Chapter 10: God's Perfection

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. (Psalm 50:2)

As usual we seem to have underlined a lot of the same things so posting after you is either no fun because you have already stated the good stuff or helpful because you did a lot of the typing for me. Here are my thoughts.

I will start with the gains and losses which at first threw me like the study guide said it would but I loved this listing of our gains that have resulted in losses.

- Added numbers, yes, but lost fear. Multiplied schools, yes, but lost awareness of the invisible. Tons of literature being poured out, of course, but no consciousness of the divine Presence. Better communication, certainly, but nothing to communicate. Evangelistic organizations, yes, but the concept of majesty and worship and reverence has almost left us.

"And at last our gains may prove to be no more than losses spread over a larger area." pg. 181

"If we have only so much glory and we spread it thin, we have not gained anything." pg. 181

We then moved to the definition of perfection

- "the highest possible degree of excellence." That which is perfect lacks nothing it should have and has nothing it should not have.

I thought okay we are getting to the topic "God's Perfection" now but he threw me with

- "If perfection means the highest possible degree of excellence, then we cannot apply this thought to God at all. How can we apply "the highest possible" to God? Is there anything that isn't possible with God? As though God had been created and had done the highest thing possible, that He was as perfect as it was possible for Him to be? No, you can't apply that to God; that's only applied to creatures."

Is it just me or were you thinking where is Tozer going with this. He is posing more questions about God's Perfection than I had before I began reading. But when he went back to the infinitude of God and the no degrees in God the losses became clear. The loss of majesty! Thinking of perfection as it is applied to creatures.

- "God is not at the top of the heap in an ever-ascending perfection of being, from worm on up until finally we reach God. On the contrary, God is completely different and separate, so that there are no degrees in God. God is simply God, an infinite perfection of fullness,"

"To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?" (Isaiah 40:25)

WOW! I too liked how he said "God is not limited in Himself, he is limited in us."

"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined" (Psalm 50:2)

What Honors God is Beautiful-this is where he talked about Theology being beautiful which I had never thought of it that way but I too loved his description of it as "the mind down on its knees in a state of breathless devotion, reasoning about God." That is beautiful.

Beauty Centers around Christ-I liked what was written in the study guide under this section.

- "Beauty centers around Christ because He Himself is God, the source of all beauty. Heaven is beautiful because Jesus is there. Our choice, the greatest choice we have to make, is whether we spend our lives seeking after beauty (seeking after Christ!).

Okay, now to the questions.

Our Gains and Losses

You already listed them. The one I believed we could add in today's culture was the increase in the availability of Christian literature.

No Awareness of the Eternal

I agree with what you wrote and I read Tozer in amazement of how accurate what he preached 60 years ago is to the church today.

What is Perfection

I answered this above I think.

No Degrees in God

1. Things are perfect and excellent contingent and relative to other things. God is not perfect or excellent in comparison. He is self-existent and absolute in His perfection and excellence.

2. I like how you wrote that all things are more beautiful in the light of his Glory and Grace!

What Honors God is Beautiful

1. I too loved his definition of theology and it amazes me.

2a. I think that the wrong concepts people have is applying what we think is wonderful and beautiful about earth to heaven and not going any farther in our thinking, to the "perfection of beauty" being there.

2b. By thinking and learning more about heaven and the perfection of beauty.

Beauty Center around Christ

"beauty" means in the presence of Christ. Our responsibility in regard to the mix of beauty and ugliness on earth should be to seek beauty-to seek Christ.

This book has truly raised my concept of God. This chapter just took it up another notch. I can't wait to get started on the next book and continue this journey till "my concept of God is worthy of God and can be noble and dignified; so it can be reverent, profound, beautiful."