our images and ideas. In that sense, any likeness between our notions of God and God Himself, is surpassed by an even greater inequality between them. After all, one cannot even conceive of something greater than God. He is in fact, greater than anything imaginable” (Walter Kasper, Der persönliche Gott. Antwort auf das Geheimnis des Menschen). An authentic discourse on God is, therefore, possible only in an analogous sense, that is, in a sense of partial likeness among the beings under discussion. An analogous discourse signifies a partially identical and a partially different sense at the same time. Consequently, the term ‘partially’ does not imply a quantitative, but rather a qualitative meaning, in that it simply signifies an essential likeness between beings, which at the same time reveals their difference. An authentic discourse on God presupposes the human experience of God. In Christianity, this means religious or supernatural experiences of God the Father of Jesus Christ. For that reason, the Christian experience of God presupposes the gift of supernatural faith in God “who lives in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16). Concretely, this means that the mystery of the living and personal God the Father of Jesus Christ is not available to purely natural reason. Christian experience presupposes a graceful gift of supernatural faith in the living and personal God whom “no one has ever seen [...], but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (Jn 1:18). Therefore, Christian experience is fundamentally a supernatural experience of God who reveals himself in history through Jesus Christ who is, through the power of the Spirit, permanently present in his Bride, the Church which is “in Christ like a sacrament or a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race” (Lumen Gentium, 1). Christian experience of the living and personal God has been described by John the Apostle in simple and intimate words: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also might have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1:1-3). John the Apostle makes it very clear that our communion with God, as well as our understanding of God, is based on the supernatural gift of faith.
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