Can God be known from what he has made?

The passages

Romans 1:19–20

What may be known of God is plain: his “eternal power and Godhead” are seen in what he has made.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Job 11:7

Zophar asks, “Canst thou by searching find out God?”

Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

Isaiah 40:28

“There is no searching of his understanding.”

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Psalms 19:1

“The heavens declare the glory of God.”

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Romans 11:33

Paul: “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Job 26:14

Job: what we see of God’s works is only “parts of his ways”.

Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

The objection

Romans 1:20 says that God’s invisible attributes “are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made”. But Job 11:7 asks, “Canst thou by searching find out God?”, and Isaiah 40:28 says, “there is no searching of his understanding”. Either God can be known from creation or he cannot.

The answer

The verses answer two different questions: whether anything of God can be known, and whether God can be known completely. Romans 1:20 names what creation shows: his “eternal power and Godhead”, that there is a Creator, mighty and divine, enough that people are “without excuse” when they do not honour him (1:20–21). It does not claim that creation shows all of God; Paul has just said that God’s saving righteousness is revealed in the gospel (1:16–17). As Calvin noted, Paul does not mention everything that belongs to God, only his eternal power and divinity.

Job 11:7 asks whether anyone can “find out the Almighty unto perfection”, that is, search him out to the very end (Hebrew tachlit, ‘limit’), and Isaiah 40:28 says that his understanding has no limit. The same apostle who wrote Romans 1:20 also wrote, “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). God can be truly known, but no creature can know him fully. Job 11:7 is spoken by Zophar, whose speeches God later rebukes (Job 42:7), but on this point Job and the rest of Scripture agree with him (Job 26:14).

Still open

Christians differ over how much can be known of God by reason alone. The First Vatican Council (1870) taught that God can be known with certainty from created things by the natural power of human reason; Karl Barth and others have held that sinful people know God truly only through his self-revelation in Christ. Both agree that the knowledge which saves comes through God’s revelation.

From the classic commentators

God is in himself invisible; but as his majesty shines forth in his works and in his creatures everywhere, men ought in these to acknowledge him … He does not mention all the particulars which may be thought to belong to God; but he states, that we can arrive at the knowledge of his eternal power and divinityJohn Calvin, Commentary on Romans 1:20 (1540), at Bible Hub

Zophar speaks well concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly.Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary: Job 11:7–12, at Bible Hub