The Unknown God?

Altar to "The Unknown God"

Paul, when preaching in Athens, Greece came across an altar with the inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD" (Acts 17:23).  At this time Athens was considered the cultural and intellectual center of the civilized world yet in all their learning, they failed to grasp the knowledge most important of all, the knowledge of God.  Paul went on to teach them what he considered to be the core, basic tenet of who God is.  He first referred to Him as the creator, not having been created by the works of man.  More important even than having created the universe, he is the creator of men.  He "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.  For in him we live, and move, and have our being...for we are also his offspring (vs.26, 28).

In the Doctrine & Covenants, we learn that the "key of the knowledge of God" is held by the greater or Melchizedek Priesthood in the great treatise on the priesthood found in section 84.  We are taught that it is in the ordinances of the priesthood that the power of godliness is manifest (vs. 19-20).  This starts with baptism, it continues with the sacrament.  We grow close to God in the covenants that we make to him in the temple endowment and achieve our highest potential in the culminating ordinance of being sealed to God with our spouse for time and all eternity.  We are told that without this, "no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live" (vs. 22).  I believe it is in this short three word definition of God that the key to knowing him resides.  The scripture simply states, "even the Father."  As Paul told the Greeks, we are not mere creations of God, we are "his offspring."

Mars Hill as seen from Corinth

 A prophet in our day defined our relationship to God by succinctly stating, "all human beings-male and female-are created in the image of God.  Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World).  Being married for eternity, then, is more than the wonderful blessing of uniting families forever, it is teaching us of God's true nature and the potential within us to become like him. The family is more than a convenient social organization to raise children.  It is the core unit in God's plan to teach us who he is and how we can reach our highest potential.  In the scriptures I learn of the God-like qualities of persuasion, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, love and kindness (see Doctrine & Covenants 121:41-42).  It is in my role as a father that I learn how to live these qualities.  The more closely that I learn to live as God does, the more clearly I can see who God is, the better I can know God, even my Father.