Is the fact that God reveals Himself in human language a “paradox”?
It might seem so. God is incomprehensible, and always exceeds our conceptualizations and verbalizations of Him. To attempt to render this incomprehensible God into human language, with its limits and ambiguities, seems impossible. Yet God does it. Hence, revelation is a paradox.
Sed contra: If God shows Himself at all, He must show Himself in a form accessible to humans. If He is going to speak to humans, He is going to have to speak in human language. That He exceeds what can be said humanly doesn’t make revelation a paradox.
The claim that revelation is paradoxical assumes that human language is poorly designed as a vehicle of God’s communication. But God designed human language, and even though human language is as broken as humans are, it’s not outside God’s control. If God can reveal Himself in the dilapidated humanity of the Son of God, He can reveal Himself in human language.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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