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Faith As Action: Connecting With Divine Truth

Faith As Action: Connecting With Divine Truth

Last updated on: June 25, 2026 at 1:17 am by Henry Karlson

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Faith As Action: Connecting With Divine Truth 2026-06-25T01:17:22-05:00 Henry Karlson

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We Point To The Divine, We Do Not Comprehend It. Painting: Leonardo da Vinci: St. John the Baptist / Wikimedia Commons

God is one, and God is one in a way which transcends all human comprehension. God is beyond number and numeric representations. God is one without parts, but yet God is Trinity. We must always keep in mind God’s transcendence makes it impossible for us to properly talk about God as God is; we can only apprehend God, and through those apprehensions, use conventional representations to point to the truth of God which lies beyond our understanding. To talk about God, about the divine nature, we predicate to God various different qualities, each which allow us a way to name God. That is, what we predicate to God through them only serves as conventional approximations which have something in them which represent the truth, but because they are only analogous to God, there is something in them which are not true to God, and so must be denied for us to continue to reach up towards God. We can say those conventions we use are true so long as we use them properly to point out a proper apprehension we have had about God, but they are false when we assume they exist in God in the same way as they do in us. That is, when we predicate qualities to God, such as God is good, kind, generous, or the like, we must understand they mean something else for God than us. This can be verified by the way they are not distinct things in God. They come together as one, for if they did not, they would undermines divine simplicity. But, because we are made in the image and likeness of God, it is fitting that we use the best qualities we find in ourselves, such as our virtues, as a way to understand God:

Generally speaking, all of the human virtues are attributes of God Himself. They are the characteristics of Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God in human flesh. They are the divine properties which should be in all human persons by the gift of God in creation and salvation through Christ.[1]

Nonetheless, when we talk with each other and explore those virtues, we will find we do not always agree with each other as to what is and is not a virtue, nor how we understand what each particular virtue entails. Similarly, other beings will have a different understanding of those virtues, with those possessing greater intellects, like pure spirits, understanding them in a way greater than we do. This is why we will find each of us applying different names to God, because we will have different apprehensions of the virtues in God, as St. Albert the Great indicates:

And from this a solution appears to the argument that follows, because although any attribute whatsoever may belong to the divine essence according to what is in God, nevertheless, according to what is perceived by the intellect, the attributes are distinguished by what they signify (connotate). And for this reason one [celestial essence] praises [it] as glory, another as wisdom, and another as majesty. [2]

God’s oneness is one with God’s transcendence, with God’s greatness, and with God’s glory. The way we understand them, as with the way we understand other qualities we attribute to God, is based upon the way we see God acts. However, just as all the qualities in God are one, so those actions, for God, are fundamentally one eternal act. It is just our experience of God has us divide that one eternal act into several apparent actions, and in this way, it often seems as if God changes over time. What we need to do is examine and discern how they form one single activity. To do that, we should start with those actions (or divine energies) which we can see are at work together in a particular situation or context. Or, we should look at how various qualities complement and fulfill each other. For example, we know, through God’s righteousness and justice, that God is just and good, and that God’s goodness is one with God’s justice. Similarly, we also know, through God’s love and mercy, God is gracious. God’s mercy and justice, God’s righteousness and love, are all one in God, though from our standpoint, they are seen as distinct qualities, qualities which seem to sometimes stand in contrast with each other. Interestingly enough, some religious scholars suggest that the way various divine names are used in Scripture represent different qualities of God, and that if we understand the quality associated with a name, we will better understanding the meaning of the text. For example, various Jewish scholars say the name YHWH represents mercy, while the name Elohim represents justice, as Shalom Spiegel noted:

The Sages said: Wherever in Scripture Lord (YHWH) is used, the reference is to the Mercy Attribute, as it said (Exod. 34:6), “The Lord (YHWH)! The Lord! a God compassionate and gracious” ; wherever God (Elohim) is used, the reference is to the Justice Attribute, as it said (Exod. 22:8), “The case of both parties shall come before God (Elohim).” This is what those two outstanding men, R. Yohanan and Resh Lakish, taught: the one in connection with the Akedah – Adonai-yireh, Lord, take note (Gen. 22:14) – and the other in connection with the shofar-sounding of Rosh ha-Shanah – The Lord, amidst the sound of the shofar (Ps. 47:6).[3]

It is important for us and our understanding of God that we apprehend both God’s justice and mercy and see how they work together, so that we can then begin to see how other qualities, which sometimes seem to be in conflict with each other, also can work together and become one in God: “Mercy, of which we have just spoken, stands in an indissoluble inner connection with God’s other attributes, especially holiness, justice, fidelity, and truth.” [4] We must conclude that the absolute truth, the truth of God, is not other than mercy and justice, for then we will know that our pursuit of the truth should not be seen merely as an intellectual exercise, but one which is active and engages the reality of truth, the reality manifested in justice and mercy, the reality, indeed, manifested in love. It is what many great saints and spiritual masters, like Servant of God, Elisabeth Leseur, demonstrate in their wise reflections. Elisabeth found her love for God, her love for truth, gave her a deep love for all humanity, one which opened her up to the infinite Love and Justice of God: “This burning for justice, this loving flame within us, this deep love for suffering and groaning humanity, all this is and can only be an unconscious turning toward this infinite Love and infinite Justice, toward the ultimate Goodness that is God.”[5]

When we pursue God, when we pursue the truth, we should pursue all that God is, which includes all the virtues. We must find a way to bring them together as one in ourselves, for then, we truly will serve as an image of God, reflecting the one all those qualities are one in God. If we love the truth, we will act on that truth, promoting justice and mercy, for truth without justice, truth without mercy, is not the fullness of truth. A faith which seeks understanding, therefore, will be a faith manifested not only in words, but in deeds. This is why our faith, if it is without works, is dead, because it is not a real faith; it is mere belief, and belief based upon human understanding, one which divides up and ignores qualities of the divine truth itself.

[1] Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith. Volume 4: Spirituality (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981; rev. ed. 2016), 56.

[2] St. Albert the Great, On Resurrection. Trans. Irven M. Resnick and Franklin T. Harkins (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2020), 259.

[3] Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial. On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Issac as a Sacrifice: The Akedah. Trans. Judah Goldin (New York: Schocken Books, 1969; repr. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2007), 121.

[4] Walter Kasper, Mercy. Trans. William Madges (New York: Paulist Press, 2013), 88-9.

[5] Elisabeth Leseur, “Daily Thoughts” in Elizabeth Leseur: Selected Writings. Trans. Janet K Ruffing, RSM (New York: Paulist Press, 2005), 137.

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