Many people think of God as “greater” than us but on our scale of being today. It is a problem, but the real issue lies with how we talk about God from the Bible. If history is our only context when we interpret Scripture (and not theology/metaphysics), then it is evident that we will only speak of God who participates in history in ways similar to us (though much greater than us).
Since I conceive of God as impassible, Spirit, simple, then my conception of God differs from someone who sees him as passible and similar to us (though much greater) on a scale of being. When we think of God, we think of two different entities. It’s not the same.
Granted, many people think of God as “greater” than us but on our scale of being today. It is a problem, but the real issue lies with how we talk about God from the Bible. If history is our only context when we interpret Scripture (and not theology/metaphysics), then it is evident that we will only speak of God who participates in history in ways similar to us (though much greater than us).
That still results in a God unrecognizable to Christian theology as expressed in creeds and confessions. Pastoral theology then cannot stop at teaching Scripture within its historical context. It must take the next step to interpret it within its theological context—the reality of the triune God and incarnate Christ.
Augustine
It strikes me that Augustine does just that when he preaches through the Psalter since he understands the Head-body relationship of Christ as a context to read and apply the psalms. Some psalms speak of the Head (Christ), others the body (the church), still others both.
