1G0xxeB

3 6 2 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 41 / Issue 3For example, he uses “to know” with quotation marks to cover three differentterms used by Brague: to know (in English), connaître, and savoir. It wouldbe useful to keep these three terms separate or indicate the differences somehow—if,at any rate, the translator suspects that the author is distinguishingthese terms in a consistent and intelligible manner. Continuing with thistheme, it would in general be very useful to know when Brague uses savoirversus connaître. The title of the chapter, for instance, uses connaître, andwhile that might be what one expects, the translator does not confirm this forus. This may seem like an overly pedantic complaint, but we are talking abouthow one knows, or becomes acquainted with, or becomes aware of God, atopic of great, if not the greatest, importance.In any event, Brague argues that there are many ways of knowing, and heargues, persuasively, that common parlance reflects this fact. One can “know”Paris, or “know” that the sky is blue, and one can even “know” particularpersons. Of course, he says, one can also know God. It would appear that ourknowledge of God is not scientific (savoir), but is more akin to recognitionor familiarity (connaître). We know God in a manner similar to the mannerin which we are familiar with other human beings. Additionally, one mustknow where to look for God, Brague tells us, and the seeker’s heart must bein the right place. The nature of the object, Brague tells us, “dictates to me theway I am to gain access to it” (33), and he cites in support of his claim Aristotle’sfamous contention that the well-educated man seeks out the precisionin each class only to the extent that the nature of that matter allows. But whatis the right method for inquiring into what God might be? How or to whatextent does the nature of God allow for human beings to know Him? Aristotle,whom Brague cites approvingly here, made his own inquiry into thegods, a rational, or at least dialectical inquiry (Metaphysics, bk. 12), whereasBrague indicates that one has to seek God with the heart, not with the mind(35–37). Quoting Jesus Christ from the Gospel according to Matthew, Braguereminds the reader that “he who seeks, finds” (Matt. 7:8).After having disposed of these confusions, Brague turns in chapter 3 tohis central aim: exploring and describing the attributes that characterize theGod of the Christians. The attributes that he examines are God’s oneness(chap. 3); the image of God as a father (chap. 4); the finality of revelation inChristianity (chap. 5); the lack of demands that God places on human beings(chap. 6); and God’s forgiveness (chap. 7). Appropriately, the first chapterdevoted to the attributes of God is devoted to the question of monotheism.God’s oneness, according to Brague, is obvious, and it is even provisionally