Actes 17:29

Forasmuch then … we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold.

Paul’s cumulative argument

Up to this verse Paul has made a general statement respecting God. Here he lays down the groundwork of a true and abiding Christian philosophy. The armoury of the Church is in the word “forasmuch.” It throws man back on himself, and says, “If you want to know what God is, know yourself.” “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think,” etc. He made us; as certain of your own poets have said. Then judge the Father by the child; the Creator by the creature made in His own image and likeness, and rise from the human to the Divine--the ascent of reason and the way of faith. Now I know of a surety that the Bible representation of God is true, because it is true of myself. My reasoning is now invincible, because it takes this turn, namely--

I. Forasmuch, then, as we are not entirely comprehended, even by those who know us best and love us most, even so is God a mystery.

II. Forasmuch, then, as we have not been seen by our dearest admirers, we ought not to think that the Godhead can be seen. You have never seen your friend; you have never seen your own self. Any mystery that we find in God we find initially and typically in our own nature.

III. As we express our thought and feeling through body and form, so does God. We proceed by incarnation. Forasmuch, then, as our love must incarnate and embody itself, so as to touch us, we ought not to think that the Godhead is independent of the method which amongst ourselves He has made essential to union and happiness. If we have come upon this doctrine through the deep study of our own nature and ways of self-revelation, when we come to the historical Bethlehem we feel we have only come home. That Bethlehem has been in our hearts, and is the inner circle of our sacred home.

IV. Forasmuch, then, as we forgive our children who repent of their sins, we ought not to think that the Godhead is unwilling to forgive. Forasmuch, then, as that man did so to that sinning son, we ought not to think that the Godhead is a carved statue in the sky. “Like as a father pitieth his children,” etc. (J. Parker, D. D.)