God the Unknown

By Victor White, O.P. “Verily thou art a hidden God”: God the Unknown makes these words from the Prophet Isaiah its lynchpin. Let one suppose, either consciously or unconsciously, that he has grasped God, and still must God elude him: God is always beyond the furthest advance one can make in knowledge about him. And yet the theologian’s task and the believer’s life retain their purpose. For the point of it all, as St. Thomas Aquinas attests, is that in the search for knowledge about God man finds the truth about himself, his purpose and destiny, and upon this depends his whole salvation. From this rationale proceed the thirteen essays contained in God the Unknown. Five address theology in general, its subjects and its methods, with special attention to the thought of St. Thomas. Another five address particular theological questions regarding the Incarnation, the Atonement, and grace and nature. The final trio, with both candor and geniality, addresses issues with ecumenical implications: the Church Unity Octave, membership in the Church, and papal infallibility.  “God made me to know him, to love him and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next.” In essence, God the Unknown is a meditation on this primary lesson of the Catechism, showing how the power of the mind to reason is purified by faith and perfected by grace, such that man can fulfill his created purpose to know God truly. O Lord, I do not dare to search into thy depths, for my understanding  is in no wise equal thereto. Yet I do yearn to understand  something of thy truth which my heart believes. (Saint Anselm) * * * Victor White, O.P. (1902–1960) was an English Dominican friar, Reader in Theology at Blackfriars, Oxford, foundation member and lecturer at the Jung Institute of Analytical Psychology, and editor of the journal Dominican Studies. His writings, in addition to God the Unknown, include God and the Unconscious and Soul and Psyche—both available from Cluny—as well as many articles on matters both theological and psychological. Paperback: 234pp. ISBN: 978-1685954284