THE ARCHETYPAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).

This text from the Apostle Paul inspires us to think about the being of God. However, this is a vast area of theology. For this reason, it is appropriate to limit this reflection to only one aspect of his being: his knowledge. Yes, the knowledge of God is an aspect of your being that, along with others, reveals your majesty and glory. Although knowledge or intellection or intellectuality is something proper to His Person, He has communicated this aspect to angels and men.

God also shared with the beings created in his image and likeness other aspects of his being, namely: his spirituality, his morality and some attributes of his sovereignty. Other aspects of God's being, however, which are intrinsic to him and distinguish him from all other beings, have not been communicated to his creatures. For example: its self-existence, its immutability, its infinity and its unity. It is observed, therefore, that thinking about God requires extensive reflections, so we will address, only and succinctly, the knowledge of God in its archetypal character.

God's knowledge is, first of all, comprehensive. He knows all areas of his being and his creation. There is nothing in Him or in all the expanses of the material and spiritual worlds that He does not know. In addition to being comprehensive, its knowledge is also exhaustive. God knows in detail everything about himself and his creation. But this "everything" is only a way of speaking because God's knowledge of himself and his creation is also infinite.

Another peculiarity of God's knowledge is that He knows things not only comprehensively, exhaustively, and infinitely, but also simultaneously, that is, all these particularities of His knowledge are manifested at the same time. Thus, he knows the past, the present and the future of something all at the same time and in a comprehensive, exhaustive and infinite way. And this knowledge does not come from outside of him. It is innately in it. God is not learning anything and no one has ever taught him anything.

There is, however, another characteristic of the knowledge of God, which is the fact that it is archetypal. He knows "the universe as it exists in its own idea prior to its existence, as a finite reality in time and space" [1]. That is, the Creator knows the beings of his creation in a comprehensive, exhaustive, infinite way, all at the same time, when they were still only ideas in his mind. Thus, God "knows himself and all possible and real things in one eternal and simple act" (Psalm 147:4-5).

The archetypal knowledge of God can be observed in sacred Scripture. Two passages about Christ's sacrifice in the New Testament reveal this nature of his knowledge. The Apostle Peter refers to Jesus Christ as "a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake..." (1 Peter 1:19,20). We can also see this aspect of God's knowledge in what the Apostle John says about people who reject God: "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).

The archetypal knowledge of God can be observed in sacred Scripture. Two passages about Christ's sacrifice in the New Testament reveal this nature of his knowledge. The Apostle Peter refers to Jesus Christ as "a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake..." (1 Peter 1:19,20). And the Apostle John: "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).

With respect to human beings, some passages also occur. One with regard to the people who will not be saved, which is expressed in these terms: "the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast..." (Revelation 17:8). And three others related to those who will inherit the Kingdom of God. Matthew 25:34 says: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world". Ephesians 1:4, on the other hand, says that God... chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight".

Thus, based on God's knowledge, it can be stated that He is not caught off guard by any unusual event in His creation. Everything is under control. "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). Therefore, it is reasonable to say that God knew, before the foundation of the world, that man would misuse his will and act in disconformity with the standard in which he was created, that is, he would sin. This is understandable because, unlike us, God is outside of time. He is Lord of time.

Even before the creation of the material world, He already knew that human beings would misuse their freedom and plunge into an existence of darkness, separated from Him, from which they would only emerge with His providence. For this reason, He, in the person of the Son, entered into humanity and opened a way back to the original condition through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. This fact can be seen in the following words of the Apostle Paul: we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Antônio Maia – Ph.B., M.Div.

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[1] BERKOHF, Louis. Teologia Sistemática. Editora Cultura Cristã, 2007, p. 65

[2] Idem.