Knowing God

J.I. Packer wrote a book titled Knowing God. I read it. I liked it. In that book Packer said that there is a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. This is true. I can have a lot of information about George Washington, but I will never know George Washington, at least not in this life. Knowing about God means I have a lot of data (hopefully accurate data) about God. Knowing God means having a living, breathing, functioning relationship with Him. What we really need is to know Him (John 17:3).

Having said that, I think there is a false dichotomy going on here. Some people argue, "We don't need to know about God; we need to know God." In logic, a false dichotomy is where you set up two possible options as the only two options when there actually is more than two. My favorite example: The lawyer asks the husband, "Sir, yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife?" No win. "Yes, I stopped beating my wife" or "No, I haven't stopped beating my wife." Of course, that's a false dichotomy because an alternative answer is "I never did beat my wife." This "knowing God" versus "knowing about God" can be an equally false dichotomy because it doesn't have to be an either-or proposition.

Consider. I have a a living, breathing, functioning relationship with my wife. A really good one. Does that mean that I don't know about my wife? On the contrary. A fundamental aspect of my excellent relationship with my wife is knowing about my wife. The more I know about her, the better I can know her.

The same is true with God. It is absolutely true that what we desperately need is to know Him. Paul says, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Php 3:8). Not "about" Him, but knowing Him. Absolutely essential. But we do that by knowing about Him -- having factual data about who He is, what He wants, His likes and dislikes, etc. that feeds our living, breathing, functioning relationship with Him.

It is my prayer, too, that I may know Him. Not just about Him. But it is also my prayer that what I know about Him will augment and enhance my relationship with Him, just as knowing about my wife improves my relationship with her. I pray "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Php 3:10-11).