It amazes me that The Apostle Paul, the most influential Christian theologian and prolific writer of much in the New Testament, says that for all he knows it's only some fuzzy shapes and murky reflections of the reality. This should be a humbling reminder for all who follow in his shoes as theologians and teachers of the Church.
We are limited by so many factors.
I like the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. It shows knowledge as a 4 legged stool.
1 leg is Reason.
Another is Scripture.
Another is Tradition.
The last one is Experience.
I don't think the Wesleyan Quadrilateral tells us exactly how it ought to be but simply how it is. Our knowledge is far from objective. We see things through our experiences.
Take mine for example: I'm a white male 2nd generation German immigrant to North America particularly the U.S. particularly the Gulf Coast. In that one sentence is wrapped a world of advantage and disadvantage, privilege and barriers that keep me (unless I struggle through empathy to do otherwise) from seeing the world as a Latin American woman whose family is more indigenous than Spanish and lives in the mountains of Central America.
In that sentence is summed up identity shaped through experience.
The same is true about Scripture. We bring our experiences to Scripture and we read them through the lens of Experience (along with Reason and Tradition). At the same it time gives us a novel understanding of the text while at the same time imprisoning us within our limited perspective.
Now about apophatic theology or negative theology. While this verse in 1 Corinthians about seeing now through a murky lens is a strong indicator of negative theology, there is another verse that tells us the thing we can be sure of in our faith.
Hebrews 1:1 begins one of my favorite books with "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."
In another place Jesus says that if you have seen him you've seen the Father.
Christian theology is one long road of discussion and disagreement on various things but the sure thing which I rest my theology and faith on is that Christ is The revelation of the Father's nature and character.
God looks like Jesus. God looks like a young Jewish man consorting with the underclass of his day. God looks like Jesus touching lepers before He cleanses them, loving prostitutes and adulteresses before they've 'sinned no more' and eating with tax collectors (if you think our government is corrupt you've never met these guys; they confiscated the livelihoods of families in the name of taxes even to taking sons and daughters for slavery). God looks like Jesus dying as a criminal pleading for his killers forgiveness.
When looking through these murky lens towards the divine Jesus is the large, overwhelming bright spot whose silhouette is perfectly outlined. He is the 'God from God, light from light, true God from true God' as the old creed goes.
