Over the past two weeks, we've explored what it means to know God in the second-person, that is relationally and personally, and in the first-person, that is to know and experience God within. This week, we round out this framework with the third-person knowledge of God, which can perhaps best be articulated in the words … Continue reading Everywhere Present and Filling All Things: Knowing God in Third-Person
I've been thinking a lot lately about Teddy Roosevelt's famous quote about "the man in the arena," which has been repopularized over the past decade by Brene Brown's use of it in Daring Greatly. It goes: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or … Continue reading The Arena
The most recent post in this series on knowing God explored the first-person perspective of God, which is an experience of God within us so intimate that everything else — our ego, desires, thoughts, feelings — falls away. It also demonstrated that despite the discomfort many contemporary Christians have with the language of first-person encounter … Continue reading “The Father and I are One”: Jesus and the First-Person Knowledge of God
Last week's posts explored the knowledge of God through through a personal, relational lens. This was easy enough, since this is Western religion's home turf. But, while it may be where most Christians feel most comfortable, the relational lens is only one of three perspectives we can take to knowing God, and if we want … Continue reading God Within: Knowing God in First-Person
I don't know about you, but this week has been a struggle for me. All of the disappointments and frustrations of this COVIDtide season have been rubbing up against all my baggage, neuroses, internal narratives, and automatic negative thoughts in all of the most unhelpful ways. (It's a great testament to human narcissism how a … Continue reading On the Road
Matthew Root 