What does it mean to say that “God Speaks?”

What do we mean when we say ‘God speaks?’ This is actually a pretty deep and intense question, and one that has caused quite a lot of controversy (and even violence) throughout the history of the Church. There are those who would argue that God only speaks in holy scripture. Others have made the case that God speaks in all kinds of ways like nature, reason, experience, and so on.  Even as late as the seventeenth-century, some said that God is revealed in two books, the scriptures and the 'book of nature.'

What seems relatively uncontroversial is that God speaking means that something is communicated; that God has directed a message toward humankind as revelation of divine mysteries. Something real and true is communicated in a way that we as finite beings can understand. This is an important piece. For it to be communication, we must have the ability to interpret the message; the message must be intelligible to the human intellect. If it were not, then it would be impossible for us to accept the message, even by faith. This leads to a second important point; something can only be communicated when the message is received and understood. It is not necessary, however, that upon hearing the message one believes, but only that one understands. But revelation is consummated only when there is one who believes the message in faith.

So, we’ve cleared the area a little bit. For my money, God speaks must begin with the fact that God begets the eternal Word. For early church theologians, divine reality knows and utters itself and begets its own radiant light, truth, and image. It all starts here.  From this, ‘God speaks’ means that it is through Christ (the Word) that all creation has its being (Col. 1:17). Through Christ creation has its luminosity and is intelligible. This relates to last week’s blog post (see here). We can say that something beautiful, like a sunset or a snowy morning, is divine. Next, ‘God speaks’ means that God, through prophetic inspiration, communicates in scripture. Finally, ‘God speaks’ means that Christ, the eternal Word, who exists both within and beyond history, became human so that we might know God in a tangible way through his teaching and actions. Christ is the speech of God because Christ is the divine and eternal Word.  In him, speech attains its perfect and final realization. In true and genuine human speech, a reality is communicated and made known to another person. But in divine speech, in Christ, the speaker (God) and the message (Christ) are the same thing. In Christ the divine mystery is made known.

As I mentioned in a homily a few weeks ago, I have been having many conversations with people recently who have asked me, “Why can’t I hear God. I’m praying, but God is not speaking.” To fully answer this would be many more blog posts, but I will offer one possible response here. One answer is that God is always speaking to us, but we need to be open, silent, and attentive to hearing what is being said. We are bad at making the space to shut out the ‘visual noise’ of television, advertising, and busyness to pay attention to the small graces that God is speaking through. Practices like centering prayer, meditation, or even doing some form of art like painting or poetry create space to hear from an eternal God who speaks to us in much different ways that we speak to each other. There is also something to be said for spending time in the scriptures on a regular basis. Remember the wisdom of our tradition, God is revealed in two books, the scriptures and the 'book of nature.' Don’t neglect quiet moments ‘reading’ God’s [W]ord, in both the world in and the scriptures.