--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God language can tie people into knots…" description: "\"“God language can tie people into knots, of course. In part, that is because ‘God’ is not God's name. Referring to the highest power we can imagine, ‘G..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/forrest-church-30545_life-itself_god-language-can-tie-people-into-knots-o_1638647.jpg" --- # God language can tie people into knots, of course. In… ![“God language can tie people into knots, of course. In part, that is because ‘God’ is not God's name. Referring to the highest power we can imagine, ‘God’ is our name for that which is greater than all and yet present in each. For some the highest imaginable power will be a petty and angry tribal…” quote by Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/forrest-church-30545_life-itself_god-language-can-tie-people-into-knots-o_1638647.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/forrest-church-30545_life-itself_god-language-can-tie-people-into-knots-o_1638647.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/forrest-church-30545_life-itself_god-language-can-tie-people-into-knots-o_1638647.jpg) > ““God language can tie people into knots, of course. In part, that is because ‘God’ is not God's name. Referring to the highest power we can imagine, ‘God’ is our name for that which is greater than all and yet present in each. For some the highest imaginable power will be a petty and angry tribal baron ensconced high above the clouds on a golden throne, visiting punishment on all who don't believe in him. But for others, the highest power is love, goodness, justice, or the spirit of life itself. Each of us projects our limited experience on a cosmic screen in letters as big as our minds can fashion. For those whose vision is constricted (illiberal, narrow-minded people), this can have horrific consequences. But others respond to the munificence of creation with broad imagination and sympathy. Answering to the highest and best within and beyond themselves, they draw lessons and fathom meaning so redemptive that surely it touches the divine.”” [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People project their limited concepts onto a divine idea, shaping it as love, justice, or a tyrannical figure, influencing behavior and morality. **In simple terms:** We shape the divine with our own ideas. Key Takeaway Recognize personal bias in spiritual concepts. Themes spirituality perception power language ethics Mood contemplative inquisitive Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - Personal meditation - interfaith dialogue - education - policy making Key Concepts Theology psychology social influence Questions to Reflect On - What personal experiences shape your view of the divine? - How can broader imagination foster compassion? A Different Perspective Divine concepts can be misused to justify harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-greater/) [God Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-language-546955/) [God Referring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-referring-546954/) [Highest Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest-power-546956/) [Imagine God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine-god/) [Infinite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinite/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spirit of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [I believe I am the highest power, absolutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gg-allin/i-believe-i-am-the-highest-power-absolutely/) [GG Allin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gg-allin/) > [A good character carries with it the highest power of causing a thing to be believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-good-character-carries-with-it-the-highest-power-of-causing-a-thing/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Divination seems heightened and raised to its highest power in woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/divination-seems-heightened-and-raised-to-its-highest-power-in-woman/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [You're taught from the day you start medical school that you're a god, that you can have power over life and death. So when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palmer/you-re-taught-from-the-day-you-start-medical-school-that-you-re-a-god/) [Michael Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palmer/) > [The highest power is the human mind. That's where God came from and my belief in God is my belief in myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/the-highest-power-is-the-human-mind-that-s-where-god-came-from-and-my/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [The highest reach of science is, one may say, an inventive power, a faculty of divination, akin to the highest power exercised in poetry;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-highest-reach-of-science-is-one-may-say-an-inventive-power-a/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The world is God's language to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-world-is-god-s-language-to-us/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Beyond the tablet of stone, the papyrus scroll or parchment roll, human life has become the articulate voice of God. Jesus is the crescendo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-du-toit/beyond-the-tablet-of-stone-the-papyrus-scroll-or-parchment-roll-human/) [Francois Du Toit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-du-toit/) > [Music is the language of God. God's language, music, is not like mathematics or geometry. It is a language of love. If we love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/music-is-the-language-of-god-god-s-language-music-is-not-like/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“God is neither in the form of justice nor injustice. 'No one shall be hurt' is what the God's language says. Justice-injustice is people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/god-is-neither-in-the-form-of-justice-nor-injustice-no-one-shall-be/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Silence is God's first language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/silence-is-god-s-first-language/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [...when your heart is broken, don't go silent - speak to God in his own language...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/when-your-heart-is-broken-don-t-go-silent-speak-to-god-in-his-own/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“the laws of nature are written by the hand of God in the language of mathematics’ and that the ‘human mind is a work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-lennox/the-laws-of-nature-are-written-by-the-hand-of-god-in-the-language-of/) [John C. Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-lennox/) > [God's first language is Silence. Everything else is a translation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keating/god-s-first-language-is-silence-everything-else-is-a-translation/) [Thomas Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keating/) > [In order for a man to really understand himself he must be part of a nation; he must have some land of his own,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/in-order-for-a-man-to-really-understand-himself-he-must-be-part-of-a/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## More by Forrest Church > [Members in the Commonwealth of God are not bound together by the specifics of their religion, for the nature of our interdependency does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/members-in-the-commonwealth-of-god-are-not-bound-together-by-the/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [“Where's your church?" "We're standing in it." "But this is a bookstore and it's a Friday." "Yes, but you might also choose to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/where-s-your-church-we-re-standing-in-it-but-this-is-a-bookstore-and/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [Death is not a curse to be outwitted no matter the cost. Death is the natural pivot on which life turns, without which life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/death-is-not-a-curse-to-be-outwitted-no-matter-the-cost-death-is-the/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [“None of us is fully able to perceive the truth that shines through another person’s window, nor the falsehood that we may perceive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/none-of-us-is-fully-able-to-perceive-the-truth-that-shines-through/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [The goal is to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for... The one thing that can't be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/the-goal-is-to-live-in-such-a-way-that-our-lives-will-prove-worth/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [God seeks us as eagerly as we seek God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/god-seeks-us-as-eagerly-as-we-seek-god/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [Remember, Angels are both God's messengers and God's message, witness to eternity in time, to the presence of the divine amidst the ordinary. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/remember-angels-are-both-god-s-messengers-and-god-s-message-witness-2/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [“Whenever we give our hearts in love, the burden of our vulnerability grows. We risk being rebuffed or embarrassed or inadequate. Beyond these things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/whenever-we-give-our-hearts-in-love-the-burden-of-our-vulnerability/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [America's egalitarian mandate reflects the liberality of the creator, and thus countermands, by divine witness, all feudal and aristocratic structures. It also parallels the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/america-s-egalitarian-mandate-reflects-the-liberality-of-the-creator/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [The world does not owe us a living, we owe the world a living, our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/the-world-does-not-owe-us-a-living-we-owe-the-world-a-living-our-own/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [We Unitarian Universalists have inherited a magnificent theological legacy. In a sweeping answer to creeds that divide the human family, Unitarianism proclaims that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/we-unitarian-universalists-have-inherited-a-magnificent-theological/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [Most of us would agree that the important thing about Jesus is not his supposed miraculous birth or the claim that he was resurrected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/most-of-us-would-agree-that-the-important-thing-about-jesus-is-not/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [“So it's pretty simple for me: Love when you can. Do the work that is yours to do. Be the person that is yours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/so-it-s-pretty-simple-for-me-love-when-you-can-do-the-work-that-is/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [“I say to my congregants, "If you believe in God, the best thing you can do for yourself is to suspend your belief for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/i-say-to-my-congregants-if-you-believe-in-god-the-best-thing-you-can/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) > [Want what you have. Do what you can. Be who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-church/want-what-you-have-do-what-you-can-be-who-you-are/) [Forrest Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) [Explore all 17 Forrest Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-church/) ## More Infinite quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [It has no future but itself Its infinite contain Its pastenlightened to perceive New periods of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-has-no-future-but-itself-its-infinite-contain-its-pastenlightened/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Doctrine tied itself into infinite knots over the realities of sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/doctrine-tied-itself-into-infinite-knots-over-the-realities-of-sex/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [“The God I know is the source of reality, rather than morality; the source of 'what is' rather than the source of 'what ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/the-god-i-know-is-the-source-of-reality-rather-than-morality-the/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-johnson/the-human-body-has-been-designed-to-resist-an-infinite-number-of/) [Harry Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-johnson/) > [Marvellous mercies and infinite love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/marvellous-mercies-and-infinite-love/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [God is a reality of spirit He cannot be conceived as an object, not even as the very highest object. 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