30).
– God has revealed Himself normally in time through His manifestations, which are collected in what we call revelation or scripture. * Moses speaks to the Lord, who sends him to lead his people out of Egypt and says to him: I will go to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you. ‘ They will ask, ‘What is his name?’ And what will I answer them?” God said to Moses, ‘I am that I am'” (Ex. 3:13,-14).
* Before this revelation, God appeared to him in a fiery flame from
the thorn bush and said to him: I am the God of your father Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6).
* God still reveals Himself in the Old Testament. (Heb. 1:1).
– The progressive revelation of God, culminating in the coming of His Son: * “My Father has handed over everything to me. And no one knows the Son but the Father, neither knower any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will (Mt 11:27).
* Paul speaks of Jesus Christ and his salvation “based on the revelation of the mystery which was hidden from eternity, but now has been revealed” (Rom. 16:25). He affirms that the realization of this mystery consists in this: “To realize in the fullness of time: to unite in Christ as the head of all that is in heaven and all that is on earth” (Eph. 1,10).
* But the clearest confirmation of this revelation of God in Christ
is given by Jesus himself: “He who sees me sees the Father” (Jn. 14:9), “The words, which I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but of the Father, who abides in me, does his works” (14,10).
* The preceding statements are supported by many texts in Holy Scripture: Mt 16:17; Col 1:26; 1 Jn 1:1 -5; Heb 11:6; Jas 1:5.
– Finally, the Holy Spirit keeps revelation alive and makes it relevant in the Church. He gives us the ability to understand what has been revealed to us.