Who do you say I am?

There is a quote I’ve been thinking about lately. I’m not entirely sure where I saw it, and it’s possible that my mind cooked it up then tricked me into thinking I heard somewhere. In either case, here it is:

“God created man, and man created Theology.”

Simply speaking, theology is the study of the divine and religious systems of belief. With this in mind, the quote in question could be interpreted as follows: Essentially, God created us, and in turn, we invented multiple ways, techniques, and epistemologies to understand our Creator.

The potential downside to this is that there is a danger in bringing a Being such as the Christian God down to our level. We run the risk of binding Him to our cultures, our languages, and our limited human way of thinking. The quote could mean that we should be aware of the hierarchy of importance that is present here. At the top is the idea that God created human beings in His infinite power and knowledge; this is considered “true.” At the bottom is that, in the aftermath of our creation, human beings with limited power and knowledge attempted to understand God, which leads to some truths but runs the risk of leading to many falsehoods. In essence, we should be aware that theology, when done poorly, brings God down to our level and limits His greatness by attempting to squeeze Him into our little minds. At this point, we must ask the question, can we understand God? Let us explore this.

In the Old Testament, the name of God (Yahweh or “YHWH”) was regarded by the Jews as a name that should never be spoken. This was for a few reasons. The name was too precious and holy to be cheapened like the names of the Pagan gods. Also, I’d say the ancient Jews were cautious of binding God to a name uttered by mere humans. After all, if no temple can be grand enough on earth to serve as the house of God, how can one name be enough? Interestingly, most of the names we see of God in the Scriptures are not actually names. They are closer to descriptions of who God is and what He does. For example, “Elohim” means the living God, and “El Shaddai” means Almighty God.

In a truly poetic way, the name God introduces Himself as in the Book of Exodus is “I Am Who I Am.” This is a fascinating name for theologians (or those who want to understand God) to wrestle with. Imagine this: A man asks God: who are you? God could say, I Am the Living God, or I Am the Almighty God. He could also say I Am the God Who Provides (Jehovah Jireh), or I Am the God who is There (Jehovah Shammah). The theologian might object and state that these are descriptions, and he seeks a name. God could simply say that “I Am Who I Am.” Such an answer is humbling to this man, but also potentially frustrating. God tells him with this response that all he needs to know, potentially all he ever can know, is that God is Who God is. We can understand who God is to us and what He can do for His children, but understanding Him completely would be impossible because He simply tells us: I Am Who I Am.

In the New Testament, God becomes flesh and dwells among us. This is an earth-shattering development in the story because God now lives among his creation. Perhaps for the first time, humans could get up close and personal with God and ask Him about Himself without any fear. On one occasion, Jesus asks a fascinating question to His disciples: Who do the people say I am? This question understandably got a few responses. Some said He was the reincarnation of one of the great prophets, and some said He was John the Baptist, while others said He was Elijah or Jeremiah. But Jesus then asks another unbelievably thought-provoking question: Who do you say I am?

Before looking at the responses, let us think about this question a little bit. If Jesus had asked, “Who am I?”, would that have been the same question? “Who do you think I am” is a question that rests on the disciple’s understanding and experiences with Jesus. It might be, in some ways, a theological question. It is important to note that some of God’s descriptive names we explored earlier could be seen as the responses of individuals to this question. For example, Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide) could be seen as Abraham’s response at the time to this question. Simon Peter’s answer, however, was special. Let us explore it.

Peter’s response to the question was, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus stated that Peter was blessed for saying this because it was not revealed to Him by flesh and blood, but by the Spirit of God. This interaction is unbelievably thought-provoking. Our quote from earlier suggests that theology is man-made and is therefore bound by our understanding of the world. In other words, it is bound by flesh and blood. Peter’s answer, however, was not.

The other responses to the question were certainly influenced by human ways of understanding. After all, who else could Jesus be if not a reincarnation of a prophet from the past? The idea that this man from Nazareth was, in fact, “I Am” who had become flesh was one that would almost be impossible to comprehend from a human perspective. Even modern-day Christians who have thousands of years of theology to fall back on are still perplexed by the eternal mystery of the incarnation. In this sense, Peter’s answer was not simply theological- it was something more. Revelation, you might say. It was not a human answer; it was revealed to him by God. You could say that his response was remarkable because it not only answered the question “Who do you say I am,” but also “Who am I?”.

The other day, I was reading the Gospel of Thomas, and it’s certainly an interesting one. The four Gospels in the Bible show Jesus in four different ways and were written for different audiences. The Gospel of Thomas, although it is not canon, does the same. Thomas, the author, seems to be uninterested in the biography, miracles, or even day-to-day activities of Jesus. He focuses on the teachings. Thomas’ Gospel is a collection of sayings and teachings uttered by Jesus, conveniently presented in a list form. In one of these sayings, Jesus asks His disciples, “Compare me to someone and tell me who I am like.” Some said He is a great angel, and some said He is the greatest of all philosophers. But Thomas gives a response that is worth thinking through.

I would say that, generally speaking, Thomas usually gets a bad rep. He’s the doubter, the one who could not believe Jesus was raised from the dead unless he felt his wounds with his own hands. Sometimes, I think most Christians fear Thomas because of how relatable he is. Sometimes we find it hard to believe in the promises of God, even when we know they are true. Sometimes, we doubt.

In any case, Thomas is an interesting character, and his response to the question is our focus at the moment. Thomas states,

“Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.”

If “I Am Who I Am” is the answer God gives us, then Thomas’s answer is the closest response to it that we can give from our perspective to the question. We could, with validity, state all the beautiful things God does for us and how powerful He is. But when all is said and done, we cannot utter who He is. We cannot articulate His greatness with our words.

Perhaps this is an anti-theological answer. Or maybe, it is the foundation of true theology. Perhaps theology is the search for God, and paradoxically, the closer we get to Him, the further away we get from fully understanding Him. Perhaps humanity’s journey involves seeking out this God but also understanding that finding Him in His complete glory will be the prize only when we transcend to the next world.

Perhaps the virtue is in seeking. After all, to seek is to find. Because how can one begin the search unless they believe that there is something worth finding? Perhaps acknowledging that something is worth searching for and aiming to behold it is as worthwhile as finding that thing, especially when the thing cannot be found. Perhaps this is theology. It is being humble enough in our search to let God show us who He is, as He did to Peter. It is not bringing God down to our level and making Him conform to our prejudices, cultures, or traditions. But instead, it is us propelling ourselves towards the Kingdom and exploring every step of the way until the day we are transformed, become incorruptible, and see Him face to face.

Before that happens, the search continues.

“Who do you say I Am?”. This is the question.