When we talk about God as Father, we are not extrapolating up, we are moving from effect to cause. God is Father, and our fathering is a dim reflection of his. That's what being made in the image of God means.
Secondly, we do not know things in their essence, that is, what God says they are. We know them as they relate to us, and maximally truly, what God says they are in relation to us.
A very perceptive discussion of the difficulty in describing God with human language. I think, though, it's a mistake to view this as risky, or bound to cause problems. Maybe we need to be clearer in talking about God with "nonbelievers" that the terms we use are actually metaphors to make God more understandable, but not really adequate descriptions of what God is.
When we talk about God as Father, we are not extrapolating up, we are moving from effect to cause. God is Father, and our fathering is a dim reflection of his. That's what being made in the image of God means.
Secondly, we do not know things in their essence, that is, what God says they are. We know them as they relate to us, and maximally truly, what God says they are in relation to us.
A very perceptive discussion of the difficulty in describing God with human language. I think, though, it's a mistake to view this as risky, or bound to cause problems. Maybe we need to be clearer in talking about God with "nonbelievers" that the terms we use are actually metaphors to make God more understandable, but not really adequate descriptions of what God is.