If you could ask God one question, what would it be? Maybe you would ask a big question: What is God's purpose for you? Or, what's going to happen to you after you die? Or perhaps, why does God let people suffer?

On the other hand, you might ask a question that seems minor but still perplexes you: Where did your puppy go after it ran away when you were 10? What would your life be like if you had married a lost sweetheart? Why did God make the sky blue?

But perhaps you might want to ask God about himself: Who are you? Or, what are you? Or, what do you want?

God's answer to such basic questions would actually go a long way toward answering other questions. Who and what God is, what God wants – these are aspects of God's nature. And the nature of God underlies everything else – why the universe is the way it is, who we are as humans, why our lives are the way they are, and what we should be doing with our time. Has anyone ever lived who didn't puzzle – at least a little – over such profound questions?

We humans can begin to grasp the answers. We can begin to understand the nature of God. Believe it or not, we can even come to share in that divine nature. How? Through God's will and revelation of himself.

That is the subject of this booklet – what we can know about God, at least a little bit. Thinkers throughout history have viewed God in different ways. But God reveals himself to us – through his creation, through his Word, and through his Son, Jesus Christ. God shows us who and what he is, what he does, and even a lot about why he does what he does. He also tells us how we should relate to him now – and how we will relate to him ultimately.

Philosophers discuss the nature of God, but this booklet is not based on philosophy. It is based on the Bible, which God uses to reveal himself to us. We accept the Scriptures as an authoritative source of information about who and what God is. This booklet is written for people who want to know what the Bible says about God. Those who want a more philosophical approach, or those who are more skeptical of biblical authority, will need to turn elsewhere, although they may find this booklet of interest, as well.

The book of Isaiah tells us that God reveals himself to people who are humble and repentant, to those who respect God's Word (Isaiah 66:2).

Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). God wants to make his home with us. When God does, our questions will begin to be more fully answered.

Humans have always wrestled with questions like "How did we get here?" and "What should we be doing?" and "Where are we going?" Their pursuit of answers inevitably led them back to fundamental issues such as whether God exists and what God is like. They framed in different ways the ideas they came up with.

Throughout history, people built their religious concepts on their desires to understand human origins and the purpose of life. In their own ways, they wanted to make contact with and relate to the Source of human life – and, presumably, the Authority over human destiny. Unfortunately, the human inability to understand spiritual reality perfectly gave rise to disagreement and more questions:

• "Pantheism (Greek pan, `all,' and theos, `God') A term coined by John Toland (1670-1722), literally meaning `everything God.' The view is that God is all and all is God. It differs from `panentheism,' which views God as in all" (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, 1996, p. 199).

  Pantheists saw God as being all that is, including all the forces and laws behind the universe. They depersonalized God and interpreted both good and evil as divine.

• Polytheists believed in many gods. Each of these gods could help or hurt, but none held absolute power. Polytheism was the basis of many Middle Eastern and Greco-Roman forms of worship, and of the spirit and ancestor worship found in many tribal cultures.

• "Theism (From Greek theos, `God') Belief in a god. Also belief in one God (monotheism) in contrast to belief in many gods (polytheism)" (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, p. 279).

  Monotheists embraced a personal deity as the source, sustainer and goal of everything. Three of the world's most influential religions are monotheistic – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three claim their descent from Abraham.