Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in the Christian Tradition
by Hans Boersma
Who should read this?
Anyone who has pondered the question of what it means or looks like to “see God” may relish diving into Hans Boersma’s detailed discussion of how we know/ see God.
Anyone knowlegeable about and interested in Anselm, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Herman Bavinck, Plato, Plotinus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Aquinas, Gregory Palamas, Symeon the New Theologian, John of the Cross, Bonaventure, Nicholas of Cusa, Dante, John Calvin, John Donne, John Owen, Richard Baxter, Isaac Ambrose, Thomas Watson, or Jonathan Edwards will want to see how Boersma deals with their thinking.
Those who would like to explore how we know God at all will be interested in engaging with Boersma’s question whether we “see” with our physical eyes, our “spiritual eyes,” or our imaginations? He also surveys the arguments for which sense––eyes or ears––are more pronounced, common, and fulfilling in the experience of faith.
What’s the main point?
The book is a complex and thorough exploration of the mystery by which humans apprehend God. Boersma argues that “seeing” God is more prevalent in scripture and in the writings of theologians than “hearing” or, in fact, “sensing” God. Despite the wealth and diversity of imagery in Revelation, he writes that “the metaphors of light and vision do play a particularly central role.” (p. 3) “Seeing” is therefore a more accepted or fruitful approach to “knowing” God or being “in union” with God. This is why the subtitle refers to “the beatific vision” rather than referencing another sense.
This sentence sums up the import of the book: “We are true to the way God has made us when we make the vision of God our ultimate desire.” (p. 11)
Because the author’s scope is encyclopedic, he adds to the discussion of seeing God by delving into questions of the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity, the question of modalism, the issue of whether it is possible to have union with God before heaven, and much more.
How is the book arranged?
Boersma takes the reader on a tour of what Christians have said throughout the centuries, explaining how theologians have understood what it meant, for example, for Moses and Elijah to “see God.” Following an introduction defining “beatific vision” using von Balthasar for a Roman Catholic view and Bavinck for a Reformed perspective, he dissects the thought of early Christians, Medieval theologians, and Protestants, ending with a concluding chapter, “Dogmatic Appraisal.”
What would I have liked to see added to this book?
Given the list (see above) of the many male theologians included in this book, I would like to know what the author would have said about even a few of the women mystics who wrote about seeing God, seeing Christ, being visited by Christ, and having conversations with him. Surely these writers have something to say to the topic of a beatific vision.
In addition, I would like to know more about Boersma’s contention that seeing God ought to be our “ultimate desire.” Why would that particular relationship with God be more vital than knowing the love of God through the body of Christ?
Had Boersma dealt with Martin Luther’s insistence on knowing God through hearing God’s word, I might have been better able to abandon skepticism over seeing God as an ultimate goal.
Why does it matter?
Although not necessarily a major focus of this book, a major implication of the importance of how we see God is how we relate to the physical world––whether we see the divine presence in all things or value only the hope of seeing God in eternity. The practical effect of not seeing God or apprehending divine care of creation is, of course, the climate chaos we are experiencing today.
Because we live in a culture that has placed quantifiable value on the natural world (here I am mostly referring to the cultures of rich nations), we have drawn a thick border between the created order that is visible and the eternal order that is not visible. Valuing creation in those limiting terms has removed it from sacramental reality, leaving the natural world at the mercy of power and greed. Nature, then, suffers from neglect and abuse.
The alternative is to “see” God present in all things, to acknowledge the inseparable nature of what is seen and what is unseen, and to commit ourselves to living in the material world in a way that does honor to that world’s participation in eternal realities.
Hans Boersma. Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018, 487. ISBN 9780802880192
REVIEWER: The Rev. Melinda A. Quivik, PhD
The Rev. Melinda Quivik, PhD, is an ELCA pastor who served churches in three states and who taught worship and preaching for several years at an ELCA seminary. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Liturgy, a print and online journal for scholars and worship practitioners and works as a mentor to preachers through Backstory Preaching, an ecumenical online program offering training, spiritual reflection, lectures, weekly preaching resources, sermon appraisals, and more for preachers in all stages of their practice.