---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A God comprehended is no God. (Ein…"
description: "\"A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott.)\" — Gerhard Tersteegen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png"
---

#  A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist…

![“A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott.)” quote by Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png)

> “A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott.)”

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Attempting to fully understand God reduces Him to a limited concept, negating His true nature.

**In simple terms:** Understanding God fully limits Him.

Key Takeaway

Embrace mystery.

Themes

theology humility faith

Mood

reverent contemplative

Type

spiritual philosophical

When to use this quote

- prayer
- spiritual contemplation
- theological study

Key Concepts

divine mystery human limitation

Questions to Reflect On

- Can mystery and knowledge coexist?
- How does this view affect worship?

A Different Perspective

Some argue knowledge deepens faith.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Comprehended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comprehended-791637/) [Comprehended God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comprehended-god-1441017/) [God Comprehended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-comprehended-1677823/) [Infinite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinite/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/)

## Related quotes

> [A comprehended god is no god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-comprehended-god-is-no-god/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“He who thinks that God is not comprehended, by him God is comprehended; but he who thinks that God is comprehended knows him not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/he-who-thinks-that-god-is-not-comprehended-by-him-god-is-comprehended/)

[Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/)

> [God can only be comprehended as Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/god-can-only-be-comprehended-as-love/)

[Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/)

> [A comprehended God is no God at all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard/a-comprehended-god-is-no-god-at-all/)

[Gerhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard/)

> [If the work of God could be comprehended by reason, it would no longer be wonderful, and faith would have no merit if reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-gregory-i/if-the-work-of-god-could-be-comprehended-by-reason-it-would-no-longer/)

[Pope Gregory I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-gregory-i/)

> [“...I found the task so truly arduous... that I was almost tempted to think... that the movement of the heart was only to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-harvey/i-found-the-task-so-truly-arduous-that-i-was-almost-tempted-to-think/)

[William Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-harvey/)

> [Certainly it was no design of the atoms to place themselves in a particular order, nor did they decide what motions each should have.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/certainly-it-was-no-design-of-the-atoms-to-place-themselves-in-a/)

[Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/)

> [If there be an infinite Being, he does not need our help - we need not waste our energies in his defense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-there-be-an-infinite-being-he-does-not-need-our-help-we-need-not/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [“And who among us is not neurotic, and has never complained that they are not understood? Why did you come here, to this place,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/and-who-among-us-is-not-neurotic-and-has-never-complained-that-they/)

[Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/)

> [Freedom can never be comprehended, nor even can insight into it be gained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-can-never-be-comprehended-nor-even-can-insight-into-it-be/)

[Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/)

> [This whole beauty thing is something I've never comprehended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-grier/this-whole-beauty-thing-is-something-i-ve-never-comprehended/)

[Pam Grier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-grier/)

> [Too soon did the doctors of the church forget that the heart--the moral nature--was the beginning and the end, and that truth, knowledge, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/too-soon-did-the-doctors-of-the-church-forget-that-the-heart-the/)

[Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/)

> [One place comprehended can make us understand other places better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/one-place-comprehended-can-make-us-understand-other-places-better/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“For the first time, I comprehended that love, at least for me, had nothing to do with sex.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-smith/for-the-first-time-i-comprehended-that-love-at-least-for-me-had/)

[Sherwood Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-smith/)

> [ “\[48\] - 4 Dispelling fear but knowledge be, Replacing our doubts completely, Nothing need be feared undoubtedly, But must be comprehended absolutely. \[49\] - 4” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munindra-munnan-misra/48-4-dispelling-fear-but-knowledge-be-replacing-our-doubts-completely/)

[Munindra (Munnan) Misra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munindra-munnan-misra/)

## More by Gerhard Tersteegen

> [As long as we want to be different from what God wants us to be at the time, we are only tormenting ourselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/as-long-as-we-want-to-be-different-from-what-god-wants-us-to-be-at/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [He brings to naught, destroys and rejects all that is not His own work; how He draws everything to Himself and absorbs it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/he-brings-to-naught-destroys-and-rejects-all-that-is-not-his-own-work/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [To walk before God and in His presence, is the ground and the costly jewel of true Christian living. I would have you above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/to-walk-before-god-and-in-his-presence-is-the-ground-and-the-costly/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [Let none, however difficult the circumstances, consider himself as debarred from the way of holiness. Have we but God and the cross of Christ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/let-none-however-difficult-the-circumstances-consider-himself-as/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [Be not afraid, though every stay Should fail, or be removed away, And thou be stript of all; But lose thyself in that vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/be-not-afraid-though-every-stay-should-fail-or-be-removed-away-and/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [Prayer brings to us blessings which we need, and which only God can give, and which prayer can alone convey to us ... This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/prayer-brings-to-us-blessings-which-we-need-and-which-only-god-can/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [Your own self-will and anxiety, your hurry and labor, disturb your peace and prevent Me from working in you. Look at the little flowers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/your-own-self-will-and-anxiety-your-hurry-and-labor-disturb-your/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [The love ofChrist is my prayer-book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/the-love-ofchrist-is-my-prayer-book/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

> [Prayer brings to us blessings which we need, and which only God can give, and which prayer can alone convey to us...Prayer is simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/prayer-brings-to-us-blessings-which-we-need-and-which-only-god-can-2/)

[Gerhard Tersteegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

[Explore all 10 Gerhard Tersteegen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/)

## More Atheism quotes

> [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/)

[Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/)

> [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/)

[Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/)

> [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/)

[Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/)

> [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/)

[Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/)

> [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/)

[John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/)

> [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/)

[George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/)

> [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/)

[Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/)

> [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/)

[Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/)

> [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/)

[Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/)

> [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/)

[Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/)

> [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

[Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott.)",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gerhard Tersteegen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriffener-gott-ist-kein-gott/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Atheism"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriffener-gott-ist-kein-gott/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba3/gerhard-tersteegen-41193_atheism_a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriff_1120554.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A God comprehended is no God. (Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott.)” — Gerhard Tersteegen",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Gerhard Tersteegen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-tersteegen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A God comprehended is no God....",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriffener-gott-ist-kein-gott/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-tersteegen/a-god-comprehended-is-no-god-ein-begriffener-gott-ist-kein-gott/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
