The nearest I have ever come across to a satisfactory definition of God is as follows;
God is a circle whose centre is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere.
Anonymous, ‘The Book of the Twenty-four Philosophers‘ (12thC)
Of course it isn’t really a definition – it’s more like a Zen Master’s ‘pointing’ – but what a pointing!
Of course I like it because it expresses my theological perspective and worldview – that of immanence plus transcendence i.e. panentheism.
Of course unless we lie through assertion or dupe through self-deception we don’t really, unequivocally, know. The best we can have is reasonably high degrees of certainty – and then preferably by combining several ways of knowing including sense observation, reason, intuition and the precedent of community precedents. We in truth live with mystery. As it says in the Koran ‘Man is my mystery and I am his‘.
“We are united by our doubts and divided by our convictions.” Sir Peter Ustinov
Recognition of ignorance is strength not weakness as Saint Augustine pointed out;
I am in a sorry state, for I do not know what I do not know!
Because we have unique histories we have unique worldviews. In fact it is the fact that at our centre we need faith to bridge the gap that exists between knowing and not knowing between finite humanity and that other defining characteristic of God – infinity.
As I suggested elsewhere excesses of certitude cut us off from truth and can lead to horrors of cruelty – the Nazis were certain that Jews, and Gypsies were sub-human.
“Certitude divides and diversity unifies…..We have to elevate religion above politics…..”
H.R.H. Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan BBC Newsnight 9th Feb 2006
All desire to be united is as the drop that longs to come one with the ocean – the rub, and the joy, is that the duality through which we learn is the dynamic that exists between oneness on the one hand, via contemplative letting go of the ego, and l-one-ly separation on the other.
Soul Needs - One Garden 