Light Unapproachable: Divine Incomprehensibility and the Task of Theology

by Ronni Kurtz

Genres: Theology, Christian

224 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

Ronni Kurtz (PhD, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Cedarville University. He is the author of Light Unapproachable: Divine Incomprehensibility and the Task of Theology (IVP Academic, 2024), Fruitful Theology: How the Life of the Mind Leads to the Life of the Soul (B&H Publishers, 2022), No Shadow of Turning: Divine Immutability and the Economy of Redemption (Christian Focus Publishers, 2022) as well as a co-author of Proclaiming the Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Life of the Church (B&H Academic, 2024).

Reviews

[Ronni Kurtz]

The final editorial journey is complete. Off to the printers.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delivers on exactly what it promises: Ronni offers an incredibly helpful and accessible primer on the doctrine of incomprehensibility (and ineffability) and locates it dogmatically in the Creator-creature distinction. Ronni also draws out some important implications on theological method. This book is refreshingly clear and should be a go-to resource for this important doctrine.

[Glen Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Negative Theology powerfully exposes the vastness and otherness of the Lord. I leave this book feeling the magnitude that God is light unapproachable and yet he reveals and condescends, that I might meaningfully know and name Him. What a gift.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exemplary work of theology. Kurtz's deep familiarity with primary and secondary sources was evident throughout. Though not a long book, Kurtz covers a lot of theological, historical, and linguistic ground, too.

Of particular help was Kurtz's judicious and even-handed appropriation of Pseudo-Dionysius' linguistic taxonomy/theology. Kurtz rightfully offers commendations and cautions of the strangely brilliant Areopagite.

A great book of theological hope for the theological pilgrim.

[Shawn Moose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

My favorite Christian/theology book of the year thus far.

[Jono Spear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating and humbling. Divine incomprehensibility is not a topic I would naturally be drawn to explore; however, the way Ronni Kurtz writes is clear, compelling, and convincing. This book gave me a bigger view of God through the Creator-creature distinction and a greater view of God’s grace in his accommodating work of making himself known in a way that can be apprehended accurately, though not exhaustively. Truly a refreshing read.

Here are two of my favorite quotes:
“Instead of the incomprehensibility and ineffability of God's essence leading the theologian to despair or doubt, the Scriptures shift the paradigm and show that the otherness of God is impetus for praise and delight. The scriptural context of divine incomprehensibility is doxological” (55).

“Our position as those who receive theology via God's revelation means that we are not theologically hopeless, yet we must be theologically humble; moreover, theological humility is not merely an intellectual virtue in the Christian life but rather an ontological necessity due to our limitations and utter reliance on God's revelation and accommodation” (116-117).

[Jason Alligood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is theologically rich and historically robust. It is another needed corrective to much of the humanizing of the Triune God that is popular even amongst well-meaning pastors and theologians. Kurtz reminds us that it is God who condescends to us, not we who ascend to him.

As with many recent retrieval projects, Kurtz masterfully brings the past into the present, especially relying on Chrysostom’s homilies of the subject (noting also other fathers, Medievals and up to the Reformation) and yet also bringing the doctrine to bear upon the church of today as well as the influence the doctrine should have upon the Christian’s practice.

Along with Kurtz’s other excellent works, this volume is highly recommended.

[Derrick Kenyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Light Unapproachable, Kurtz masterfully introduces Divine incomprehensibility by showing how Scripture declares, demonstrates, and demands this doctrine and how it is taken up and discussed throughout the patristics, medievals, reformers, and the modern era. Interacting with relevant works by the Cappadocians, Pseudo-Dionysius, Aquinas, Calvin, and Bavinck, Kurtz models retrieval well as he goes back to the past, not just for history sake, but does retrieval to orient readers to this historic discussion and to show how these historic figures help contemporary theologians move the discussion forward.

To contribute to the discussion, Kurtz convincingly argues that the proper theological location of Divine incomprehensibility is in the Creator-creature distinction, rather than in sin or size. As such, God's incomprehensibility is not a matter of size (as though God is simply bigger than us) or sin (purely a result to the fall), rather as Creator, God is wholly other, unable to be comprehended or circumscribed. What's more, God resides in "unapproachable light" (hence the title; i.e., 1 Tim 6:15-16). Kurtz goes on to show how that though finite creatures cannot have archetypal knowledge of God which belongs only to the infinite God, we can meaningfully know God, not because we ascend to God but because He condescended to us and accommodated himself in language we can understand as creatures (i.e., what Kurtz calls "the anthros"). In this way, finite creatures cannot comprehend God but can meaningfully apprehend Him because God wants to be truly known.

Kurtz then concludes by rightly showing how God's incomprehensibility demands theological humility. Creatures only apprehend the Creator because he willed it to be so. Furthermore, theological maturity derives solely upon the Creator (Her 6:1-3). Therefore, as Kurtz writes, "We wrestle like Jacob, laying hold of God through prayer in hopes that he will permit us to obtain the awe of Moses. All the while, humility remains at the heart of the enterprise, knowing we do theology as pilgrims - theologia viatorum - on the way home" (184).

While theologically rigorous, Light Unapproachable is clearly structured, well argued, and engagingly written. Kurtz demonstrates masterful theological method as he works from Scripture, to church history, and to his own positive contribution. All the while showing how doctrine leads to doxology and Godly living. As I read this work, I constantly found myself praising God for his infinitude and his love in condescending to us. This book also helped me to have a bit more substance and beauty behind mystery in theology. Overall, I highly recommend this book.

[Quin Machado · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a special joy to continue to learn from Dr. Kurtz even after the classroom. In “Light Unapproachable”, Kurtz skillfully guides us to a proper view of divine incomprehensibility as a doctrine that is both exciting and hopeful. A proper view of incomprehensibility prevents us from falling into theological despair about the unknowability of God, while also keeping us from a type of “theological hubris” in which we think we can have God totally figured out.

Rightfully so, Kurtz finds the biblical basis for the doctrine rooted in the creator/creature distinction. God is not incomprehensible to us because of his size or because of the noetic effects of the fall, but because He is the creator, and we are the creature. The degree to which we can comprehend something is limited by our essence.

What strikes me most is the beauty of the doctrine. We will never get bored of God because we will never totally “finish” Him. When we finish a great novel for the first time, we will never have the same experience in returning to it for subsequent reads. But with God, we will continue exploring His depths for all of eternity!

[Kenneth Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my first foray into studying theology proper outside of the educational context and of course my personal study of the Bible. I had the unique privilege of reading this book in Dr. Kurtz’s voice (an altogether new experience for me) and the book served as sort of an extension of my learning from him.
Dr. Kurtz’s Light Unapproachable not only prompted me to ponder facets of divine incomprehensibility and ineffability that I have never before considered, but also led me to worship God afresh as I understood the implications of His accommodation for my theological knowledge. Learning about divine incomprehensibility has grown my desire to learn about theology (the “theological pilgrimage”) while also instructing me to do so with theological humility, a trait that does not come naturally to me.
I highly recommend this book for anyone with some level of theological education who is eager to learn more.

[Daniel Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful theological work on a subject that seems to have been left behind by the contemporary church. The author balances biblical exegesis with theological and historical reflection, whetting the reader’s appetite for an even deeper look into the concept of God’s incomprehensibility. He accomplishes this while challenging the student of theology to begin the process of theologizing in a posture of humble prayer and then culminating the study in doxology. This book will bless all who read it and is well worth the time spent in these pages.

[Bradford Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me just how much I miss my formal theology classes with Dr. Kurtz. It took me back to the place where I learned what it looks like to behold God and long for the day when I will see him face to face. This piece better helps pilgrims journey home.

[Daniel Lieber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always remembered and related to Martin Luther’s outrage towards Erasmus’s statements that he “found no satisfactions in assertions” and preferred an “undogmatic temper to any other.” Luther thought that to take away assertions was to take away Christianity and was famously convinced the “Holy Spirit is no skeptic, and the things He has written in our hearts are not doubts or opinions, but assertions.” Luther went as far to say that he despised skeptical principles so much that he would do everything his flesh permits to assert all that the Bible teaches and to be as positive as he could about non-essentials which Scripture does not determine because he thought uncertainty was “the most miserable thing in the world.” Perhaps Luther’s aversion to uncertainty was too much. Nevertheless, I’ve found myself feeling very similarly (even at times subconsciously manifested by my actions) and this conviction has driven me to attempt to know the Lord deeply.

And yet when one studies the deep things of theology, they might come to certain points (like I did) where words start to become insufficient. You know something is true and yet cannot sufficiently articulate it. Take for example the existence of God. You might be persuaded by the cosmological argument that He exists. How do you describe His existence? What does it mean that God is? Well, you might say God is spirit (1 John 4:24). But that statement itself doesn’t sufficiently encapsulate all that God is and the entirety of His attributes. You come to find that there is no word that quite sufficiently describes God in His entirety. Your intellect can’t quite seem to fully wrap itself around the fullness of Deity. Perhaps that feeling has left you in despair, perhaps it’s left you in awe, or perhaps it’s left you experiencing both at different times. As I journey through the deep and vast waters of theology, I’ve been thoroughly confronted with the limits of my own being and capacities. As Calvin says, “man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.” If I am unable to overcome the limits of my own being, I am faced with the choice to either discount all my prior learning as a worthless path to nowhere or to content myself with a healthy sense of mystery.

Here lies the importance of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility which is dealt with in this book by Ronni Kurtz. This book, while at times challenging and technical, is filled with remarkably profound quotes and thoughts about how we approach knowing and relating to God. I think Kurtz is a fantastic writer which makes a difficult book accessible to a wide audience because the way he constructs his argument is very clear and well organized. If one wanted to skip Chapters 3 and 4 examining the doctrine’s discussion in Church history, they could certainly do so and strongly grasp the author’s conclusions. If one were more concerned mainly about the implications for our spiritual posture rather than the ontological or language implications (although I and the author would argue these are all intertwined), they could certainly still be greatly edified skipping through Chapters 5 and 6.

The doctrine of incomprehensibility put forth in this book is that God cannot be known fully because He is totally other than us. God’s being is incorporeal, unconfined by time, there is no limit to any of His perfections, and He is in His own singular essence of Divinity the fullness of all His attributes. In contemplating these things, we understand that God is not limited by anything outside of His own being and so we say that He is infinite. We as creatures are limited by all sorts of things: body, time and space, environment, etc. We come to see that our being is defined by limitation. So, there is a problem, how does a limited being escape those limitations in order fully comprehend an unlimited being? Can the finite comprehend the infinite? The consensus answer has historically been no and our inadequacy to fully describe Him with our language (ineffability) is evidence of that. Kurtz says, “In no way can the creaturely imagination comprehend the divine nature as it truly is.” This is what is meant by the following biblical verses:

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” - Psalm 139:6

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” - Psalm 145:3

“His understanding is unsearchable.” - Isaiah 40:28

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:8-9

“Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.” - 1 Timothy 6:16

Yet Kurtz goes on to state the other emphasis of the book that “while the divine nature is completely outside the rational jurisdiction for the creatures, God has graciously revealed Himself in nature, the Holy Scripture, and the person of Jesus Christ.” So here is the beauty of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility: it gives us a healthy sense of mystery by which we acknowledge the holiness of God, and it points us towards the antidote from despairing in that mystery through the gracious means that God has revealed Himself. Thus, while we cannot know God fully, He has desired to make Himself known to us truly, albeit in a limited way.

The book has a lot of really helpful discussion on how God accommodates our human perception and experience through the language used in scripture in order to reveal true knowledge of Himself to us. It speaks on the Bible’s use of both apophatic (assertions about what/who God is not) and cataphatic theology (assertions about what/who God is). Cataphatic theology is further qualified by distinguishing between univocal (words that have one meaning in every context) and analogical (words that communicate some degree of commonality but are also understood to acknowledge some degree of difference) language; the latter being what Kurtz argues is the sense of the biblical text. This analogical language is very helpfully understood through Kurtz’s discussion of the Bible’s use of the 3 anthros: anthropomorphism, anthropopathism, and anthrochronism. By communicating to us in these ways in scripture, God graciously condescends and accommodates our human limitations so that we may know Him in a meaningful way, even if not comprehensively.

The biggest applications of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility are found in our having joy and humility. Joy because “the fate that awaits those united to the Son is a sight through the Son in which the redeemed will get to ever apprehend the beauty of God’s essence without comprehension or exhaustion.” Humility because “we do not pursue Christian theology as those who are creators of intellectual brilliance but instead as those who are radical receivers of divine speech in human words and of the person of Christ incarnate.” This book beautifully holds the two simultaneous truths that God is incomprehensible and wants to be known. So, we ought not to embrace a pervasive mysticism, but we also ought not to commit idolatry by constructing a false image of the infinite God in our finite imaginations. Kurtz says the “remedy to divine incomprehensibility is not a creaturely ascent out of creatureliness but an act of divine love and plenitude.” This reliance on divine benevolence should motivate us to approach theology first in prayer appealing to His goodness and initiative, and we should cherish all the more the loving and revelatory gift He has given us in scripture.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: An explanation of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility as well as God’s gracious accommodation.

“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16, NIV)

There is a paradox in the verses above. On one hand God lives in unapproachable light. Of ourselves we cannot approach the light, let alone the God who lives in it. From this, and verses like this, theologians speak of divine incomprehensibility. Yet these verses describe God as blessed, as ruler, king, and absolute Lord, immortal, and they tell us of God’s living in unapproachable light. That is, these verses do speak of God truthfully, faithfully, and worshipfully. While God in God’s self is incomprehensible, Paul affirms there are things about God that God has revealed, that we may apprehend.

In Light Inapproachable, Ronni Kurtz unpacks how we can affirm both aspects of this paradox. While affirming the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility, Kurtz does not believe this leaves us in a place of not being able to say anything of God. Rather, he believes God accommodates our creaturely nature, as he did Moses, in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:19-23).

First, Kurtz lays the groundwork for a definition of divine incomprehensibility. He observes there is a biblical tension between the imperatives to “know the Lord” and the indicatives speaking of the unknowability and unsearchability of the Lord. He addresses a number of misperceptions about incomprehensibility. Finally, he identifies two ditches to avoid: theological despair and theological idolatry. With that, he offers the following definition of divine incomprehensibility:

“Divine incomprehensibility affirms that God the Creator is wholly other than his creatures and the distinction between the two renders God out of the rational jurisdiction of the creature’s theological and intellectual comprehension. In no way can the creaturely imagination comprehend the divine nature as it truly is. As the finite will never circumscribe the infinite, the creaturely mind will never surround all that is in God. Since God as God is out of reach for the mind of the creature, so too is God as god out of reach for the words and names of the creature. Divine incomprehensibility necessitates divine ineffability as the creaturely limits, combined with the otherness of God, means that we cannot either fully know or name God as he really is in se” (pp. 20-21).

Kurtz begins this project by developing the biblical doctrine of incomprehensibility. As a result, he identifies scripture that declares the doctrine, others that demonstrate the doctrine and those that demand it. He then turns to a historical theological treatment. He begins with Chrysostom and his response to the Anomoeans, who maintained that humans could comprehend God. And he recounts Chrysostom’s five homilies that refute this idea. Then he shows how the Cappadocian fathers further developed the doctrine. Next, he discusses Pseudo-Dionysius and The Cloud of Unknowing. While recognizing the importance of negation and mystery, Kurtz argues against the pessimism of a completely negative theology. By contrast, he discusses how Aquinas spoke both of incomprehensibility and knowability. He concludes his discussion with the Reformation, and the more contemporary work of Herman Bavinck.

Part Two of the book moves from retrieval to constructive theology. Kurtz begins with a discussion of the dogmatic location of incomprehensibility. Specifically, he develops what was implicit in his definition, that the doctrine properly is located in the Creator/creature distinction. In contending this, he argues against locating the doctrine in either human sinfulness or in the “size” of God. Regarding sin, he observes that the sinless angels cannot fully comprehend God. And it is not that God is larger but rather that God is wholly other that makes God incomprehensible.

But how then may we speak of God at all? Our creaturely inability does not rule out God’s ability to graciously accommodate our creatureliness and reveal something of Himself. Specifically, through anthropomorphisms (describing God in terms of human parts), anthropopathisms (describing God through human passions and volition) and anthropochronisms (describing God in terms of human time and chronology), God accommodates himself to our creatureliness. He does so analogically, in which the term, while not signifying what God in himself is like, conveys through the creaturely shadow, reflects what is true and meaningful of God. This truth is ectypal, that is, a revelation in creation patterned after the archetypal knowledge of God, which is unknowable.

Finally, Kurtz concludes by discussing the implication of both God’s incomprehensibility and gracious accommodation. This bids us to humility but not hopelessness and calls us into a theology of prayer and pilgrimage. He proposes the vivid images of the limp of Jacob and the awe of Moses.

Kurtz writes clearly about the incomprehensible and with clarity about this doctrine. The combination of biblical, historical, and constructive theology in a relatively slim text makes this both accessible and substantial. And his pastoral approach of humility and hope that runs through the book translates this from abstract theologizing to truths we might embrace in both worship and life.

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it possible to truly know God? In Light Unapproachable, Ronni Kurtz writes on divine incomprehensibility and the task of theology.


Wholly Other

This book strikes a thoughtful balance between theological despair and theological idolatry, offering a profound perspective on how we can confidently know and name God while remembering our limitations as creatures. We are able to approach God with hope because He is a self-revealing God, yet we must also acknowledge that, as finite beings, we cannot fully grasp or name God univocally in our minds.

Kurtz defines divine incomprehensibility as the acknowledgment that God, the Creator, is wholly other than His creatures. This distinction between God and humanity places God beyond the rational jurisdiction of human theological and intellectual comprehension.

The book emphasizes that God has chosen specific ways to reveal Himself to His creatures: through nature, through the Holy Scriptures, and most fully, through the person of Jesus Christ. These are the means by which we can know God, though always in part.


Humble Awe

Kurtz also engages with John Chrysostom’s views in The Incomprehensible Nature of God, highlighting the idea that God’s nature is unapproachable and, therefore, incomprehensible—not merely uncomprehended. This distinction underscores the mystery of God’s being and invites us into humble awe before His majesty.

After reading this book, I am reminded of the limited but meaningful knowledge of God we can possess “in part” (1 Cor. 13:9-12), with the hopeful anticipation that one day, we will know Him fully. Though this is an academic work, it is deeply worshipful. Kurtz maintains a reverent respect for the holiness of God while fearlessly engaging in profound theological discussions about His nature.

Light Unapprochable has deepened my commitment to theological humility, reminding me of the vast chasm between the Creator and the creature. Yet, it also fills me with renewed gratitude for Christ, who bridges that gap and makes it possible for us to approach the Father.


I received a media copy of Light Unapproachable and this is my honest review.

[Michele Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ronni Kurtz looks at God’s incomprehensibility through the lens of scripture and the written record of historical theology. Then, he considers the massive implications this attribute holds for the believer—particularly for the serious student of God’s Word. After all, if God truly “dwells in light unapproachable” (1 Timothy 6:16), are all our efforts to draw near simply a chasing after the wind?

Perhaps Kurtz’s greatest gift to his readers is the transparency of his thought process in his organization of the book. While the text is clear, he still pauses periodically to summarize the material in table form. Concept is always built upon concept, and he never takes a step forward without reviewing how we arrived there.

Hopefully, it’s not a spoiler to reveal that the key to embracing the sheer otherness of God turns on the doctrine of divine accommodation. “While God is incomprehensible and dwells in unapproachable light, he nevertheless reveals himself in a way that creatures might be said to have meaningful knowledge of him.” In an act of grace, he condescends to cross the unbridgeable gap between the creature and the uncreated.

My favorite part of the book (and the section I’ll be thinking about for a long time!) introduced me to the concept of “doing theology in the second person rather than the third.” Instead of using what we know about God to talk about God, it changes everything when we do theology with God by talking to God. This subtle adjustment in perspective shifts my focus away from data points and toward relationship—which is the whole point of our wrestling with the truth. Like Moses, we stand in the cleft of the rock that scripture provides and lean into the paradox of our invitation to “be still and know” the unknowable God.

[Matthew Prydden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predominantly an academic treatise, the thread of which can be summarised by the following:
"God cannot be comprehended, but can be apprehended". Kurtz works slowly through the subject, as with a fine toothcomb; his conclusion more an impassioned suggestion - and a good one at that - for others to use in the task of studying/contemplating God. The chapters dealing with the historical development for study of 'the incomprehensibly of God' are the works' highlight.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronni's argument for divine incomprehensibility is marked by clarity and depth. He also charitably defends the doctrine by accurately presenting his interlocutors.